There was darkness around Ryu for a while, and then he opened his eyes. It was snowing heavily. There was a boy who resembled him in quite a few ways. He was kneeling before a grave.
"Mother, Father, Brother, Sister…all dead because of me, why did I ever have to be born as a human?! I wish I'd just shut my eyes and disappear from existence. Tristran was right, mankind is evil!" the boy wept.
Molten appeared beside him.
"Is that what you really wish for? Is that what you really believe? Has even the creator lost hope in his creation?" Molten asked.
"I wish I'd never created mankind!" the boy cried.
"Look how far you've fallen, Ryuujinn! You, who create hope for mankind has given up hope himself! Do you even know how pathetic you sound right now?" Molten said.
"What would you have me do Molten?! I've lost my divinity and all my powers! I can't even protect myself! I'm trapped in this evil form of mankind!" the boy yelled.
"You know Ryuujinn, amongst humans, there is a saying. 'You can't just wait around for a miracle to happen; miracles don't just fall from the sky. Even, if they did, you'd miss them. You have to get out there and create a miracle with your own hands!' You may have forgotten Ryuujinn but I haven't forgotten the things you taught me. Mankind is partly divine" Molten said.
"Even if that is true Molten, I have no power! Not even the power of an average elementalist! There is nothing I can do for myself or mankind!" the boy cried desperately.
"You know, there are different kinds of power in this world beside elements and you wield them all except for the power of the elements. There is the power of feelings, the power to live, the power to endure pain, the power to love, the power to hope but you seem to have forgotten your greatest power Ryuujinn, the power of faith" Molten said.
"What do you mean?" Ryuujinn asked.
"Your human mind may have limited you Ryuujinn but your greatest power is the power to have faith in your creation. Only when your creation reciprocates that faith can your true power surface, Ryuujinn. If you want to die here, I'll end your life but I assure you it won't be pretty. We Dark Dragons can be really sadistic and I'll be more than happy to give you the most painful death imaginable but if you are willing to fight one more time, I will help you. See, I have a plan and it still involves taking your life but in a less painful way. So Ryuujinn, once more, will you stand against Tristran and save your creation?" Molten asked.
Ryuujinn hesitated for a while.
"I don't know how much more of this I can take. The pain is killing me. Especially the pain of knowing that my own creation has forgotten me however…no matter how much they flaw, I still love mankind. I do regret creating them but I can't imagine a world without them. I will stand against Tristran once more and as long as my spirit lives on, I will fight for mankind for they are…my precious children…my precious body" Ryuujinn said.
Ryu shut his eyes, there was darkness around him for a while, when he opened them, Gaiden stood before him.
"Remember Ryu, you will find the Sword of Rai at the point where the light changes its path" Gaiden said.
Ryu shut his eyes, his heart was beating fast and he was breathing hoarsely. He felt a cold sweat break all over his body and chills ran up and down his spine. He opened his eyes one more time and found himself in the Crystal ryu. The sky was crimson as blood, and fire rained all over the world.
"I'm home? What is this?!" he exclaimed in horror.
Suddenly, a dome surrounded him. He looked behind him and saw a hooded figure, cloaked in dark garments.
"You can't defeat me Ryu. Look, the fourth moon of Tristran is upon us" the figure pointed to the sky. "Only two more to go and then…annihilation for all creation" the figure said.
Ryu looked up to the sky and beheld a horror in the form of four blood red moons, the moons of Tristran!
"Ryu!" he heard Atlanta calling him from outside the dome.
Ryu looked in the direction of her voice and saw Atlanta standing outside the dome.
"Atlanta!" he called desperately.
Atlanta had an angry look in her eyes. The others were also glaring at him in anger.
"Ryu, join me. Be one with me" the cloaked figure beckoned.
Ryu stared at the figure and removed a kunai from his satchel.
"IN YOUR DREAMS!" Ryu yelled pouncing at the cloaked figure and striking as swiftly as possible.
His kunai only seemed to rip the figure's cloak into shreds.
"Nice try Ryu. I could almost laugh at how pathetic you are now!" the figure said with a sinister laugh.
Ryu raised his eyes to look at the figure. Its back was turned to him
"How can you defeat me Ryu? After all…" the figure said as it slowly turned to face him.
Ryu opened his eyes in horror.
"You are me" the figure said.
It was an exact replica of Ryu except for its sinister eyes and long red hair.
"WHAT?!" Ryu exclaimed in shock. "Another me?! How is that possible?" Ryu managed to say.
"You can call me SHEKAN!" the figure said.
"SHEKAN?!" Ryu exclaimed in even more shock than before.
Shekan stretched out his hand and engulfed Ryu in dark flames. Ryu screamed in pain. He stretched his hand out to the others.
"H-Help me" he called weakly.
"Hmmph! You are weak Ryu" he heard Atlanta say. "I never should have believed in your promise Ryu!"
"ATLANTA!" Ryu screamed in horror.
"So Ryu, prepare to join me" Shekan said triumphantly.
There was a surge of power and a loud explosion. When the smoke cleared, Ryu was no more. Shekan stood alone, with Ryu's dragon ring on his finger. His hair had grown longer and now had blue edges.
"Excellent Ryu, as one, let us destroy the ryu…and then the world!" Shekan said as an evil Ryuugan activated in his eyes.
An image of Tristran, a gigantic black dragon overlapped Shekan's image. There was a smile on the dragon's lips.
"I WIN!" it declared.
"NOOO!!!" Ryu screamed as he jolted from the ground.
Michael, Rokkan, Atlanta, Nadia, Tanya and Ken were awakened by his scream.
"What's wrong Ryu?" Atlanta asked.
"I saw him! He…he…" Ryu stammered, then he suddenly ran out of the Temple.
Michael stared at Rokkan as though he was searching for some kind of answer.
"I think he had a nightmare" Rokkan said simply.
"NO! NO! NO! NOOO!!!" the others heard Ryu scream.
They all rushed outside.
"What's up Ryu?" Ken asked.
Ryu pointed towards the sky. The others slowly raised their eyes to stare at the sky and what they saw sent shivers up and down their spines. It was enough to turn their blood into ice. There were now four moons of Tristran glowing eerily.
"Oh no!" they all exclaimed in shock.
"This is horrible!" Tanya said worriedly.
"That…is a huge understatement" Ken said.
"I must defeat Shekan before the other moons of Tristran align, I MUST!" Ryu yelled.
"That was always the plan Ryu" Michael said.
"If I don't, Atlanta…I will lose you and…I'll become one with Shekan. I can't let that happen…I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!" Ryu declared with new determination.
Ryu raised his hand. There was a flash of lightning mixed with fire and Molten appeared. Ryu leapt unto Molten.
"Let's go Molten!" Ryu called.
Molten spread his wings, leapt into the air and flew away.
"RYU!" the others called worriedly.
"I hope he's not doing all this because of me" Atlanta said with a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry Atlanta, Ryu will be okay" Ken assured her confidently.
"I hope so" Atlanta said.
Ryu and Molten meanwhile were flying over the boundaries of the Fire Kingdom.
"Molten, take me to the place where we first found Hurricane" Ryu said.
"May I ask why?" Molten asked.
"I must learn the Rainbow jutsu and discover a way to go to the Light Ryu" Ryu said.
"Fine then Ryu, I'll take you there" Molten said as he headed in the direction of Hurricane's Domain.
They flew for quite a while, past Ryu no kokoro and eventually arrived at Hurricane's Domain. That was the place Ryu and Atlanta had begun to know each other. Molten descended to the ground and Ryu got off his back.
"First, let's find Hurricane's cavern" Ryu said.
Ryu, I don't think Hurricane would like the idea of you invading his cavern" Molten said.
"I believe the Light ryu can be found only by a path through the holiest locations in this world. The holiest locations I can think of are the resting places of the Dragon Saints" Ryu explained.
Molten smiled.
"What you say is true. I'm proud that you discovered this using your own instincts" Molten said.
"And we can't go to Crystal's. It's too far. I don't know where the other saints usually dwell but Hurricane's is the closest and where we are now" Ryu said.
Molten nodded.
"I think he'll understand" Molten said.