"So what is this place anyway?" Jason glanced at the room around him.

"Shrine of the Heroes." Lucy stated simply. She was sitting at the foot of a large, stone, angel statue and holding Britney in her lap. The little dragon's eyes were a blotchy red, a sign that she had been crying earlier but had since calmed down after realizing that she was in no immediate danger. Lucy had been running her fingers lightly through the little dragon's fine, blue hair, toying delicately with her pigtails and even braiding parts of it.

"Well yea, I know its name." Jason turned to face Lucy. "But I mean, what's it here for?"

Lucy sighed lightly, her attention still fixed on the young girl in her lap as she answered Jason. "Centuries ago, the naming of a Windian child Nina and a dragon child Ryu and become a rather popular thing. Every generation seemed to have its own Ryu's and its own Nina's, but the problem was that not every Ryu and Nina were destined to become the next great heroes. When the next real destined cycle came by, everyone was in an uproar trying to figure out who was the chosen Ryu and Nina to go and fight. The elders decided to build a shrine that would help them figure out who was destined to be Ryu and who as destined to be Nina." Lucy motioned around the room. "This is what they built."

Jason shrugged and glanced around again. "Okay, so how does it work?"

"The shrine has three statues in it, right? One of Landon, one of an angel, and one of Myria."

Jason looked at the three stone statues. "Yea?"

"The one of Landon is supposed to be able to tell which dragon is the destined Ryu. The angel is used to tell who is the destined Nina. Look at the statues eyes for a moment."

Jason glanced from the dragon statue to the angel one. "Landon's eyes are closed. That angel's eyes are open though." He shrugged again. "So?"

"The statue's eyes are normally closed. When one of the chosen stands in front of their respective statue, the eyes on the statue open as a way of recognizing that individual as the chosen Ryu or Nina."

Jason gave her an odd stare. "You're kidding right? That is the weirdest thing I have ever heard..."

Lucy just shrugged. "You said that the angel's eyes are open, right?"

Jason stared back up at the statue Lucy was sitting in front of. The eyes were in fact open. Jason just shook his head. "That's bull. That statue's eyes were open when we first got here..."

"Were they? Did you check?"

Jason muttered something under his breath and glanced around the room again. "So what's that one for then?" He motioned to the statue of Myria.

Lucy glanced up at it and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's some sort of way of recognizing the part that the enemy has to play in all of this... or maybe it's here because they need the three statues here together for some reason. But, I really don't know."

Jason opened his mouth, about to say something when Lucy shushed him, glancing up from the girl in her lap, her eyes fixed on the doorway to the shrine. Jason turned to look, wondering what Lucy was responding to. The sudden sound of rushed footsteps reached his ears and he stepped up to the doorway. He was about to step outside of the shrine and glance down the path that lead to it when a figured slammed blindly into him, causing him to stumble back a bit. There was a groan and Jason looked to see who had run into him.

"Janet? What are you doing here?"

Janet backed up a few steps and glared at Jason. "What did you do with the kid you idiot?"

"Since when did you care what happens to that little dragon?" Jason snapped back. "How did you know we had her anyway?"

"We?" Janet looked up at him, a confused look on her face. "What do you mean 'we'?"

Jason was about to answer when Ray came rushing into the shrine, shoving past Janet and getting up face to face with Jason. "Where is my sister?"

"Ray!" Britney's high voice squeaked happily as she leapt from Lucy's lap and went running up to her brother.

"Britney!" Ray's voice was full of relief as he dropped down into a crouch and grabbed a hold of his sister, hugging her tight. "You're okay?"

"Uh huh! Look! Lucy even braided my hair!" Britney proudly showed her brother the braided pigtails.

"Lucy?" Janet glanced up. "She's here? Where?" She shoved by Jason quickly as she spotted her friend sitting at the foot of the angel statue. "Lucy!" Janet rushed up to her. "What are you doing here?"

Lucy didn't hear her, she was busy staring up at the Landon statue, its stone eyes now wide open at staring at the presence of dragon who had just entered the shrine. Ray didn't seem to notice the statue; he was too busy trying to get an explanation out of Jason for why he had kidnapped his sister.

"Calm down, you stupid dragon!" Jason held up his hands in defense. "Lucy was the one who wanted me to get you here somehow, so I did! Besides, the little brat's just fine."

"If you ever touch my sister again..." Ray growled threateningly at the windian.

"Oh, but I'm just fine!" Britney tugged at her brother's sleeve lightly. "See? And now you're here and we can go home, right?"

"No." Everyone turned to look at Lucy, who had just stood up from her place. "Ray, I need to talk to you..." Lucy turned to Jason briefly. "And you, go ahead and look at the statue's eyes now and tell me what you think."

Jason turned and looked at the Landon statue, studying its open eyes for a moment before shaking his head and returning his gaze to Lucy. "No, I still don't believe it. Maybe I just didn't see that they were open at first but there is no way that these..." Jason glanced from the Landon statue to the angel statue, "these... fucking decorations, are supposed to be able to tell whether someone belongs in a specific destiny or not." Jason could feel the denial welling up in him as he spoke. There is no way that that fucking dragon is some destined hero... he thought bitterly as he glanced at the Landon statue again. Lucy just sighed and shook her head.

"Alright, what is going on here?" Ray looked from Jason to Lucy. "What's this all about anyway?"

"Ray, I have to talk to you..." Lucy started again. Jason had begun pacing back and forth around the temple, muttering angrily under his breath. Without warning, he stopped and turned, glaring at Ray and pointing a finger accusingly.

"There is no way that you are some fucking Ryu!" Jason shouted out angrily. Lucy turned and scolded him quickly.

"Ryu? Wait, what?" Ray glanced over at Lucy. "You don't mean..."

Jason muttered in annoyance and began to stalk away again. Lucy had turned back to Ray and was about to answer his question when Janet's shriek echoed through the shrine, causing everyone to stop and stare at her.

"T... that statue..." Janet was staring at the Myria statue, a look of horror on her face.

Jason glanced at the statue he was standing in front of. "This thing? What about it?"

"Its eyes..." Janet's voice was beginning to shake. "I could have sworn I just saw its eyes move..."

Lucy turned to look at the statue, studying its face carefully. The eyes on it did appear to be partially open. "Maybe it's just a trick of the shadows... it is getting a bit dark outside." Lucy glanced out the door of the shrine to the sky.

Jason glared from Janet to Lucy and back again. "Look, everyone just shut the hell up about those statues, okay? They're nothing but fucking stone, alright?! They can't tell you anything, they're just some fucking statues, and they don't move!" He strode up to the Myria statue and reached out to touch it. His fingers were just a few inches away from it when he glanced up at the face of the statue and froze.

As he watched, the statue's eyelids slid open and stared down at him with their stony gaze.

"Holy shit!" Jason jerked his hand back and stumbled away quickly, staring up at the statue wide-eyed. After a moment he turned to Lucy. "Okay, now what does that mean?"

Lucy was just staring blankly at the statue. "I don't know..."

Outside a light wind kicked up, sweeping quickly through the shrine. The party shivered, still watching the statue. No one dared to turn their eyes away from it. Suddenly, Britney's young voice broke the silence.

"I wanna go home..."

Ray nodded, his eyes still on the statue. "I need to take my sister home..." his voice was nothing more then a quiet whisper that echoed through the shrine.

As the small group of people slowly made their way out of the shrine, not a word was spoken.

Lucy was leading the small group, her thoughts were drifting to what she would do when she returned to the castle. That's it then, she thought. This is really it, some sort of destiny I am supposed to be a part of... and there's nothing I can do about it...

Just behind her, Janet was following quietly, her eyes gazing down at the ground. Eleven years, after so long and yet now it's back. What will happen to her after all of this is over though? Janet glanced up at the windian in front of her. Will she become Nina again? Will she go back to being Lucy? What about Ray... Janet looked back down at the ground as the wave of questions continued to roll through her head.

Ray and his sister were just behind them. The young dragon was clutching on to her brother's hand tightly, looking uneasily at the scenery around them as they followed the long path through the forest that would take them back to Windia. Ray was lost in thought, his mind wandering from past memories to what had happened today in the shrine. He hardly registered the feeling of his little sister tugging lightly at his arm, but he glanced down and gave her a quick reassuring smile as the group continued walking.

Lastly, at the very back of the group, Jason followed slowly, his hands stuck deep into his pockets and his shoulders slouched forward as he made his way along the path, his gaze downcast to the ground. He couldn't get the picture of those eyes out of his mind. The stone stare of that statue, watching his every move. A shudder ran up his spine every time he thought about them opening and gazing at him, following him with their dead look. But what did it mean? "It's just a statue..." he muttered quietly to himself, his voice entirely lacking confidence and seemed to fall empty in the still evening air around him. "It can't tell me my destiny, it can't clam that I am chosen for anything..."

"Just a stone statue..."