Disclaimer: I, as I'm sure you expected, do not in any way own Klonoa or any related characters. The Klonoa series is owned by Namco.

Notes: This has nothing to do with my other current fic, "The Dark Sapphire", in anyway whatsoever.

Also, this story is supposed to take place directly after Lunatea's Veil, without any of the other games ever taking place in-between. This is actually set quite a few years after the ending though, so the characters are a bit older – Klonoa and Lolo being in their late teens, for example.

The main characters here will be Leorina and Tat, but I will try to use quite a few of the series' characters this time round.

I wasn't actually planning on starting a new fic until after "The Dark Sapphire" was finished, but considering that I've been working on it almost exclusively since February, I thought it might do me (and my writing) good to take a quick break from it – though I do have some of the next chapter written for that story as well.

"The Dark Sapphire" will however take priority over this fic until it is finished, which hopefully should not be too long.


Prologue:

Tat hurried down the hall, careful not to be seen – her leg-less form able to float silently through the corridor without the disturbance of footsteps.

It was after midnight, and all the occupants of the cathedral should have been sleeping soundly in their own private dorms, well away from the place the feline puppet-like creature was headed towards.

The only light that pierced the area between the hollow space between the walls was dim firelight, shining out from the sweetly scented candles that lined the stone boundaries. Times like these were when she was thankful to have the vision of cat, one eye or not.

It was completely still, and only the crackling of the small, feeble flames could be heard, and that was only if you stopped and listened intentionally. It seemed almost un-natural, reminding Tat of how much she was not supposed to be there. Admittedly, she found the thick silence a bit disturbing, knowing that any sound she made would be repeated back to her indefinitely, combating the hush of the place until it eventually lost and was swallowed up.

She still thought Leorina was out of her mind, ordering her to steal from, of all places, the temple. Why there? Sure, they needed some extra cash to complete their projects for the Kingdom of Sorrow, but couldn't she have picked somewhere a little less…sacred? There reputation was finally beginning to heal, but if they were caught…

Inside herself, Tat secretly found the whole endeavor rather heartless as well, considering the events that had recently taken place there. A strange illness had taken the life of the High Priestess, and all of La-lookasha had been in disarray ever since.

Leorina however, was all to eager too take advantage of the situation, knowing perhaps too well of the wealth that was kept within the temple. Despite not exactly feeling good about what they were doing, Tat never said anything of course. How could she? After all, she wouldn't be anything without her leader...

The feline finally came to stop as a large, arched doorway came into sight: the entrance that lead to the currently vacant room of the High Priestess.

Cautiously, keeping herself pined against the wall on the left side of the slightly open door, she peeked around the edge of the entrance, though finding nothing but the same emptiness that embodied the rest of sanctuary. She breathed a sigh of relief – at last satisfied that she was alone.

The thief entered the large space, gazing around at all strange objects that lay neatly on the shelves. Most likely, it had all been there for generations, seeing as that the most precious items were passed down to each High Priestess – belonging not to a single person, but to the temple itself.

Wasn't the next day the initiation of the new High Priestess? She wondered, trying to recall the rumors that were floating around. Lydia, her name was. Not that it really mattered, once a Priestess was accepted for the position, their identity seemed to vanish anyway, the person becoming only their role.

Tat never understood why anyone would want to live the way the occupants of the cathedral did. A strict set of rules, a rigid schedule every single day, and individuality kept to a minimum – the association as a whole being honored and respected over any individual person. And not to mention the restrictions placed on their love lives.

The Priestesses at the temple were not to marry unless the proposed partner was explicitly approved by the High Priestess, and they then had to except almost a hundred different vows – each punishable if broken. They were hardly even allowed to hold hands until these ceremonies took place, and if a couple even dared to do something 'terrible' like kiss…well… Tat smiled in spite of herself, almost giggling at the memories creeping up on her. What a terrible place this was, indeed!

Oh, yes, the money box! The thief finally remembered. Where was it again?

The chest she was after was where all of the temple's saved cash was kept, and quite a bit that was too! Thankfully, she hadn't been ordered to steal the whole thing, just enough for her and Leorina to finish sponsoring their projects for the nearly fully-built Kingdom of Sorrow.

Such things as the location of the money were a secret only known by the church's inhabitants, but Leorina had spent enough time there to know those kinds of things…

Tat recalled the older sky pirate's past, struggling for status within the walls of the very cathedral she was standing in now. She couldn't help but wonder if this theft assignment meant that Leorina still had something against the temple.

Still, now was not the time to wonder about that. Tat snapped Leorina's explanations of her task back into her mind, forcing her other thoughts away.

So, the box was usually kept near the throne, right? Just as she was about to search for her target, something else caught her eye – a huge, old looking book that was spread out on the table that was in the middle of the room. What was that doing out? It looked like something that belonged on one of those shelves. She went over to take a look, unable to deny her child-like curiosity – regardless of the fact that she was no longer that young.

The pages were tanned and frail, the dust covering them hinting that it hadn't seen much use. Tat carefully flipped through the thin pieces of paper. What strange letters – they didn't seem to be from any Lunatean language that she recognized.

Unable to read the words, she instead took to glancing over the pictures that decorated the pages. Many were of various strange creatures that she had never seen anything like before, and there were also lots of odd symbols – the meanings of which she had no idea. She found herself somewhat mesmerized by the enchanting drawings and shapes, starting to forget again what it was she was supposed to be doing.

As she was absentmindedly running her hand across the thick crease of pages, focusing on the book's contents, she felt something slice across one of her fingers, giving her a paper cut. She stifled a cry as she lifted the stinging finger to her lips, sucking on it to try to ease the pain.

Taking a closer look at the place she had first felt the cut, she could see that the culprit was a bookmark tucked between two pages near the back of the book. After a cautious glance behind her ensured that no one was coming, she flipped open to the marked page.

She found herself staring at another block of un-readable text and a picture of a ring with a symbol behind it. The emblem was a wavy circular design, reminding Tat slightly of the air or the wind, and the ring itself was oddly basic in appearance. Regardless though, she couldn't help but think that it looked a bit familiar to her. The rim was gold and rounded all the way around, until it reached a large turquoise gem at the top, held on by two thin golden curls. All at once, her thoughts reached back to several years ago – a similar picture forming in her mind. Wait, is that?

"Come on Popka, this is ridiculous! It's two-thirty in the morning and we should be in bed! Just what are we looking for?"

Tat almost jumped at the sudden voice, her train of thought lost. The words sounded both groggy and irritable at the same time, and not to mention very near. The thief quickly left the book and ducked under the table, seeing nowhere else to take cover. It was dark, so she hoped the blackness under the stone counter would keep her hidden. She cursed herself for delaying so long – she should never have let herself get so lost in that book!

Just a few moments later, a strange, short, dog-like creature came into view, followed by a girl that was dressed in a white night-robe and had long reddish brown hair that came down past her shoulders. At first Tat didn't recognize either of them – after all, it had been a while – but after she forced herself to calm down she realized who she was staring at.

The two figures at the doorway of the room were those Popka and Lolo.

Can that really be her? Tat wondered. For a moment, she was almost jealous. Tat still looked pretty much the same as she always had. She hadn't grown, hadn't changed at all, at least in appearance. She never would much. But Lolo, now in her late teens, had grown much taller, and, since Tat had last seen her, developed much more of a "figure". Her hair had been grown out much longer as well, giving her what was actually a rather attractive appearance. Tat still looked mostly like a child, much to her own annoyance.

Eventually though, she dismissed those thoughts lightly – reminding herself that no one was as cute as her – and instead focused on what Lolo and her companion were up to, wondering what they could possibly be doing by the High Priestess' chamber in the middle of the night.

"I don't know exactly…" Popka admitted, finally answering Lolo's previous question. "But I just have a feeling that Lydia person is up to something. Don't tell me you don't feel the same way, I saw the way you were staring at her!" "…Popka, don't be silly, I –" "Oh c'mon, don't deny it, I know how much you hate her!" Lolo didn't even get a chance to finish speaking before her companion interrupted. "It's a known fact that you don't trust her either! And not to mention she's an outsider – she only recently came! There must be something up, people don't just come from far away and work hard enough to become the High Priestess at a place they aren't even native to for no apparent reason!" Popka spurted out quickly. "And I for one don't –"

"Could you please keep your voice down a little?" This time it was the Priestess' turn to interrupt. "And calm down, you're just being overly suspicious. Okay, so she is a little...err...strange, but that doesn't mean she isn't knowledgeable – I can see why she was picked, as much as I hate to admit it. While it's true that I don't particularly like her either, I really don't think she's up to anything wrong…"

Popka moaned. "No offense, but you really can still be naïve sometimes!" The dog-like creature shook his head, trying to cool off. Lolo looked down with a humph, slightly hurt.

"…Look," Popka continued after a moment, a bit more diplomatically. "Lydia was left alone in the room for the first time today, and was there until bed to get acquainted with her soon-to-be home. All I want to do is take a peek and see what she did while she was there, now's our last chance before she moves in permanently."

"Wait, you're not actually going in there, are you?" The tone of Lolo's voice changed completely. "Of course I am! Why else would I have come here?" Popka stated simply. They both sounded like they were becoming frustrated.

"But you can't! No one's allowed in there without direct permission." The Priestess insisted. Popka sighed again. "It's the middle of the night Lolo, who's going to see us? We'll just go in, take a quick look around, and then go to sleep again, all right?"

Lolo shook her head. "No way, I'm not going in – if I got caught I'd be in serious trouble, and I can't have that now – not when I'm finally starting to fit in! You can do this by yourself, if you insist. I'm not coming with you this time! …I'm going to go back to bed…" "Lolo, what?" Popka turned back from the doorway, slightly startled by her strong reaction.

But she didn't hear him, or at least, pretended not to, as she trudged down the dark hallway back to her dorm.

It was as she was leaving that Popka took a few steps into the room himself, quickly glancing around and catching site of the out-of-place book much quicker than Tat had. "Lolo, wait! There's –" "Goodnight, Popka." She interrupted sternly, her voice faded from far down the hall. He frowned. "Fine! Then I'll just have to check it out myself." He said quietly, more to himself than anyone.

Taking a quick look around, he slowly walked further into the room Tat was hiding in. The thief, who had been thoughtfully listening to the whole conversation, took care to keep silent as the dog-like creature approached the table she was beneath.

He hadn't changed much either, she thought as she got a better look at him. Like her, he still was pretty much the same in appearance as she remembered, though perhaps just a bit larger.

She heard him flipping through the pages, mumbling to himself as he wondered whether on not the strange book was of any significance to his suspicions.

"Can she even read this?" He muttered quietly as he carefully lifted the large object off of the table and closer to his line of vision, struggling to see the strange, foreign words. He didn't have the night vision Tat possessed, and for him the numerous letters and pictures were blurring together. The book however, was much heavier than he anticipated, and it fell clumsily from his grip, bumping off the edge of the table and falling open to the floor with a loud thud.

Tat heard Popka curse as he quickly bent over to try to pick it up, praying that it wasn't damaged, and that no one had heard.

With a silent gasp, the hiding thief pressed herself against the nearest table leg, trying to be invisible as the dog-like investigator leaned over to where she could be plainly in sight. She kept her single eye closed, not letting it reflect the dim light that was coming in through the windows.

Regardless, the white side of her body stood out a bit in the darkness, and as Popka fumbled with the book's weight, it eventually caught his eye.

"Hmm…what?" He reached out carefully, hand open to grab whatever it was that was hidden under the table. However, the second he made contact, the object jerked, and a yellow eye flew open.

They both shrieked at almost the same time, their cries echoing down the halls.

Surely someone had heard that.

"Tat?" Popka just stared in amazement, almost unable to believe his eyes as she realized what he was seeing.

Panicked, the thief scurried out from her hiding place while her discoverer was still stunned. She looked around quickly for the money box she had been originally sent to find, dismay filling her when she didn't immediately see it. Leorina would be furious if she came back empty-handed, especially considering how much time she had already taken.

Tat didn't have time to search, however. Doors could be heard opening from throughout the corridors, and the sound of groggy voices was slowly filling the area nearby. Some of the temple's occupants had been awakened.

If she stayed there any longer, she could be found out, and that was something the thief couldn't risk.

Not knowing what else to do, Tat grabbed the mysterious book that was still lying on the floor. Like Popka, she had some trouble lifting it, but she had to leave with something. Leorina still wouldn't be happy, but maybe they could sell the strange object for a fair amount of money anyway – surely there must be some old collector somewhere that would go crazy over it… Or at least, she hoped.

Out of time, she hurried towards a window that she had noticed in the corner of the room by the shelves. It was high up, by she managed to half-jump, half-float to the top shelf. She couldn't help that a few things were pushed off in the process, terrible cracks heard as the rare items hit the ground.

Thankfully, despite it's fancy design, the window was in fact the kind that could be opened. It was a bit stiff, but she managed somehow and quickly made her exit, still carrying the book. She closed the window before leaping off the outdoor sill, hoping that it would look less suspicious that way.

After she made her landing on the soft grass that covered the grounds around the temple, she immediately hurried back towards the front of the building from the outside – headed in the direction of the place where her partner was waiting.


Hmm… Perhaps a bit long for just a prologue – I don't seem to be very good at keeping things short. ...Well, anyway, please let me know what you think!