This is what my version of what Lunar 3 is. I hope you like it, even though
there are some things I borrowed from Lunar 2 to create a prologue. It's
about a guy named Ravin and his blue cat Joon. And that's all I'm gonna
tell you.
Hovering silently in space, the arid orb drowning in the Blue Star's shadow was once a colorless location, ill-suited for habitation. However, Althena the goddess of light and love, converted this world, teaming it with life and magic. She renamed this new creation Lunar. Time and circumstance conspired to force Althena to inhabit Lunar with survivors from the Blue Star, when life was held in a delicate balance. Through time, the Blue Star loomed as the only constant in the new world. Centuries and centuries came and gone, eventually making inhabitants of Lunar mind the Blue Star.
The Blue Star's misrecollection occured after evil approached Lunar for the first time. After Dragonmaster Dyne gave his life being sent on a mission for Althena. Former member of the Four Heroes, Ghaleon, never forgave her for that. Avenging his closest friend, Ghaleon killed the present tribe of the Four Dragons. He captured the goddess's last rebirth in human form, knowing it was her from his horrible experience the time before. However, he was defeated by the last of the Dragonmasters. A Dragonmaster named Alex, who had fallen in love with Althena's human form. She and Alex spent the remainder of their lives together.
One-thousand years after Ghaleon tried to subdue Lunar, it was once again threatened. Zophar, the dark god that had destroyed the Blue Star, had returned to try to conquer Lunar, as well. His return awakened Lucia, protector of the Blue Star. She had journeyed to Lunar on a quest to find Althena. On her search, Lucia fell in love with a young man named Hiro. Eventually on Lucia's quest, it was revealed that Althena no longer existed, for she wanted to remain human with her beloved Alex. Only her power remained of her. Along with that information, Lucia learned that the power to defeat all evil was in humans. At first, Lucia didn't think it was that simple, but she finally realized that humanity was the key to vanquish Zophar. With Zophar's ashes remaining, Lucia mournfully returned to the Blue Star to await its awakening, dispite the love between Hiro and herself. But Hiro refused to let this happen and undertook a quest to be reunited with his dear Lucia. He experienced this happy reunion and they lived together on the Blue Star for many a year. Both also agreed that Lucia remained a goddess for the sake of the Blue Star's future.
After Hiro's death and the Blue Star almost completely restored, Lucia requested that the Four Dragons protect Lunar. The Dragons accepted. Sometime afterwards, the Blue Star was attained at last. However, it had no knowledge of magic. And Lucia cast a magic aura around Lunar, making it appear desolate to anyone from the Blue Star, who could not travel to it by any means of magic. Without magic, technology once again became the primary aid of humanity.
A century after the restoration of the Blue Star, our story begins...
LUNAR 3
Chapter One: And So It Begins...
There's just nothing left to live for anymore once your most loved one has gone and left you just as soon as you meet him. After the restoration of the Blue Star, immortality for Lucia has been boring and almost loveless. People on her newly restored world don't seem to have any gratitude for their creator, but they needed her no matter what she thought.
Lucia sighed. Surveying the endless expanse of snowy peaks, from the Blue Tower's icy ledges, thinking about her beloved Hiro, missing him so horribly. His death is now beginning to get unbearable. She wouldn't have lived like this if she'd just give up her immortality for him. She sighed again, more softly this time, wrapping Hiro's old cloak around her shoulders, her face. Lucia closed her eyes, using her other senses to remind her of Hiro. His cloak stilled smelled like him, and his memory always stayed fresh. She remembered that they had their first kiss on this ledge. Lucia's eyes snapped open when she felt a hand touch her cloth- covered shoulder. She turned to face who was standing there; it was her daughter. She looked just like her father with her hair as short as his was and his soft brown eyes. Her daughter was wearing the clothes that she gave her not so long ago.
"You know." she said, kindly. "There is a bedchamber of yours inside that you can think about Dad in, Mom. Not to mention, it is warmer too."
"Alright, Diana." Lucia followed her down the ledge and into the tower. Down the blue spiral stairs and into her bedroom. Diana had already made some hot tea for her mother to drink. She took the cup and sipped it gingerly as Lucia sat down on her bed. Diana sat down next to Lucia.
"Mom," she said, putting both of her hands on her knees and stretching out her arms as if she had something up her sleeve.
"Mmm, hmm?" Lucia asked, still having some sort of clue of what she will be asking her.
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like for us to see the humans and how they live and such?"
"No, Diana. Absolutly not."
"Why not?"
"You do not know? You should because we have already been through this several times and I am not going to start changing my mind about it."
"Oh, come on, Mom!" Diana begged. "Please...?"
"The answer you are groveling for is not going anywhere passed my lips."
"Oh..." she whined.
"I do not want you to live through what I am right now." Lucia told her putting the cup down on a nearby nightstand. "If we did go down to the humans, you would probably fall in love with one. If there is anything I do not want, it is for you to suffer the loss of one you share your life with. You know that WE could not go down to see the humans, we are immortal. Your Father was a mortal and he was the only one who could go."
"And all these years, you just said it would be a waste of time." Diana remarked.
"And I am sorry for that." She started to tear up, as she thought of Hiro. She sniffed and sat back on the bed, buring her face in her hands to sob. Diana wrapped her arms around her mother. She was starting to cry at the memories of Hiro, also.
"It is going to be alright, Mom." she whispered. "I miss Dad too."
* * *
Ravin gently placed a small girl in the top bunk of a bed. The girl had white hair with a pastel pink shimmer to it.
Ravin covered her up with a pink blanket before climbing down the ladder.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his, also, white hair, which had two auburn stripes on both sides of his head. He walked out of the room.
"Dad!" Ravin whispered down the hall, loud enough to be heard. "Bianca's asleep now!" Just then, a man with white bushy hair with one brown stripe running down the middle of his mophead walked into view.
"Ravin, I think your sister can put herself to bed." he said.
"I was feeling generous, okay?" Ravin flung his arms in the air.
"Nall!" called the voice of a woman from the kitchen.
"What?" Nall called back, looking away from his son.
"Come here for a minute!!"
Nall sighed. "Could you check on the rest of the Dragon Kids while I help your mother, Ravin?"
"Sure!" he smiled. "Don't go away! I'll meet you in the kitchen!"
"What do you want, Ruby?" Nall asked, walking into the kitchen.
"Could you give me the salt out of the cuboard?" asked the pink- haired woman. This was Ruby, Ravin's mother. Unlike Nall, she had two white stripes in her hair, that was held up in a bun by a yellow bow, and freckles.
"Yep." Nall got the shaker out and started shaking it like crazy into the liquid Ruby was stirring.
"Alright, already!!" Ruby screamed. "That is ENOUGH!!!"
"Heh!" Nall laughed.
"Everything's okay in the playground, Mom and Dad." said Ravin walking up to his parents. "Can I take a little break? Carnival is around and I want to see it before it carries on."
"Sure, go ahead." said Ruby.
"Thanks!" Ravin started to trot out of the kitchen. "I'll be back in a few hours!!"
Ravin took the small elevator down to the bottom of Taben's Peak and started to sprint out of the area. He was so happy to get away from there for a while he didn't hear someone calling his name from behind.
"Hey, Dragon-ditz! Wait UP!"
Ravin groaned as he stopped in his tracks. He smiled when he saw who it was. It was a blue cat with wings, flying towards him. She was a baby blue color with a dark blue stripe along her back. She had a white belly, blue paws, green feathers underneath her wings, and a red ball of fur on the tip of her tail.
"Hurry, Joon." Ravin laughed.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Joon complained. "Didn't you hear me call you, Ravi?" she asked, when she finally caught up to him. "For a second there I thought you went deaf after that little brat screamed in your ear."
"Nope. I'm just excited to leave for a while." Ravin replied. "Your favorite carnival is around." He gave the cat a devilish look. "I'm going there the easy way."
"Ravin! You can't here!" Joon shrieked. "Not unless you want trouble from people and your folks! If THEY find out you did, you'll come up to me one day and say, 'Start my will, Joon, 'cuz I'm not coming home'."
"No! I'm just going to change right now and then transform inside a cave or somthing." Ravin stepped inside of the trees and stayed quiet for a while. His body started to glow and then change from the shape of a human into the shape of a cat with wings, somewhat like Joon. Once his transformation was over, Ravin looked just like Joon, only he was white.
"Brillient, Sherlock." Joon muttered. The two cats started to take flight into the air, away from Taben's Peak. "I still don't know why you can change into a human and I can't."
"You're still too young." Ravin's voice was high and squeaky. "Next year, you'll be able to."
"But I'm older than Bianca." objected Joon. "How is it that SHE'S human and I'm not?"
"She was born as a human." Ravin explained. "Not a Dragon, like you were."
"Oh..." Joon nodded.
* * *
Lucia woke up the next morning. She reached her arm over to embrace Hiro, like she used to. Just like the many years previously, he wasn't there. Lucia sat up in bed trying to wake up. Once she felt the strength to stand, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and slipped little pink cat slippers on her feet. She raised her arms above her head and stretched. As she walked out into the next room and put her robe on, Lucia looked around, sensing that Diana wasn't in the tower. If Lucia knew her daughter, she was probably outside.
Lucia looked straight up the tower. As the walls towered up, stairs making it look like a vortex, they gradually faded into darker shades of blue. She walked up the stairs a ways, until she came to the first door that led outside. Diana wasn't out there. She tried the next door up. She wasn't out there either. After a while, until Lucia made it to the last door, she saw her on an icy ledge. She NEVER came this high up the tower! Lucia walked closer to her. Diana was beginning to look more clear to her. She was gazing up. Lucia did also, trying to see was she was staring at. Then she saw the only thing visable in the sky. Lunar. Oh, no. Lucia thought. Don't tell me she's thinking about going to Lunar. She shrugged, knowing what was coming her way if she disturbed her thoughts. Lucia took the risk and tapped her on the shoulder. Diana whipped her head back and simpered a sinister smile at her mother. The one she always does when she wants something.
"Hiya, Mom!" she cried, happily. "Did you sleep well? Have a good breakfast?"
"What do you want?" Lucia asked crossing her arms.
"Nothing." Diana said without missing a beat.
"Not when it comes to you. You want SOMETHING."
"No, of course I do not." she snickered. "What made you think that I wanted something?"
"Let us just call it a lucky guess."
"Well, you guessed right." groaned Diana. "Since I cannot visit humans on the Blue Star, I was thinking...maybe that I could...visit humans on Lunar?"
"Diana, there are no humans on the moon." Lucia lied.
"Then who is Ronfar?"
"Uh..."
"Who is Jean? Who is Ruby, and Lemina, and Leo, and Nall?"
"They are uh..."
"You visited Lunar, did you not?" Diana started to laugh. "Those are all PEOPLE you met on LUNAR, huh? Do not try to deny it, Mom. I heard you and Dad talk about how much you miss them when I was a child."
I cannot win this argument, Lucia thought. I cannot let her not go to at least SEE Lunar now that she knows there's life. "You are right," she said to her, shrugging. "I have to let you go, eventually."
"Oh..." Diana whined, softly. "Do not think of it that way, Mother."
"Okay," she sighed. "You may go. But I have to give you a few warnings and some adivce, first."
* * *
"Are you ready, Diana?" Lucia asked her daughter, standing next to her outside of the transmission room. She was dressed in a leather skirt, being supported by a belt with a bag of Herbs and hanging on it was the sheathe that held her sword, and a long-sleeved tight shirt. She was also wearing her father's cloak. Diana breathed slowly and put her hand on the Dragon head of Althena's Sword. She looked around the hall and then the transmission room. "Diana?" Lucia asked as she looked down and then back up.
"Yes." she said calmly. Then she smiled. "Yes, I am ready."
"Okay," Lucia embraced her. "I will miss you." Lucia backed away and looked at Diana.
"I will miss you too."
"Remember not to tell anyone you are from the Blue Star." she told her. "Unless you want to answer questions I do not think they need to know the answer to."
"I know." Diana beamed. "I will be back." Then the transmission room started to glow from the liquid crystal hovering in the center. As her cape and short hair blew straight up from the magical winds, Diana was lifted from the ground and was being brought to the transmission crystal. The closer she got to it, the brighter the blue light shown.
Lucia was blocking her eyes from the light, her hair blowing all over her face. As long as the shadow her arms casted over her eyes, Lucia was able to watch Diana. As she was entering the crystal, it seemed as if she was plunging into a tranquil pond. Before her face was inside of it, Diana called to her mother:
"I love you, Mom!"
"I love you, too!!"
Then Diana couldn't speak anymore, for she was completely inside (It is difficult to speak inside of it, anyway). Now that Diana entered the liquid crystal, the beam of light illuminated the blue-green crystal which is now slowly rotating on its vertical axis. Then it radiated a vaporous green energy. A faint silhouette of Diana faded, as did the crystal afterwards.
Lucia stood outside of the room in silence. She sighed as she headed for her room. On her nightstand was a framed picture of Hiro, Diana as a baby, and herself. The three of them were on a deck of the Destiny. Hiro was cradeling Diana and Lucia was linking arms with one of his. Hanging around the frame of the picture was Lucia's Pendant, which had stopped working her after she restored the Blue Star. Lucia sat on her bed and stared at Hiro's face in the picture. Hiro, She thought. please look after our daughter and protect her.
* * *
Ravin was now in his Dragon form, flying above the Salyan Desert, with Joon hanging on for dear life to his head.
"I thought we were going to Carnival?!" Joon yelled over the wind.
"I want to go at night." replied Ravin. "Besides, monsters are out this time of day."
"But that'll take hours!!"
"On the contrary, kitty-cat." Ravin grinned. "Not if we can find somthing to do to pass the time. How about some loop-de-loops?"
"Nuh-uh, Ravin!" Joon refused. "No, no, and double no! I'll freak!"
"I'm just gonna do one!" Ravin shifted his feathered wings upward and he started flying up and around. Somewhere within that time, Joon fell off his head. But when Ravin completed the circle of the loop, she landed roughly on his back.
"What are you trying to do to me, Dragon-ditz?!" Joon shouted. "Give me a heart attack?!"
"A couple more, Joon." Ravin started to do the same thing.
"NO--AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the baby Blue Dragon screamed. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!! I'm going to throw up! And then I'm gonna die!! Mommy, make it STOP!!!"
"Azura's snoozing in her cave, Joon!" Ravin mocked.
"Please, Ravin." Joon begged. "No more."
"Alright, Joon. I was just playing around--huh?" Ravin's ears twitched and he looked across the desert. He saw the Blue Spire. It was doing something he had never seen before. "The Blue Spire," he said. "It's glowing."
"Maybe Lucia's here for a visit?" Joon guessed. Ravin started to fly closer to the spire. Within each minute, the tower glowed into a brighter blue.
"I sense a very powerful aura in that spire." he layed his ears back.
"Do you think it's Lucia or a...m-momster?" Joon was getting frightened.
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." Ravin started to fly closer to the Spire. But he got a little too close. The powerful aura he sensed was growing stronger and soon it grew so strong, it flung him back with a tremendous force. He and Joon were flying back for miles.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!" They screamed. Ravin landed in a forest, while Joon kept on flying back. He landed on his head and smacked onto the dirt onto his belly. He started to transform back into a human with all of the strength he lost. He tried to stand back up.
"Ugh. Whoa." Ravin moaned as he tried to find his balance.
"THERE you are!" called Joon from afar. "What WAS that?" she asked.
"I...I'm not sure." he said, nearly breathless.
"How are we gonna get to Carnival NOW?"
"I would change back into a Dragon but I don't have enough strength for that form, yet." He looked around. "Well, we're in the Katarina Zone alright. And in the Starlight Forest."
"Starlight Forest?"
"Only the largest woods next to the Illusion Woods."
"Is Carnival outside of these woods?"
"I think so."
"Well, alrighty then!! Let's get goin'!"
* * *
Diana walked out of the Blue Spire and looked around the Salyan Desert. She was awe-inspired at the scenery of the place next to the ocean.
"Wow." she breathed. "So this is Lunar." Diana then remebered that she felt something hit her magic aura as she was coming out of the Transmission Crystal. "I wonder what I hit? I better head in that direction and make sure whatever it was is okay." She started to head West, towards the Starlight Forest.
* * *
Ravin and Joon were almost out of the forest. All they had to do was defeat this last group of monsters.
"FLAME BOMB!!!" Ravin casted a fire spell at a gang of Green Goblins. They disappeared in a puff of red smoke. The last monster left was a Hobgoblin. It was running towards Ravin swinging its club in the air. It hit Ravin the groin, knocking him to the ground.
"Ugh!" Ravin plopped onto the dirt. "Ah..." he groaned.
"Hey!!" Joon shouted, flying towards the monster. She blew some bubbles in its face, weakening it a little. Ravin found the strength to sit up. He threw his dagger at the Hobgoblin's hairy chest. It roared as it disappeared, like the Green Goblins before him, in a red puff of smoke.
"Ha, ha, ha! You okay, Ravi?" Joon asked.
"Ow." he sqeaked.
"Heh! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!!"
It was evening now when the two of them entered the gates to Carnival and Joon was still snickering at Ravin for the little incident with the Hobgoblin.
"Shut up, Joon." Ravin growled. He pointed at the dancers dancing around the bonfire. "Let's just watch the show."
It was almost midnight when Diana came out of the Starlight Forest. Once she came to an opening, she saw groups of people dancing to music upon a stage. What are they celebrating? Diana thought. They are dancing...Mom said she was taught how to dance. I think I will give it a try. Diana walked onto the platform and started to dance like everyone else. She was quite good at it.
Ravin was sitting out of the dance, eating a funnel cake with chocolate on it. He tore a piece off and gave it to Joon, who was sitting next to him. She started to eat it pigishly, chocolate all over her face. While he was eating a piece of the cake himself, Ravin looked up at the dancers and saw a beautiful blue-haired young woman. Ravin started to color, then choke on his pastery at the sight of her.
"Ravin. Ravin!" Joon yelled, flying up in front of his face. "Breathe! Breathe, you fool, breathe!! You know, inhale, exhale, the whole breathing thing." When Ravin didn't respond, Joon took a deep breath and started to wildly claw at his face.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!" he screamed, swallowing what he was choking on. Everyone at Carnival stopped and looked at Ravin. He started to blush for he had never gotten this much attention before. "Okay...umm..."
Ravin and Joon fell asleep during some slow music. Ravin woke up to see that all of the tourists were gone, even the beautiful girl he saw dancing on the stage was gone. He sat up, stretched, and then picked Joon up and started carring her home.
* * *
Diana was walking outside of the Taben's Woods, holding tightly onto the handle of Althena's Sword, ready for anything that came her way. She stopped when she saw a huge oddly-shaped tower ahead of her. She gathered her courage and walked towards it to see if anyone was in there and if they'd allow her to stay.
She climbed some ladders and stairs. Diana stopped when she heard a growl behind her. She looked around, wide-eyed, for what snarled.
"Tttcccchhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
"Wha--?" Diana turned around to see a Wyburn vault at her. "NAPALM SHOT!!!" Diana casted a spell at it. Because of her fear, Diana didn't kill the monster. She only weakened it. The Wyburn bounded at her again. "NAPAL-- " Before she could cast her spell, the monster was already on top of her, clawing and biting at her.
"Aah!" Diana screamed.
"Rrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!"
Before Diana knew it, the Wyburn was dead. She wiped the blood of the monster from her cheek.
"You alright, miss?" asked a man. Diana faced him. It was Nall.
"A bit shaken and tired, but yes, I am alright."
The man held out a hand for her and helped her up. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was..." Diana covered up the hilt of her sword. "Looking for a place to stay."
"Well, you can stay here, if you want."
"Thank you very much, sir."
The two of them walked over to the nearby elevator that was in control of a child during the day. They headed up at the push of a button.
"Are you hungry?" Nall asked.
"Quite." Diana replied.
"Then, I'll--Well, Ruby will--make something for you." They walked into the kitchen, where Ruby was, sitting in her pajamas.
"Thanks for nothing, Nall...Your screaming woke me up." Ruby retorted. She looked at Nall's company.
"Could you make her something to eat, Ruby Dearest?" grinned Nall. "She is hungry."
Hmm, Nall and Ruby. Diana thought. These two were either named after the two Dragons or they are--
"Sure!" Ruby exclaimed. "What would you like uh...umm..."
"Diana. My name's Diana."
"Diana..." Ruby tried the name out. "What would you like to eat?"
"It does not matter."
"Cookies?"
"Okay!"
Nall looked around and noticed that Ravin wasn't here. "Where's Ravin?"
"He must still be at Carnival with Joon." Ruby replied, getting cookies out of the cookie jar.
"It's not like him to be THIS late." Nall sighed. "Maybe I should go look for them."
"Don't bother." The voice came from Ravin from down the hall. He walked into the kitchen and yawned, Joon hanging over his shoulder. His head perked up noticing who was in the room. "W-Who's this, Dad?" He was looking at Diana.
"This is Diana." Nall replied. "She'll be staying with us for a while. If that's okay with you."
"As if he had a choice." Ruby snickered.
Ravin was speechless, starting to turn red and still staring at Diana, who was staring at him.
"Good. I'm glad that's settled." said Nall. "Ravin...Ravin!"
"Oh! Uh...Joon and I are gonna catch a few winks." Ravin walked out of the room. "Good night."
"Good night." said the three in the kitchen.
* * *
Diana was given a spare room next to Ravin's to sleep in. She was groaning and sweating, captured in the hands of some nightmare. In her dream, she saw her mother, younger. In her vision, she saw Lucia floating in a blue translucent sphere, several hundred feet in front of the dark god Zophar and several hundred feet above the surface of the dried-up Minea Sea. Lightning crashed through the sky. Diana could see her mother's lips moving, seeming to be arguing with Zophar. Another bolt of lightning shatters the silence. Then Diana could see the deck of the Dragonship Destiny, where her father, Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Ruby watch Zophar and Lucia face off. Diana could see Zophar's emotionless red eyes, making her jump in her sleep. Zophar's head suddenly emerges from his body, his neck extending to an obscene length. Zophar positioned his face only a few feet away from Lucia. Diana's dream cut to Lucia, thrusting her hand into the air, screaming a spell. Streaks of magic rush into her fingers. Lucia's hand wavers, causing the glow of magic to flicker and dim. Diana's dream rapidly zooms out from Zophar's red eyes. One of the dragon appendages appears in frame and screams. It spits out a massive ball of light. The ball of light rips across the muddy hole which once contained the Minea Sea, headed straight toward the Destiny. The dream cut to Lucia, who moves in front of the Destiny at impossible swiftness. The ball of light smashes into her and shatters. The white light disappears. Lucia gasps and turns to see Zophar, who moved his head directly in front of her. Then a fusillade of jagged purple daggers plunge into Lucia and form a spiky purple ball. Lucia screams. The dream went to Lucia wailing, inside the purple ball, in what must be an ungodly amount of pain. Zophar bites down on the ball and his neck refracts backward. Hiro screams Lucia's name. Zophar's head slithers back into his body. The vision cut to Lucia's face. Her eyes are closed tight. She struggles to extend her hand. Lucia opens her eyes and her hand at the same time, unleashing a blinding explosion of white light.
Diana gasps and sits up in her bed. Her eyes are opened wide as if she was blinded by the light in her dream. She wipes the sweat from her forehead as she noticed that it was only a bad dream. Diana lied back down in her bed, trying to calm down. She pulled the blankets over her nose and tried to fall back asleep.
Diana woke up a few hours after her dream. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched until her aching bones cracked. She stood up and brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt. As she wrapped her father's cloak over her shoulders, Diana walked out of her room and onto the playground. The nightmare she had didn't seem to bother her anymore.
As she walked down the hall, Diana noticed all of the different children in the rooms. Most of them were having little conversations from across the room.
Hmm...Diana thought, looking out at the playground. Taben's Peak. Diana walked out to the edge of the playground. "I have heard of Taben from somewhere before." she whispered. "But...how could such a wonderful place be named after such an evil person?"
"Taben was a famous inventor."
Diana whipped her head around, to see Nall, trying to stand on a swing.
"You do know that, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, but I do not really know much about him. Do you?" Nall nodded. "Please tell me."
"Well, the reason why this place was named after Taben was because he was a famous inventor." Nall looked for more to say, for he was repeating himself. "He invented almost any kind of technology you can think of. He was also a friend to a more famous inventor slash scientist, named Myght." Nall licks his lips. "I guess that Taben was jealous of Myght somewhere in his life and that's probably the reason why he teamed up with umm...Ghaleon." Diana blinks. "That's when Taben created the Grindery: A thirty story, at least, mechanical castle that combined technology with magic, making it almost invincable--"
"NALL!!!" Ruby yelled, snatching Nall's ear. "Can I talk to you for a moment, DEAR?!"
"Yes," Nall screamed. "Now let go of my freakin' ear!"
The couple walked off to the opposite side of the playground, leaving Diana confused. Her facial expression proved her confusion.
"What?!" Nall yelled.
"You know what!" Ruby shouted. "Don't play innocent child on me!"
"What did I do?"
"Men." she scoffed. Nall raised an eyebrow. "I think you told Diana a LITTLE too much after mentioning Myght."
"Doh!" Nall slapped himself in the forehead. "You don't think she knows, do you?"
"I'm not sure." she also raised an eyebrow. "But if she does know, she'll keep it a secret, making us feel miserable."
"Do you think she'll blurt it out?"
"She won't for a price."
"Gah!"
"I hope I did not do anything to get you two upset." said Diana.
Ruby turned to Diana. "Okay, so, now you know!" Ruby took a deep breath. "Taben was a famous inventor; he created the Grindery and turned to evil. Nobdy knows what happened to him after that, and obviously nobody cares anymore because he helped try to destroy the world." A baby started to cry in the background, sparing Nall and Ruby any more explaining to Diana. The two of them walked off again, once again leaving Diana confused. Once again, Diana went after them.
"Excuse me, you two." Diana cleared her throat, as Nall and Ruby looked at her. "I am not from around here and I am not familiar with this area. I was wondering if you could give me a tour of the place?"
Nall and Ruby exchanged a worried glance, then they grinned. "We can't right now." said Nall.
"But Ravin can." Ruby called her son.
"Yeah?" he answered from the door outside of the playground. Ravin jogged up to his parents with Bianca on his shoulders, Joon on Bianca's shoulders. Ravin started to blush, when he noticed Diana looking at him.
"Diana wants a tour of the places around here." Ruby told him. "Would you take her?"
"Uh..." Once again, Ravin was speechless and colored.
"Good!" Nall smiled. "I'm glad that's settled. Go on! Time's a- wastin'!"
"Well, let's go, Diana, Joon." Ravin put his little sister on the ground. Joon flew towards the door.
"Behave, you two!" Bianca giggled at Ravin and Diana.
"Don't worry, B." Joon snickered, winking at Bianca. "I'll make sure they do!"
* * *
On their way to the first destination, Meribia, the three of them talked about things that they liked; didn't like. Ravin seemed to be asking all of the questions, making Diana uptight about her secret.
"So, what do you like about the Katarina Zone, Diana?" Ravin asked.
"I am not even from this continent, Ravin." Diana pointed out. "I do not know much, just yet."
"Where do you come from, then?" Joon asked.
"The--" Diana bit her lip. She quickly thought up a lie. "Burg."
"Oh..." Joon breathed.
"How about I ask the questions, Ravin?" Diana asked. "There is so much I want to know about this place and yourself!"
"Okay. Shoot."
"Shoot what?" Diana wasn't used to the slang Ravin was usually using when speaking. Her mother never used it and her father never had to use the expression "shoot."
"I mean, start asking me questions...please..." Ravin knew that girls liked polite-ness in guys. And he liked Diana, so he figured that manners would make a good im-pression.
"What do YOU like, Ravin?" Diana asked.
"I like...food...and young women."
(I sure hope so!) Joon mumbled.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"
"Ha, ha, ha!" Diana laughed. "I am guessing you two do this often. You must really care about each other."
"Joon's is, like, my best friend. It's hard to stay mad at her."
"Oh, sure! You say it to HER, but not to MY face." Joon sighed. "Oh, well. Now I'LL ask some questions. What do you two think of each other?" Ravin and Diana looked at each other and blushed. "Ravin?"
"I-I--"
"I knew it!" Joon exclaimed. "I KNEW Ravin had the hots for Diana!"
"No--Joon!"
"Say it with me, Ravi, 'I have the hots for Diana'!"
"Oh, look, Diana! Meribia! Let's hurry!" Ravin akwardly jogged towards the large city, with Joon flying to catch up to him, leaving Diana behind. She smiled to herself.
After Ravin showed all of the weapon, armor, and item shops there was in Meribia, it was after lunchtime, so the three of them decided to see what places there were to eat at. Ravin was grumbling to himself in disgust at how in this entire city there was only one restraunt, that was actually a pub.
"How pitiful!" Ravin whispered, loud enough to be heard by his companions. "This huge city called Meribia only has one freakin' place to eat and THIS had to be it!" He waved his arms in the air at the look of the inside of the bar. Drunken dogs were everywhere: hanging onto tables, chairs around their necks, people drooling on the floor, which was coated in beer.
"At least they have fish." Joon added, cowering onto Ravin's shoulder. She had seen a hairy Beastman lick his lips in hunger at the sight of the blue cat. Joon looked around, noticing that Diana wasn't beside Ravin. "Where's Diana?"
"Ugh!" Ravin slapped his forehead. "I totally forgot about her! Di--" Ravin turned around and nearly started to call for Diana when he saw that she was right behind him. "Sigh...You scared me, Diana."
"I am sorry." she apologized.
"It's okay." Ravin sighed again. "Let's find a place to sit." He looked around and saw that the front was the only place to sit. He and Diana both sat down in a chair and waited for someone to serve them.
There was a blonde man, with a black bandana around his forehead, sitting two chairs away from the three people, staring at Joon. The man was drunk.
"Aaahhhhhh!!" Joon shrieked, being plucked off of Ravin's shoulder.
"Iz dis som kinda robotic toy?*BELCH*" The man eructed, pulling at Joon's face.
"Lemme GO!!" Joon yelled, trying to scratch the man's face.
"Umm...pardon me, sir." said Ravin gently pulling the blue cat away from the man. "That is my cat you're holding there."
"Ex-CUSE me?! I am NOT a cat!" Joon shouted, being thrown onto the chair behind Ravin.
"Whad are ya, my motha?!" yelled the man, talking a swing at Ravin, missing the first time, hitting his jaw the second time.
"Ow! That HURT!" Ravin yelled, popping his jaw back in place, cracking it. "For someone so stringy, you sure can--" Before Ravin could say or do anything else, the blonde man swung a chair and hit Ravin's head, knocking him out.
"Ravin!!" Diana and Joon went over to Ravin's side. "Are you okay?" Diana asked.
"You ball-less idiot!!!" The baby Dragon insulted the man.
"What da bloody 'hell's goin' on 'ere?!" yelled a strong voice.
"Aah! It's Fional!! Let's get outta here!!!" howled a group of outlaws. All of them ran out the door, except for one, who jumped out the window.
"Git outta me way or I'm gonna shoot ya in da face!" The Beastman yowled at a person who was in his way at walking towards Ravin. The man, who the group of men called Fional, had an Austrailian accent and was wearing lightweight armor and a pack full of arrows. He had auburn hair and two red tattoos of stripes on his cheeks. "Ya alright?" he asked the small group. Diana and Joon nodded. Fional looked at the blonde man who had the chair in his hands and raised his eyebrows. Fional beared his fangs as the man set the chair down and sat in it. "Come wit me." said the Beastman, throwing Ravin over his shoulder. Diana and Joon followed him into the Meribia mansion.
Fional took the party to his room upstairs and set Ravin, who was still out cold, on his bed.
"Sit tight. I'll be right back." said Fional, walking out of his room, closing the door behind him. Fional's room had a dark wooden floor and varieties of armor hanging on his wall. In the corner across from the bed was a large dresser, and next to that was a mirror the size of his head.
Diana stayed quiet for a while and looked at Joon, who was staring down, concerned, at Ravin. Diana layed one hand on Ravin's forehead, where his wound was.
"Diana, what are you doing?" Joon asked.
"Shh. I am going to heal him."
"But--" But before Joon could tell Diana that that kind of healing magic isn't heard of in the Katarina Zone, Diana's hands started to glow light green. When the girl removed her hands, the glow lingered on the wound, that wasn't there anymore, then disappeared. "W-Who are you, Diana?! Only Priests have THAT kinda magic!"
"Well, I--"
"I'm back!" called Fional, opening the door with a chunk of frozen meat in his hand. "Put dis on 'is wo--" The Beastman noticed that Ravin was starting to sit up, unharmed. "Oh,"
"Where am I?" Ravin whispered, looking at his surroundings. He looked at Fional, who was walking over to the party. "Did you bring me here?"
"Yep."
"Thank you."
"Yer welcome." Fional twitched his long ears with delight. "What are yer names, eh?"
"I'm Ravin. This is Diana, and Joon."
"The one and only!" exclaimed Joon.
"Heh," The Beastman laughed. He looked at Ravin, who glanced at Diana. "Date?"
"I think it's Friday the 13th." said Joon.
"No, I mean, is Ravin and Diana on one?"
"No," Diana bolted. "we are just--"
"I'm sorry, I thought ya were--"
"I-It's okay." said Ravin. "Sorry to cause you such trouble. We should get going."
"It was nice to meet ya. I'll see ya around, then?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Joon. "Seeya, Fional!"
"Date." Joon snickered.
"Shut up!" Ravin shouted. "Your the one who didn't know what he meant!"
"What is a date?" Diana asked.
"A date is a..." Ravin bit his lip thinking up a good definition. "An engagement between two people of the opposite sex."
"Oh,"
"You've never heard of one?"
"No, I have not."
"Actually, I've never been on one either."
(I doubt you could even get one.) Joon muttered.
"What was that?!" howled Ravin. "I bet I could get one!"
"Like Diana?"
"... ... ..."
"How about it?" Joon asked, flying onto the girl's shoulder. "You'd like to go on an engagement with Ravi, wouldn't you?"
"Sure, I would." she answered, smiling that same soft smile.
"Then it's settled! Tonight!"
"Umm, Joon?" Ravin asked, as he started to blush. "Can I ask you a question--?"
"Okay, okay, tomorrow then. Now onto the next city!" Joon started to fly to the city of Vane.
"Wait, Joon! That's not what I was going to ask!"
* * *
After Ravin and Joon showed Diana Vane, Nota, and the new town of Schorr, Diana waited for the other two in the playground.
"Why did you do that, Joon?" Ravin asked the cat, who was hovering in the air. The two of them were having the conversation in Ravin's room. "You know Diana gives me a tingling feeling inside whenever she's around. Don't you know how to get one's permission before blurting things out without thinking?"
Joon shook her head and grinned. "Nope."
"Well, learn." Ravin retorted. "Why do you want me to go with her, anyway?"
"It's good for you!" Joon squeaked. "You need to hang around people your age! You can't just spend the rest of your pathetic life being a total social outcast!"
"That's just the thing!" Ravin whispered. "I'm NOT human."
Joon sighed and flew out of Ravin's room.
Hmm. Ravin thought. My first date...Not that I need one...I could get one if I wanted to...I have the looks, the charm...Okay. I'll do it. Diana's a nice, quiet person. Nothing can possibly go wrong.
* * *
Ravin was nervously tapping his fingers on the table and biting his lip, staring at Diana, who was sticking her nose inside a menu. She was wearing one of Ruby's bright blue dresses, while Ravin just wore the nicest clothes he had: black baggy pants, a white t-shirt, and a leather vest.
The red-headed waitress looked very impatient, but she was trying to stay calm for the sake of her job. Diana handed her the menu.
"Okay."
"Okay, what?" asked the waitress.
"It...sounds good...?"
"But which one?" The waitress was starting to tear the pad of paper she was holding.
"Uh...All of them?"
The red-head looked at Ravin, who had the "she's not with me" look on his face.
"S-She'll have what I'm having." Ravin stuttered. The woman nodded and took the menus.
Joon was outside the window, watching Ravin and Diana's every move from a bush.
"This is my first day being Cupid and I don't wanna blow this up in smoke." Joon got in a more comfortable position. "I'll watch them VERY closly, so if Ravin kisses Diana, I'll be able to taunt him about it! *Giggle, snort* " No, Joon, she told herself. This is a good thing for Ravi. Don't make him regret it.
"What food did you order, by the way, Ravin?" Diana asked.
"Sushi."
"R-Raw fish?" she nearly turned green at the sound of it.
"Yeah!" Ravin smirked. "It's not as bad as you think. It's actually quite good."
"I will take your word for it."
Ravin looked around, noticing that everyone in the restraunt didn't have fish, or anything fish. No, Ravin thought. It's not obvious that I'm a Dragon just because I eat fish! This is Vane, they never eat fish!
After a while, the same red-headed waitress served the couple two plates of neatly cut and placed sushi.
"Enjoy your meal. My name is Liah, I'll be your waitress. If you need anything just hollar." She looked at Diana with a "do you understand" expression on her face.
"Thank you, Liah." the couple said, simutaneously. They started to eat.
"I take it they don't have restraunts in Burg, huh?" asked Ravin, interrupting Diana's stare at the Blue Star.
"N-No," She looked at Ravin, then at her food. As she started to eat it, Diana looked at the Blue Star now and again. "I have never eaten in one before."
Ravin noticed that Diana wouldn't stop looking at the Blue Star. So, he decided to bring the subject on that.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Ravin asked.
"Huh?" Diana blushed, looked at Ravin with an embarassed smirk.
"What?" Ravin asked.
"Were you talking to me?"
"No--I mean yes...I was talking about you--I mean, to you!" Ravin started to color. Diana gave him a confused look. She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say.
"Uh, the Blue Star! It's pretty!"
"...yes, I think it is very breathtaking. It is more beautiful from here." Diana wiped her mouth with the napkin, making sure she corrected herself speaking before her secret got out. "From Burg, that is."
"You are really interrested in it aren't you?" Ravin sounded surpised. "You are the first person I've met who is more into the Blue Star than I am!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Ravin beamed. "Nobody's been interested in the Blue Star for years!"
"Why is that?"
Ravin shrugged. "Ever since Lucia restored the Blue Star, people on Lunar just ignore it." Diana blinked.
"How do you know about that?" she whispered. She knew that people on Lunar aren't supposed to know about the restoration of the Blue Star, so that they don't travel to it and bring magic with them.
Ravin's eyes widened. His mouth was agape. "I-I..."
"I think you and I should talk." Diana said calmly.
Ravin looked out the window with a worried look on his face. Oh, no! Ravin thought. This isn't good. When Mom and Dad find out I blurted out their secret, they'll have a cow! He looked off to the side. And I'll probably lose Diana.
* * *
Somewhere in the middle of the Frontier, which have gotten smaller over the years, there were three markers as graves dug deeply into the dead earth. These three markers represented three of the many exiles Althena sent here. The markers read "Royce, Xenobia, and Taben".
"Taben, Royce, Xenobia,...the three of you have been offered another chance to succeed at what you have failed to do previously. AWAKEN!!! Your new master commands it!!"
At the command, three dead hands shot up from the ground where the markers were. The free hands removed gravel to reveal the bodies they were attached to. Once the entire bodies were standing over the dug-up graves, the zombies' eyes started to glow red.
There were two females and one male. One of the two women had short blonde hair, a blue tattoo of a bolt of lightning under her right eye, and was wearing a torn black cloak. The other woman had longer blonde hair and was wearing a revealing black dress, where you could see markings all over her scarred body. The man wore a torn purple cloak, broken glasses, and a dark brown beard.
"Now, come and obey me!!!" yelled the same voice that summoned the three exiles. The zombies screamed a war cry as they disappeared from their graves.
* * *
Ravin and Diana were quiet for the rest of the evening. Once they reached Schorr, they started to talk about how one knew what.
Schorr, the unimaginable dense, yet beautiful city, with winding roads and streets lined with little shops selling everything imaginable, but mostly sweets and fudge. The small sidewalks were littered with wooden benches and people. Large, different colored, heart shaped balloons were tied to almost every light post and door handle.
Couples walked hand and hand down the small cobblestone streets and a man sitting at an isle who was painting a portrait of a couple, was yelling at a man demon-strating a new shaped kite because he had gotten the string wrapped around the leg of the isle.
Others leaned against the railing of the large wooden bridge stretched over a large, man-made pond filled with small pebbles and turquoise water, while lilly pads floated on the surface. A large gold plaited statue of the Goddess Althena stood, spouting water from the base, in the middle.
"Now, Ravin," Diana started, calmly. "How do you know about the restoration of the Blue Star and Lucia?"
Ravin sighed. "To start it was all supposed to be a family secret, just between my parents, sister, and I. And...I am--Wait! How do YOU know about it--?"
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Ravin and Diana looked up when they heard a group of people scream in horror. More people were running out of the town, away from a certain area in Schorr.
Joon peeked out from a nearby bush, the shriek inturrupted her spying. "Huh?!" she gasped, falling out from her hiding place.
"Joon?!" The couple exclaimed.
"I thought you were with Azura?!" Ravin yelled over the crowd. Diana looked up at the name, but the sight of a familiar person caught her eye.
"That is Fional, is it not?" Diana asked. The Beastman was running from something, that soon followed afterwards. It looked like a giant dark green, two-headed snake with a green flaming mane.
"THAT?!" Joon screamed, right before some fat lady with a string of licorice hanging in her pudgy hand ran into her.
"No! Over there!" Diana pointed at Fional, who was drawing his bow and arrows and turning around to face the monster. He shot an arrow at the monster, missing it.
"Blast!" Fional cursed. The Serpant raised one of it's heads, with a roar, and swung at Fional, knocking him back.
"We've gotta help him!" Ravin yelled, running towards the Beastman. Diana and Joon followed. "Fional! Hold on!"
"Thank Althena." Fional called back to him after noticing the three of them, trying to stand up. As the party got in battle position, Joon flew higher in the air.
"What IS that thing?" she called down to them.
"They call it a BiSerpant." Fional replied. "It's chest seems to be it's weak spot. Aim for dat wit whatever kind o' weapons ya got!"
"Dammit, I left my dagger at home, Joon!" Ravin swore, feeling around his belt where he usually keeps it.
"Looks like you'll have to use your magic, Ravin." Joon responded, flying down in front of the two-headed snake, blowing bubbles in it's faces. The Serpant bellowed and threw its enormous heads in the air, launching its first attack on the party. It smacked the ground with it's heads, causing it to shake and break. Diana created a shield around herself, making herself hover inches above the ground so she didn't even feel the quake. However, Fional and Ravin were weakened by it after they recovered from falling. "FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional lobed an arrow at the monster. This time the arrow struck in the neck of the right head, making it shriek, revealing long, enormous needle-like teeth, dripping with venom. The head wavored, thrashing about in the air.
Just at that moment, Diana's sheild lost power and she dropped to her feet.
The flailing head with its dripping teeth lashed out at Diana, gripping her arm with its teeth and blocking her from getting away with one of its two claws.
"AHH! Get it off!" Diana cried, kneeling on the ground to relieve pressure, it not working at all. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time Ravin (Fional was distracting the left head with a swarm of Cupid's Arrows) had run to her side, unhinging the dead, lolling head from her arm. The monster's arm went limp. As soon as her wound hit oxygen, it started to bubble green, like acid.
Ravin ripped a small green pouch from his belt, and poured the contents, shredded, dried Purity Herb, over the wound, which dried up instantly, leaving nothing but perfect skin. Diana looked at him; Ravin looked at her. She mouthed the words "thank you" to him and he started to smile.
"Ravin, hit dis thin' wit somethin', will ya?! I keep missin'; de damn thing won't sit still, even when it's Charmed!" Fional called to him.
Ravin stood, raising his hands over his head and called, "FLAMING ICE!!!" With that, a large spout of frozen fire rose from the air, and shot at the remaining head, freezing it.
The Serpant finally disappeared in a puff of red smoke with the final blow from Ravin.
"Well, that was easy!" Joon grinned.
"Hmph, easy for ya maybe," Fional said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Fional, how did that thing get to Schorr?" Diana asked the Beastman, as she rubbed her once-wounded arm.
"Monsters come to Schorr every other day." Fional explained. "Ever since I met ya guys, they've been comin' in larger groups. I've been told by me Pop, Izmere, dat I was to protect Schorr from monsters. But NEVER 'ave I battled creatures like dat Serpant."
"If you like, we can help you protect Schorr." Ravin insisted.
"Beauty, mate! I'll tag along wit ya three until dese folk can protect demselves sometime!"
"Can we go home now, Ravin?" Joon yawned. "I'm getting sleepy."
* * *
The party then headed back to Taben's Peak. As Fional met Nall and Ruby, he took out a jug of wine and the three adults had their own little party getting drunk. Joon went to bed and Ravin and Diana went out to the playground to finish their conversation.
Diana first explained to Ravin that she was from the Blue Star and that she was the daughter of Lucia and Hiro.
"Hold the phone!" Ravin inturrupted. "You couldn't have SEEN the restoration of the Blue Star! That was years ago! That would make you at least 100 years old!"
"Yes...?"
"No, offense, I mean," Ravin pointed his finger at Diana, raised an eyebrow, and grinned. "Looking good, but--"
"What is wrong with being immortal?"
"Nothing, but...that's just the thing." Raving scratched his head, trying to laugh. "This is gonna be hard to explain to you, but...I am the son of Nall and Ruby, the White and Red Dragons. I am also immortal. Heh."
"As is Bianca, for she is your sister?" Diana made a face. "I-I mean-- "
"I know what you mean," he laughed. He sighed and shrugged. "So now you know..."
"And now you know that I am from the Blue Star."
It was past midnight when all of them went to bed; Ravin, Diana, Nall, Ruby, and Fional. The Beastman slept like a log on the floor in Ravin's room; Joon sleeping on Ravin's pillow.
Diana was in the arms of a nightmare again, only this time the dream was different. She dreamed of her mom, like she is now. She was standing in the doorway of the tower, looking up at Lunar. Diana saw a familiar demon- like shadow glide through space towards the Blue Star. It flew down the atmosphere and attacked Lucia with a magma bomb.
Diana's eyes snapped wide open and cried out her mom's name. She noticed it was just a dream and tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't.
"Hmm." Diana whispered. "I have never had this problem before." She tried to fall asleep again and again for several minutes, but still couldn't. She decided to go see if Ravin was awake. She walked down the hall and opened the door. "Ravin?" she whispered. No answer. "Ravin, are you awake?" she whispered a little louder.
"Huh...?" Ravin rolled over in his bed to face the door. "Diana, w- what is it?" He blinked at the light coming from the doorway and covered his eyes with his hand.
"It is kind of dumb, but I need to get it off of my chest..." She walked in. "So to speak."
"Here." Ravin sat up in his bed and patted the side of it, allowing Diana to sit. "What's bothering you at this time of night?"
"First of all, I am sorry for waking you."
"It's okay."
"Second, this might sound foolish to you, but I had this dream--" Diana put her hands on her knees. "And I know it is just a dream, however, this one was of my mother."
"Oh?"
"Something, that seemed so familiar to me, attacked her."
"What was it?"
"It was like a dragon, only not like Althena's Dragons, this one was larger and skeletal, and was more like a shadow."
"Do you think that this dream is something you're supposed to know?"
"I-I am not sure..." Diana looked at him, her eyes were almost tearing. "But what if it DOES mean something? What if something terrible is going to happen to my mother? I told my father that I would take care of her and the Blue Star if anything happened..." Diana's voice cracked in panick.
Ravin grabbed her hand, knowing she was afraid. "Diana, you are going to be just fine; Lucia's going to be fine. I promise."
"It is not just the vision that worries me, Ravin." Diana squeezed his hand. "When the time comes and I have to keep the Blue Star safe, I am afraid that no one nor my mom will be there to guide me. What if I mess up? What if...I...?"
"You won't be alone when you protect the Blue Star." Ravin put his hand under Diana's chin to have her look him in the eyes. "I promise you that Lucia will be there...and so will I." Diana really looked into his soft brown eyes. She could sense several feelings within his stare. A mixture of certainty, fear, and love. Love? How can that be? No one can fall in love in three days! Love at first sight was a myth! Diana didn't believe in that! But she knew what she saw and she saw that Ravin REALLY cared for her.
Ravin looked deeply into Diana's brown eyes. He saw something in them that he'd never seen before in a girl. What he saw in her eyes seemed to be her soul. Was Diana meant to be his love if he could see her soul? Ravin seemed to have no control over his hand when he brought Diana's lips to meet his own. Once their lips brushed against each other, with just the gentlest touch (which was probably as far as that kiss had gotten to) there were so many wonderful feelings at once.
Once they broke the incomplete-kiss, Ravin and Diana looked at each other lovingly. Ravin thought that he'd never feel love like this. He knew Diana loved him the way he did her. Diana squeezed his hand one more time before she stood up to walk back to her room. When she opened the door wide enough to walk through, she glanced back at Ravin and smiled. He smiled back. Diana walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ravin sighed and plopped back onto his pillow like he was on Cloud 9. Joon yowled in pain.
"Oh, crap! Joon! I'm SO sorry!" Ravin cried out.
"You almost broke my back, Dragon-ditz!" Joon yelled. "You big oaf!"
"I said I was sorry!"
* * *
Diana was still sleeping when it was morning. Ravin peeked in her room to see if she was waking up, but she was still asleep. He sat down on the floor outside her door. There was nothing to do since the kids were all eating whatever Ruby was making, Joon was in the Blue Dragon cave with her mother, and Fional had left for Schorr.
Diana's wonderful dream of a shirtless Ravin suddenly switched to her previous nightmare. The scream of Lucia caused Diana to wake up gasping and shrieking. Ravin, panicking, burst back into her room.
Diana screamed, as Ravin opened the door. "Ravin! Do you not know when to knock?!"
"I'm so sorry!!" Ravin covered his eyes and looked away from Diana in her nightgown. Diana sighed with relief and rushed over to him. "Take me to the Blue Spire! I think my mother is in trouble!"
"What do you mean?" Ravin faced her, trying not to peer at anything below her neck.
"Something has happened to my mom! This is urgent, Ravin!"
"Okay, okay," Ravin tried to calm her down. "Get dressed and I'll take you."
The two of them ran and ran until they got into a forest, where Ravin transformed into a white Dragon.
"Get on my back, Diana!" Ravin ordered. Diana was too shocked to move. "Diana!!"
"Right." Diana leaped onto Ravin's back and he started to fly. The girl, like Joon, was hanging onto Ravin's mane for dear life.
Ravin flew over the Blue Dragon Cave.
"Ravin!!!" Joon was calling from below.
"Huh?" The Dragon looked down. He saw a blue cat flying up towards him. "Joon!"
"What's the rush?!" the cat asked.
"Diana says there's something wrong! I gotta take her to the Blue Spire!" Ravin started to fly faster, when Joon clutched onto Diana's shoulder.
Once the trio got to the Blue Spire, Ravin changed back into human form, grabbed Diana's hand, and started to climb the stairs into the spire. They battled some monsters along the way, but they finally made it to the seventh floor. Diana got onto the platform.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Ravin asked.
"I am going to the Blue Star."
"Then, I'm coming with you."
"But--"
"No! I'm coming with you. Something might've happened to Lucia and I'm not going to sit and do nothing."
"Ravin..." Diana whispered. "Alright. Get up here." Ravin ran on the platform, Joon hanging on his shoulder. Diana consentrated hard to imprint her will upon transporting them to the Blue Star. She gathered the field of energy that constituted her own aura, and let it merge with that of Ravin and Joon next to her, and the swirling silvery strands that were the wind. After a while, the trio was floating higher and higher up the tower, gathering speed as they went, and soon they were moving faster than the speed of light.
Before Ravin knew it, all of them were in a familiar blue tower, yet something was different about it.
"There are monsters in here?!" Diana growled, seeing a group of Crystal Knights floating towards them. Ravin, Diana, and Joon gave it their all in trying to defeat the 3 Knights. "We have to hurry." she told Ravin. He led the way and started to run as fast as he could, dodging as many monsters battles as possible.
The party finally reached the top of the Blue Tower. And there, lying on the ground lifeless, Ravin saw Lucia. He ran over and sat her up, using his arm for support.
"Mom! Mom!!" Diana screamed, gently shaking her mother's shoulders. "Please, you have to wake up."
"Ugh..." Lucia opened her eyes to see three faces staring at her with concern. One was her daughter and she didn't recall the other two. "S...Diana..."
"What happened?" Ravin asked.
"T...The Death Wraith..." Lucia whispered. "Zophar's four Demons...is alive..."
"Wha...?" Diana breathed.
"He tried to...kill us...you, your father, and I...once before...Hiro died. Hiro...saved me and also you...as a baby." Lucia tried to grab her hand. "I...thought the Death Wraith would be...dead, but...now that Hiro is gone...and the Death Wraith is still alive...he thought that...I was weak, so he tried to kill...me...Now he is after...you, Diana."
"Me?" Diana asked. "Mom...are you okay?"
"I will be...Do not worry about me."
"Diana," said Joon. "Can't you heal her, like you healed Ravin?"
"Let me see." Diana examines her wounds. She shook her head. "No...I cannot. These wounds were caused by magic more powerful than mine. Mom will have to heal on her own, but it will take a long while." Diana stood up. "Ravin, can you help me bring her inside?"
"I can get her by myself, thanks." Ravin scooped Lucia up in his arms and carried her down the stairs. Diana led him into her mother's room and he set Lucia on her bed. Diana put the blankets over her.
"Are you sure you will be okay?" asked her daughter.
"All I need is...rest for a couple of...weeks."
"Weeks?" Joon shrugged.
"Would you not want to go inside of your crystal until then?" Diana offered. "You will heal faster."
"Yes...I can...put myself inside of it. After that...I am going to...vanquish the Wraith...once and for all...before he...causes trouble on...Lunar and the Blue Star."
"No, Mom." objected Diana. "The Death Wraith is after me now. This is my fight and I will win it."
"This is serious, my daughter." Lucia whispered. "The Death Wraith is...too powerful...I do not want you...getting killed..."
"She won't." Ravin assured me. "I'll protect your daughter, Lucia."
Lucia looked at him for a minute. She knew he meant what he said. But wait. How did HE get here? Who WAS he? Lucia rolled her eyes at her questions. If Diana knew and trusted this human, then she will also. Lucia nodded.
"If you promise not to do anything crazy, Mom, I am going back to Lunar."
"Yes, try to...hide there." Lucia closed her eyes to sleep for a few minutes. "Do whatever...you can to defeat...the Wraith...You may leave now." Lucia opened her eyes again. "Wait. Diana!"
"Yes...?"
"Take my...Pendant."
"But...Mom, it does not work anymore." Diana told Lucia, taking it from the picture frame.
"I know...but...take it anyway...It might aid you, somehow."
* * *
Ravin and Diana and Joon were all silent on their way home, the exception of Ravin's wings flapping. They had already used the Blue Spire to get back to Lunar and it was now night there.
Ravin could tell that Diana was worried. He decided that when they got home, he'd talk it over with her on what they should do to keep hidden until they can do something.
Joon went home to her mother, Azura, and Ravin and Diana went back to Taben's Peak. Diana went to the playground and kneeled next to the rail to stare at the Blue Star to think. Ravin walked up to her.
"Diana," he said. "What are we going to do?"
"Well," she started. "First, we have to find someone who will fight along with us. Both you and me cannot fight the Death Wraith by ourselves."
"That's true."
"And we will need the help of the Four Dragons." Diana bit her lip. "But...will your parents accept?"
"Of course they will. They have to; it's their duty to protect Lunar for all costs."
"But they cannot give us the magic as humans, they have to be Dragons in order to give the power."
"That shouldn't be too hard."
"It is easier said than done."
Ravin remembered that in order to achieve the Dragon Magic, you had to pass the Dragon's trials. "Oh...yeah. I forgot."
"May we leave in the morning?"
"Yes." Ravin touched her shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll go over it all with my folks."
The next morning.
Diana was packing the little clothes and items she had for her and Ravin's journey. She swung her pack over her shoulder and put Althena's Sword in it's sheathe. There was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" she called.
"It's me: Ravin." He walked in. "Fional's coming with us, if you don't mind."
"He is?" asked Diana.
"Yeah. You said that we couldn't fight alone. So he agreed to help us."
"H-He knows that--"
"Fional promises NOT to tell anyone." Ravin held out his hand. "He's waiting for us."
"But who will watch over the children?" Diana asked Ravin.
"A responsible teen, who's lived here all her life. Her name is Neri."
"Oh, okay."
"G'morning, ya two!" Fional greeted the couple. " 'Ey, where's dat chubby blue cat dat follows ya 'round, Ravin?"
"She'll meet us in Takkar." Ravin told Fional.
"Dat's on da way to Zulan, isn't it?" the Beastman asked.
"Yeah, it might take a day or so, so we can restock up on Herbs and stuff there before we go to the White Dragon Cave." Ravin smiled at Diana and Fional. "Shall we go?"
"Yes, sir!" Fional grinned. The party started to head out north of Taben's Peak. "'Ey, if yer a Dragon, why doncha turn into one and fly to de cave?"
"I can't transform around here." Ravin exclaimed. "People will see me and I'll get in deep trouble."
"Understandable."
Hovering silently in space, the arid orb drowning in the Blue Star's shadow was once a colorless location, ill-suited for habitation. However, Althena the goddess of light and love, converted this world, teaming it with life and magic. She renamed this new creation Lunar. Time and circumstance conspired to force Althena to inhabit Lunar with survivors from the Blue Star, when life was held in a delicate balance. Through time, the Blue Star loomed as the only constant in the new world. Centuries and centuries came and gone, eventually making inhabitants of Lunar mind the Blue Star.
The Blue Star's misrecollection occured after evil approached Lunar for the first time. After Dragonmaster Dyne gave his life being sent on a mission for Althena. Former member of the Four Heroes, Ghaleon, never forgave her for that. Avenging his closest friend, Ghaleon killed the present tribe of the Four Dragons. He captured the goddess's last rebirth in human form, knowing it was her from his horrible experience the time before. However, he was defeated by the last of the Dragonmasters. A Dragonmaster named Alex, who had fallen in love with Althena's human form. She and Alex spent the remainder of their lives together.
One-thousand years after Ghaleon tried to subdue Lunar, it was once again threatened. Zophar, the dark god that had destroyed the Blue Star, had returned to try to conquer Lunar, as well. His return awakened Lucia, protector of the Blue Star. She had journeyed to Lunar on a quest to find Althena. On her search, Lucia fell in love with a young man named Hiro. Eventually on Lucia's quest, it was revealed that Althena no longer existed, for she wanted to remain human with her beloved Alex. Only her power remained of her. Along with that information, Lucia learned that the power to defeat all evil was in humans. At first, Lucia didn't think it was that simple, but she finally realized that humanity was the key to vanquish Zophar. With Zophar's ashes remaining, Lucia mournfully returned to the Blue Star to await its awakening, dispite the love between Hiro and herself. But Hiro refused to let this happen and undertook a quest to be reunited with his dear Lucia. He experienced this happy reunion and they lived together on the Blue Star for many a year. Both also agreed that Lucia remained a goddess for the sake of the Blue Star's future.
After Hiro's death and the Blue Star almost completely restored, Lucia requested that the Four Dragons protect Lunar. The Dragons accepted. Sometime afterwards, the Blue Star was attained at last. However, it had no knowledge of magic. And Lucia cast a magic aura around Lunar, making it appear desolate to anyone from the Blue Star, who could not travel to it by any means of magic. Without magic, technology once again became the primary aid of humanity.
A century after the restoration of the Blue Star, our story begins...
LUNAR 3
Chapter One: And So It Begins...
There's just nothing left to live for anymore once your most loved one has gone and left you just as soon as you meet him. After the restoration of the Blue Star, immortality for Lucia has been boring and almost loveless. People on her newly restored world don't seem to have any gratitude for their creator, but they needed her no matter what she thought.
Lucia sighed. Surveying the endless expanse of snowy peaks, from the Blue Tower's icy ledges, thinking about her beloved Hiro, missing him so horribly. His death is now beginning to get unbearable. She wouldn't have lived like this if she'd just give up her immortality for him. She sighed again, more softly this time, wrapping Hiro's old cloak around her shoulders, her face. Lucia closed her eyes, using her other senses to remind her of Hiro. His cloak stilled smelled like him, and his memory always stayed fresh. She remembered that they had their first kiss on this ledge. Lucia's eyes snapped open when she felt a hand touch her cloth- covered shoulder. She turned to face who was standing there; it was her daughter. She looked just like her father with her hair as short as his was and his soft brown eyes. Her daughter was wearing the clothes that she gave her not so long ago.
"You know." she said, kindly. "There is a bedchamber of yours inside that you can think about Dad in, Mom. Not to mention, it is warmer too."
"Alright, Diana." Lucia followed her down the ledge and into the tower. Down the blue spiral stairs and into her bedroom. Diana had already made some hot tea for her mother to drink. She took the cup and sipped it gingerly as Lucia sat down on her bed. Diana sat down next to Lucia.
"Mom," she said, putting both of her hands on her knees and stretching out her arms as if she had something up her sleeve.
"Mmm, hmm?" Lucia asked, still having some sort of clue of what she will be asking her.
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like for us to see the humans and how they live and such?"
"No, Diana. Absolutly not."
"Why not?"
"You do not know? You should because we have already been through this several times and I am not going to start changing my mind about it."
"Oh, come on, Mom!" Diana begged. "Please...?"
"The answer you are groveling for is not going anywhere passed my lips."
"Oh..." she whined.
"I do not want you to live through what I am right now." Lucia told her putting the cup down on a nearby nightstand. "If we did go down to the humans, you would probably fall in love with one. If there is anything I do not want, it is for you to suffer the loss of one you share your life with. You know that WE could not go down to see the humans, we are immortal. Your Father was a mortal and he was the only one who could go."
"And all these years, you just said it would be a waste of time." Diana remarked.
"And I am sorry for that." She started to tear up, as she thought of Hiro. She sniffed and sat back on the bed, buring her face in her hands to sob. Diana wrapped her arms around her mother. She was starting to cry at the memories of Hiro, also.
"It is going to be alright, Mom." she whispered. "I miss Dad too."
* * *
Ravin gently placed a small girl in the top bunk of a bed. The girl had white hair with a pastel pink shimmer to it.
Ravin covered her up with a pink blanket before climbing down the ladder.
He sighed and ran his fingers through his, also, white hair, which had two auburn stripes on both sides of his head. He walked out of the room.
"Dad!" Ravin whispered down the hall, loud enough to be heard. "Bianca's asleep now!" Just then, a man with white bushy hair with one brown stripe running down the middle of his mophead walked into view.
"Ravin, I think your sister can put herself to bed." he said.
"I was feeling generous, okay?" Ravin flung his arms in the air.
"Nall!" called the voice of a woman from the kitchen.
"What?" Nall called back, looking away from his son.
"Come here for a minute!!"
Nall sighed. "Could you check on the rest of the Dragon Kids while I help your mother, Ravin?"
"Sure!" he smiled. "Don't go away! I'll meet you in the kitchen!"
"What do you want, Ruby?" Nall asked, walking into the kitchen.
"Could you give me the salt out of the cuboard?" asked the pink- haired woman. This was Ruby, Ravin's mother. Unlike Nall, she had two white stripes in her hair, that was held up in a bun by a yellow bow, and freckles.
"Yep." Nall got the shaker out and started shaking it like crazy into the liquid Ruby was stirring.
"Alright, already!!" Ruby screamed. "That is ENOUGH!!!"
"Heh!" Nall laughed.
"Everything's okay in the playground, Mom and Dad." said Ravin walking up to his parents. "Can I take a little break? Carnival is around and I want to see it before it carries on."
"Sure, go ahead." said Ruby.
"Thanks!" Ravin started to trot out of the kitchen. "I'll be back in a few hours!!"
Ravin took the small elevator down to the bottom of Taben's Peak and started to sprint out of the area. He was so happy to get away from there for a while he didn't hear someone calling his name from behind.
"Hey, Dragon-ditz! Wait UP!"
Ravin groaned as he stopped in his tracks. He smiled when he saw who it was. It was a blue cat with wings, flying towards him. She was a baby blue color with a dark blue stripe along her back. She had a white belly, blue paws, green feathers underneath her wings, and a red ball of fur on the tip of her tail.
"Hurry, Joon." Ravin laughed.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Joon complained. "Didn't you hear me call you, Ravi?" she asked, when she finally caught up to him. "For a second there I thought you went deaf after that little brat screamed in your ear."
"Nope. I'm just excited to leave for a while." Ravin replied. "Your favorite carnival is around." He gave the cat a devilish look. "I'm going there the easy way."
"Ravin! You can't here!" Joon shrieked. "Not unless you want trouble from people and your folks! If THEY find out you did, you'll come up to me one day and say, 'Start my will, Joon, 'cuz I'm not coming home'."
"No! I'm just going to change right now and then transform inside a cave or somthing." Ravin stepped inside of the trees and stayed quiet for a while. His body started to glow and then change from the shape of a human into the shape of a cat with wings, somewhat like Joon. Once his transformation was over, Ravin looked just like Joon, only he was white.
"Brillient, Sherlock." Joon muttered. The two cats started to take flight into the air, away from Taben's Peak. "I still don't know why you can change into a human and I can't."
"You're still too young." Ravin's voice was high and squeaky. "Next year, you'll be able to."
"But I'm older than Bianca." objected Joon. "How is it that SHE'S human and I'm not?"
"She was born as a human." Ravin explained. "Not a Dragon, like you were."
"Oh..." Joon nodded.
* * *
Lucia woke up the next morning. She reached her arm over to embrace Hiro, like she used to. Just like the many years previously, he wasn't there. Lucia sat up in bed trying to wake up. Once she felt the strength to stand, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and slipped little pink cat slippers on her feet. She raised her arms above her head and stretched. As she walked out into the next room and put her robe on, Lucia looked around, sensing that Diana wasn't in the tower. If Lucia knew her daughter, she was probably outside.
Lucia looked straight up the tower. As the walls towered up, stairs making it look like a vortex, they gradually faded into darker shades of blue. She walked up the stairs a ways, until she came to the first door that led outside. Diana wasn't out there. She tried the next door up. She wasn't out there either. After a while, until Lucia made it to the last door, she saw her on an icy ledge. She NEVER came this high up the tower! Lucia walked closer to her. Diana was beginning to look more clear to her. She was gazing up. Lucia did also, trying to see was she was staring at. Then she saw the only thing visable in the sky. Lunar. Oh, no. Lucia thought. Don't tell me she's thinking about going to Lunar. She shrugged, knowing what was coming her way if she disturbed her thoughts. Lucia took the risk and tapped her on the shoulder. Diana whipped her head back and simpered a sinister smile at her mother. The one she always does when she wants something.
"Hiya, Mom!" she cried, happily. "Did you sleep well? Have a good breakfast?"
"What do you want?" Lucia asked crossing her arms.
"Nothing." Diana said without missing a beat.
"Not when it comes to you. You want SOMETHING."
"No, of course I do not." she snickered. "What made you think that I wanted something?"
"Let us just call it a lucky guess."
"Well, you guessed right." groaned Diana. "Since I cannot visit humans on the Blue Star, I was thinking...maybe that I could...visit humans on Lunar?"
"Diana, there are no humans on the moon." Lucia lied.
"Then who is Ronfar?"
"Uh..."
"Who is Jean? Who is Ruby, and Lemina, and Leo, and Nall?"
"They are uh..."
"You visited Lunar, did you not?" Diana started to laugh. "Those are all PEOPLE you met on LUNAR, huh? Do not try to deny it, Mom. I heard you and Dad talk about how much you miss them when I was a child."
I cannot win this argument, Lucia thought. I cannot let her not go to at least SEE Lunar now that she knows there's life. "You are right," she said to her, shrugging. "I have to let you go, eventually."
"Oh..." Diana whined, softly. "Do not think of it that way, Mother."
"Okay," she sighed. "You may go. But I have to give you a few warnings and some adivce, first."
* * *
"Are you ready, Diana?" Lucia asked her daughter, standing next to her outside of the transmission room. She was dressed in a leather skirt, being supported by a belt with a bag of Herbs and hanging on it was the sheathe that held her sword, and a long-sleeved tight shirt. She was also wearing her father's cloak. Diana breathed slowly and put her hand on the Dragon head of Althena's Sword. She looked around the hall and then the transmission room. "Diana?" Lucia asked as she looked down and then back up.
"Yes." she said calmly. Then she smiled. "Yes, I am ready."
"Okay," Lucia embraced her. "I will miss you." Lucia backed away and looked at Diana.
"I will miss you too."
"Remember not to tell anyone you are from the Blue Star." she told her. "Unless you want to answer questions I do not think they need to know the answer to."
"I know." Diana beamed. "I will be back." Then the transmission room started to glow from the liquid crystal hovering in the center. As her cape and short hair blew straight up from the magical winds, Diana was lifted from the ground and was being brought to the transmission crystal. The closer she got to it, the brighter the blue light shown.
Lucia was blocking her eyes from the light, her hair blowing all over her face. As long as the shadow her arms casted over her eyes, Lucia was able to watch Diana. As she was entering the crystal, it seemed as if she was plunging into a tranquil pond. Before her face was inside of it, Diana called to her mother:
"I love you, Mom!"
"I love you, too!!"
Then Diana couldn't speak anymore, for she was completely inside (It is difficult to speak inside of it, anyway). Now that Diana entered the liquid crystal, the beam of light illuminated the blue-green crystal which is now slowly rotating on its vertical axis. Then it radiated a vaporous green energy. A faint silhouette of Diana faded, as did the crystal afterwards.
Lucia stood outside of the room in silence. She sighed as she headed for her room. On her nightstand was a framed picture of Hiro, Diana as a baby, and herself. The three of them were on a deck of the Destiny. Hiro was cradeling Diana and Lucia was linking arms with one of his. Hanging around the frame of the picture was Lucia's Pendant, which had stopped working her after she restored the Blue Star. Lucia sat on her bed and stared at Hiro's face in the picture. Hiro, She thought. please look after our daughter and protect her.
* * *
Ravin was now in his Dragon form, flying above the Salyan Desert, with Joon hanging on for dear life to his head.
"I thought we were going to Carnival?!" Joon yelled over the wind.
"I want to go at night." replied Ravin. "Besides, monsters are out this time of day."
"But that'll take hours!!"
"On the contrary, kitty-cat." Ravin grinned. "Not if we can find somthing to do to pass the time. How about some loop-de-loops?"
"Nuh-uh, Ravin!" Joon refused. "No, no, and double no! I'll freak!"
"I'm just gonna do one!" Ravin shifted his feathered wings upward and he started flying up and around. Somewhere within that time, Joon fell off his head. But when Ravin completed the circle of the loop, she landed roughly on his back.
"What are you trying to do to me, Dragon-ditz?!" Joon shouted. "Give me a heart attack?!"
"A couple more, Joon." Ravin started to do the same thing.
"NO--AAAAHHHHHHH!!!" the baby Blue Dragon screamed. "I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!! I'm going to throw up! And then I'm gonna die!! Mommy, make it STOP!!!"
"Azura's snoozing in her cave, Joon!" Ravin mocked.
"Please, Ravin." Joon begged. "No more."
"Alright, Joon. I was just playing around--huh?" Ravin's ears twitched and he looked across the desert. He saw the Blue Spire. It was doing something he had never seen before. "The Blue Spire," he said. "It's glowing."
"Maybe Lucia's here for a visit?" Joon guessed. Ravin started to fly closer to the spire. Within each minute, the tower glowed into a brighter blue.
"I sense a very powerful aura in that spire." he layed his ears back.
"Do you think it's Lucia or a...m-momster?" Joon was getting frightened.
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out." Ravin started to fly closer to the Spire. But he got a little too close. The powerful aura he sensed was growing stronger and soon it grew so strong, it flung him back with a tremendous force. He and Joon were flying back for miles.
"Aaaahhhhhhhhh!!" They screamed. Ravin landed in a forest, while Joon kept on flying back. He landed on his head and smacked onto the dirt onto his belly. He started to transform back into a human with all of the strength he lost. He tried to stand back up.
"Ugh. Whoa." Ravin moaned as he tried to find his balance.
"THERE you are!" called Joon from afar. "What WAS that?" she asked.
"I...I'm not sure." he said, nearly breathless.
"How are we gonna get to Carnival NOW?"
"I would change back into a Dragon but I don't have enough strength for that form, yet." He looked around. "Well, we're in the Katarina Zone alright. And in the Starlight Forest."
"Starlight Forest?"
"Only the largest woods next to the Illusion Woods."
"Is Carnival outside of these woods?"
"I think so."
"Well, alrighty then!! Let's get goin'!"
* * *
Diana walked out of the Blue Spire and looked around the Salyan Desert. She was awe-inspired at the scenery of the place next to the ocean.
"Wow." she breathed. "So this is Lunar." Diana then remebered that she felt something hit her magic aura as she was coming out of the Transmission Crystal. "I wonder what I hit? I better head in that direction and make sure whatever it was is okay." She started to head West, towards the Starlight Forest.
* * *
Ravin and Joon were almost out of the forest. All they had to do was defeat this last group of monsters.
"FLAME BOMB!!!" Ravin casted a fire spell at a gang of Green Goblins. They disappeared in a puff of red smoke. The last monster left was a Hobgoblin. It was running towards Ravin swinging its club in the air. It hit Ravin the groin, knocking him to the ground.
"Ugh!" Ravin plopped onto the dirt. "Ah..." he groaned.
"Hey!!" Joon shouted, flying towards the monster. She blew some bubbles in its face, weakening it a little. Ravin found the strength to sit up. He threw his dagger at the Hobgoblin's hairy chest. It roared as it disappeared, like the Green Goblins before him, in a red puff of smoke.
"Ha, ha, ha! You okay, Ravi?" Joon asked.
"Ow." he sqeaked.
"Heh! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!!"
It was evening now when the two of them entered the gates to Carnival and Joon was still snickering at Ravin for the little incident with the Hobgoblin.
"Shut up, Joon." Ravin growled. He pointed at the dancers dancing around the bonfire. "Let's just watch the show."
It was almost midnight when Diana came out of the Starlight Forest. Once she came to an opening, she saw groups of people dancing to music upon a stage. What are they celebrating? Diana thought. They are dancing...Mom said she was taught how to dance. I think I will give it a try. Diana walked onto the platform and started to dance like everyone else. She was quite good at it.
Ravin was sitting out of the dance, eating a funnel cake with chocolate on it. He tore a piece off and gave it to Joon, who was sitting next to him. She started to eat it pigishly, chocolate all over her face. While he was eating a piece of the cake himself, Ravin looked up at the dancers and saw a beautiful blue-haired young woman. Ravin started to color, then choke on his pastery at the sight of her.
"Ravin. Ravin!" Joon yelled, flying up in front of his face. "Breathe! Breathe, you fool, breathe!! You know, inhale, exhale, the whole breathing thing." When Ravin didn't respond, Joon took a deep breath and started to wildly claw at his face.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!" he screamed, swallowing what he was choking on. Everyone at Carnival stopped and looked at Ravin. He started to blush for he had never gotten this much attention before. "Okay...umm..."
Ravin and Joon fell asleep during some slow music. Ravin woke up to see that all of the tourists were gone, even the beautiful girl he saw dancing on the stage was gone. He sat up, stretched, and then picked Joon up and started carring her home.
* * *
Diana was walking outside of the Taben's Woods, holding tightly onto the handle of Althena's Sword, ready for anything that came her way. She stopped when she saw a huge oddly-shaped tower ahead of her. She gathered her courage and walked towards it to see if anyone was in there and if they'd allow her to stay.
She climbed some ladders and stairs. Diana stopped when she heard a growl behind her. She looked around, wide-eyed, for what snarled.
"Tttcccchhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaa!!!"
"Wha--?" Diana turned around to see a Wyburn vault at her. "NAPALM SHOT!!!" Diana casted a spell at it. Because of her fear, Diana didn't kill the monster. She only weakened it. The Wyburn bounded at her again. "NAPAL-- " Before she could cast her spell, the monster was already on top of her, clawing and biting at her.
"Aah!" Diana screamed.
"Rrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!"
Before Diana knew it, the Wyburn was dead. She wiped the blood of the monster from her cheek.
"You alright, miss?" asked a man. Diana faced him. It was Nall.
"A bit shaken and tired, but yes, I am alright."
The man held out a hand for her and helped her up. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was..." Diana covered up the hilt of her sword. "Looking for a place to stay."
"Well, you can stay here, if you want."
"Thank you very much, sir."
The two of them walked over to the nearby elevator that was in control of a child during the day. They headed up at the push of a button.
"Are you hungry?" Nall asked.
"Quite." Diana replied.
"Then, I'll--Well, Ruby will--make something for you." They walked into the kitchen, where Ruby was, sitting in her pajamas.
"Thanks for nothing, Nall...Your screaming woke me up." Ruby retorted. She looked at Nall's company.
"Could you make her something to eat, Ruby Dearest?" grinned Nall. "She is hungry."
Hmm, Nall and Ruby. Diana thought. These two were either named after the two Dragons or they are--
"Sure!" Ruby exclaimed. "What would you like uh...umm..."
"Diana. My name's Diana."
"Diana..." Ruby tried the name out. "What would you like to eat?"
"It does not matter."
"Cookies?"
"Okay!"
Nall looked around and noticed that Ravin wasn't here. "Where's Ravin?"
"He must still be at Carnival with Joon." Ruby replied, getting cookies out of the cookie jar.
"It's not like him to be THIS late." Nall sighed. "Maybe I should go look for them."
"Don't bother." The voice came from Ravin from down the hall. He walked into the kitchen and yawned, Joon hanging over his shoulder. His head perked up noticing who was in the room. "W-Who's this, Dad?" He was looking at Diana.
"This is Diana." Nall replied. "She'll be staying with us for a while. If that's okay with you."
"As if he had a choice." Ruby snickered.
Ravin was speechless, starting to turn red and still staring at Diana, who was staring at him.
"Good. I'm glad that's settled." said Nall. "Ravin...Ravin!"
"Oh! Uh...Joon and I are gonna catch a few winks." Ravin walked out of the room. "Good night."
"Good night." said the three in the kitchen.
* * *
Diana was given a spare room next to Ravin's to sleep in. She was groaning and sweating, captured in the hands of some nightmare. In her dream, she saw her mother, younger. In her vision, she saw Lucia floating in a blue translucent sphere, several hundred feet in front of the dark god Zophar and several hundred feet above the surface of the dried-up Minea Sea. Lightning crashed through the sky. Diana could see her mother's lips moving, seeming to be arguing with Zophar. Another bolt of lightning shatters the silence. Then Diana could see the deck of the Dragonship Destiny, where her father, Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Ruby watch Zophar and Lucia face off. Diana could see Zophar's emotionless red eyes, making her jump in her sleep. Zophar's head suddenly emerges from his body, his neck extending to an obscene length. Zophar positioned his face only a few feet away from Lucia. Diana's dream cut to Lucia, thrusting her hand into the air, screaming a spell. Streaks of magic rush into her fingers. Lucia's hand wavers, causing the glow of magic to flicker and dim. Diana's dream rapidly zooms out from Zophar's red eyes. One of the dragon appendages appears in frame and screams. It spits out a massive ball of light. The ball of light rips across the muddy hole which once contained the Minea Sea, headed straight toward the Destiny. The dream cut to Lucia, who moves in front of the Destiny at impossible swiftness. The ball of light smashes into her and shatters. The white light disappears. Lucia gasps and turns to see Zophar, who moved his head directly in front of her. Then a fusillade of jagged purple daggers plunge into Lucia and form a spiky purple ball. Lucia screams. The dream went to Lucia wailing, inside the purple ball, in what must be an ungodly amount of pain. Zophar bites down on the ball and his neck refracts backward. Hiro screams Lucia's name. Zophar's head slithers back into his body. The vision cut to Lucia's face. Her eyes are closed tight. She struggles to extend her hand. Lucia opens her eyes and her hand at the same time, unleashing a blinding explosion of white light.
Diana gasps and sits up in her bed. Her eyes are opened wide as if she was blinded by the light in her dream. She wipes the sweat from her forehead as she noticed that it was only a bad dream. Diana lied back down in her bed, trying to calm down. She pulled the blankets over her nose and tried to fall back asleep.
Diana woke up a few hours after her dream. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched until her aching bones cracked. She stood up and brushed out the wrinkles in her skirt. As she wrapped her father's cloak over her shoulders, Diana walked out of her room and onto the playground. The nightmare she had didn't seem to bother her anymore.
As she walked down the hall, Diana noticed all of the different children in the rooms. Most of them were having little conversations from across the room.
Hmm...Diana thought, looking out at the playground. Taben's Peak. Diana walked out to the edge of the playground. "I have heard of Taben from somewhere before." she whispered. "But...how could such a wonderful place be named after such an evil person?"
"Taben was a famous inventor."
Diana whipped her head around, to see Nall, trying to stand on a swing.
"You do know that, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, but I do not really know much about him. Do you?" Nall nodded. "Please tell me."
"Well, the reason why this place was named after Taben was because he was a famous inventor." Nall looked for more to say, for he was repeating himself. "He invented almost any kind of technology you can think of. He was also a friend to a more famous inventor slash scientist, named Myght." Nall licks his lips. "I guess that Taben was jealous of Myght somewhere in his life and that's probably the reason why he teamed up with umm...Ghaleon." Diana blinks. "That's when Taben created the Grindery: A thirty story, at least, mechanical castle that combined technology with magic, making it almost invincable--"
"NALL!!!" Ruby yelled, snatching Nall's ear. "Can I talk to you for a moment, DEAR?!"
"Yes," Nall screamed. "Now let go of my freakin' ear!"
The couple walked off to the opposite side of the playground, leaving Diana confused. Her facial expression proved her confusion.
"What?!" Nall yelled.
"You know what!" Ruby shouted. "Don't play innocent child on me!"
"What did I do?"
"Men." she scoffed. Nall raised an eyebrow. "I think you told Diana a LITTLE too much after mentioning Myght."
"Doh!" Nall slapped himself in the forehead. "You don't think she knows, do you?"
"I'm not sure." she also raised an eyebrow. "But if she does know, she'll keep it a secret, making us feel miserable."
"Do you think she'll blurt it out?"
"She won't for a price."
"Gah!"
"I hope I did not do anything to get you two upset." said Diana.
Ruby turned to Diana. "Okay, so, now you know!" Ruby took a deep breath. "Taben was a famous inventor; he created the Grindery and turned to evil. Nobdy knows what happened to him after that, and obviously nobody cares anymore because he helped try to destroy the world." A baby started to cry in the background, sparing Nall and Ruby any more explaining to Diana. The two of them walked off again, once again leaving Diana confused. Once again, Diana went after them.
"Excuse me, you two." Diana cleared her throat, as Nall and Ruby looked at her. "I am not from around here and I am not familiar with this area. I was wondering if you could give me a tour of the place?"
Nall and Ruby exchanged a worried glance, then they grinned. "We can't right now." said Nall.
"But Ravin can." Ruby called her son.
"Yeah?" he answered from the door outside of the playground. Ravin jogged up to his parents with Bianca on his shoulders, Joon on Bianca's shoulders. Ravin started to blush, when he noticed Diana looking at him.
"Diana wants a tour of the places around here." Ruby told him. "Would you take her?"
"Uh..." Once again, Ravin was speechless and colored.
"Good!" Nall smiled. "I'm glad that's settled. Go on! Time's a- wastin'!"
"Well, let's go, Diana, Joon." Ravin put his little sister on the ground. Joon flew towards the door.
"Behave, you two!" Bianca giggled at Ravin and Diana.
"Don't worry, B." Joon snickered, winking at Bianca. "I'll make sure they do!"
* * *
On their way to the first destination, Meribia, the three of them talked about things that they liked; didn't like. Ravin seemed to be asking all of the questions, making Diana uptight about her secret.
"So, what do you like about the Katarina Zone, Diana?" Ravin asked.
"I am not even from this continent, Ravin." Diana pointed out. "I do not know much, just yet."
"Where do you come from, then?" Joon asked.
"The--" Diana bit her lip. She quickly thought up a lie. "Burg."
"Oh..." Joon breathed.
"How about I ask the questions, Ravin?" Diana asked. "There is so much I want to know about this place and yourself!"
"Okay. Shoot."
"Shoot what?" Diana wasn't used to the slang Ravin was usually using when speaking. Her mother never used it and her father never had to use the expression "shoot."
"I mean, start asking me questions...please..." Ravin knew that girls liked polite-ness in guys. And he liked Diana, so he figured that manners would make a good im-pression.
"What do YOU like, Ravin?" Diana asked.
"I like...food...and young women."
(I sure hope so!) Joon mumbled.
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!"
"Ha, ha, ha!" Diana laughed. "I am guessing you two do this often. You must really care about each other."
"Joon's is, like, my best friend. It's hard to stay mad at her."
"Oh, sure! You say it to HER, but not to MY face." Joon sighed. "Oh, well. Now I'LL ask some questions. What do you two think of each other?" Ravin and Diana looked at each other and blushed. "Ravin?"
"I-I--"
"I knew it!" Joon exclaimed. "I KNEW Ravin had the hots for Diana!"
"No--Joon!"
"Say it with me, Ravi, 'I have the hots for Diana'!"
"Oh, look, Diana! Meribia! Let's hurry!" Ravin akwardly jogged towards the large city, with Joon flying to catch up to him, leaving Diana behind. She smiled to herself.
After Ravin showed all of the weapon, armor, and item shops there was in Meribia, it was after lunchtime, so the three of them decided to see what places there were to eat at. Ravin was grumbling to himself in disgust at how in this entire city there was only one restraunt, that was actually a pub.
"How pitiful!" Ravin whispered, loud enough to be heard by his companions. "This huge city called Meribia only has one freakin' place to eat and THIS had to be it!" He waved his arms in the air at the look of the inside of the bar. Drunken dogs were everywhere: hanging onto tables, chairs around their necks, people drooling on the floor, which was coated in beer.
"At least they have fish." Joon added, cowering onto Ravin's shoulder. She had seen a hairy Beastman lick his lips in hunger at the sight of the blue cat. Joon looked around, noticing that Diana wasn't beside Ravin. "Where's Diana?"
"Ugh!" Ravin slapped his forehead. "I totally forgot about her! Di--" Ravin turned around and nearly started to call for Diana when he saw that she was right behind him. "Sigh...You scared me, Diana."
"I am sorry." she apologized.
"It's okay." Ravin sighed again. "Let's find a place to sit." He looked around and saw that the front was the only place to sit. He and Diana both sat down in a chair and waited for someone to serve them.
There was a blonde man, with a black bandana around his forehead, sitting two chairs away from the three people, staring at Joon. The man was drunk.
"Aaahhhhhh!!" Joon shrieked, being plucked off of Ravin's shoulder.
"Iz dis som kinda robotic toy?*BELCH*" The man eructed, pulling at Joon's face.
"Lemme GO!!" Joon yelled, trying to scratch the man's face.
"Umm...pardon me, sir." said Ravin gently pulling the blue cat away from the man. "That is my cat you're holding there."
"Ex-CUSE me?! I am NOT a cat!" Joon shouted, being thrown onto the chair behind Ravin.
"Whad are ya, my motha?!" yelled the man, talking a swing at Ravin, missing the first time, hitting his jaw the second time.
"Ow! That HURT!" Ravin yelled, popping his jaw back in place, cracking it. "For someone so stringy, you sure can--" Before Ravin could say or do anything else, the blonde man swung a chair and hit Ravin's head, knocking him out.
"Ravin!!" Diana and Joon went over to Ravin's side. "Are you okay?" Diana asked.
"You ball-less idiot!!!" The baby Dragon insulted the man.
"What da bloody 'hell's goin' on 'ere?!" yelled a strong voice.
"Aah! It's Fional!! Let's get outta here!!!" howled a group of outlaws. All of them ran out the door, except for one, who jumped out the window.
"Git outta me way or I'm gonna shoot ya in da face!" The Beastman yowled at a person who was in his way at walking towards Ravin. The man, who the group of men called Fional, had an Austrailian accent and was wearing lightweight armor and a pack full of arrows. He had auburn hair and two red tattoos of stripes on his cheeks. "Ya alright?" he asked the small group. Diana and Joon nodded. Fional looked at the blonde man who had the chair in his hands and raised his eyebrows. Fional beared his fangs as the man set the chair down and sat in it. "Come wit me." said the Beastman, throwing Ravin over his shoulder. Diana and Joon followed him into the Meribia mansion.
Fional took the party to his room upstairs and set Ravin, who was still out cold, on his bed.
"Sit tight. I'll be right back." said Fional, walking out of his room, closing the door behind him. Fional's room had a dark wooden floor and varieties of armor hanging on his wall. In the corner across from the bed was a large dresser, and next to that was a mirror the size of his head.
Diana stayed quiet for a while and looked at Joon, who was staring down, concerned, at Ravin. Diana layed one hand on Ravin's forehead, where his wound was.
"Diana, what are you doing?" Joon asked.
"Shh. I am going to heal him."
"But--" But before Joon could tell Diana that that kind of healing magic isn't heard of in the Katarina Zone, Diana's hands started to glow light green. When the girl removed her hands, the glow lingered on the wound, that wasn't there anymore, then disappeared. "W-Who are you, Diana?! Only Priests have THAT kinda magic!"
"Well, I--"
"I'm back!" called Fional, opening the door with a chunk of frozen meat in his hand. "Put dis on 'is wo--" The Beastman noticed that Ravin was starting to sit up, unharmed. "Oh,"
"Where am I?" Ravin whispered, looking at his surroundings. He looked at Fional, who was walking over to the party. "Did you bring me here?"
"Yep."
"Thank you."
"Yer welcome." Fional twitched his long ears with delight. "What are yer names, eh?"
"I'm Ravin. This is Diana, and Joon."
"The one and only!" exclaimed Joon.
"Heh," The Beastman laughed. He looked at Ravin, who glanced at Diana. "Date?"
"I think it's Friday the 13th." said Joon.
"No, I mean, is Ravin and Diana on one?"
"No," Diana bolted. "we are just--"
"I'm sorry, I thought ya were--"
"I-It's okay." said Ravin. "Sorry to cause you such trouble. We should get going."
"It was nice to meet ya. I'll see ya around, then?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Joon. "Seeya, Fional!"
"Date." Joon snickered.
"Shut up!" Ravin shouted. "Your the one who didn't know what he meant!"
"What is a date?" Diana asked.
"A date is a..." Ravin bit his lip thinking up a good definition. "An engagement between two people of the opposite sex."
"Oh,"
"You've never heard of one?"
"No, I have not."
"Actually, I've never been on one either."
(I doubt you could even get one.) Joon muttered.
"What was that?!" howled Ravin. "I bet I could get one!"
"Like Diana?"
"... ... ..."
"How about it?" Joon asked, flying onto the girl's shoulder. "You'd like to go on an engagement with Ravi, wouldn't you?"
"Sure, I would." she answered, smiling that same soft smile.
"Then it's settled! Tonight!"
"Umm, Joon?" Ravin asked, as he started to blush. "Can I ask you a question--?"
"Okay, okay, tomorrow then. Now onto the next city!" Joon started to fly to the city of Vane.
"Wait, Joon! That's not what I was going to ask!"
* * *
After Ravin and Joon showed Diana Vane, Nota, and the new town of Schorr, Diana waited for the other two in the playground.
"Why did you do that, Joon?" Ravin asked the cat, who was hovering in the air. The two of them were having the conversation in Ravin's room. "You know Diana gives me a tingling feeling inside whenever she's around. Don't you know how to get one's permission before blurting things out without thinking?"
Joon shook her head and grinned. "Nope."
"Well, learn." Ravin retorted. "Why do you want me to go with her, anyway?"
"It's good for you!" Joon squeaked. "You need to hang around people your age! You can't just spend the rest of your pathetic life being a total social outcast!"
"That's just the thing!" Ravin whispered. "I'm NOT human."
Joon sighed and flew out of Ravin's room.
Hmm. Ravin thought. My first date...Not that I need one...I could get one if I wanted to...I have the looks, the charm...Okay. I'll do it. Diana's a nice, quiet person. Nothing can possibly go wrong.
* * *
Ravin was nervously tapping his fingers on the table and biting his lip, staring at Diana, who was sticking her nose inside a menu. She was wearing one of Ruby's bright blue dresses, while Ravin just wore the nicest clothes he had: black baggy pants, a white t-shirt, and a leather vest.
The red-headed waitress looked very impatient, but she was trying to stay calm for the sake of her job. Diana handed her the menu.
"Okay."
"Okay, what?" asked the waitress.
"It...sounds good...?"
"But which one?" The waitress was starting to tear the pad of paper she was holding.
"Uh...All of them?"
The red-head looked at Ravin, who had the "she's not with me" look on his face.
"S-She'll have what I'm having." Ravin stuttered. The woman nodded and took the menus.
Joon was outside the window, watching Ravin and Diana's every move from a bush.
"This is my first day being Cupid and I don't wanna blow this up in smoke." Joon got in a more comfortable position. "I'll watch them VERY closly, so if Ravin kisses Diana, I'll be able to taunt him about it! *Giggle, snort* " No, Joon, she told herself. This is a good thing for Ravi. Don't make him regret it.
"What food did you order, by the way, Ravin?" Diana asked.
"Sushi."
"R-Raw fish?" she nearly turned green at the sound of it.
"Yeah!" Ravin smirked. "It's not as bad as you think. It's actually quite good."
"I will take your word for it."
Ravin looked around, noticing that everyone in the restraunt didn't have fish, or anything fish. No, Ravin thought. It's not obvious that I'm a Dragon just because I eat fish! This is Vane, they never eat fish!
After a while, the same red-headed waitress served the couple two plates of neatly cut and placed sushi.
"Enjoy your meal. My name is Liah, I'll be your waitress. If you need anything just hollar." She looked at Diana with a "do you understand" expression on her face.
"Thank you, Liah." the couple said, simutaneously. They started to eat.
"I take it they don't have restraunts in Burg, huh?" asked Ravin, interrupting Diana's stare at the Blue Star.
"N-No," She looked at Ravin, then at her food. As she started to eat it, Diana looked at the Blue Star now and again. "I have never eaten in one before."
Ravin noticed that Diana wouldn't stop looking at the Blue Star. So, he decided to bring the subject on that.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Ravin asked.
"Huh?" Diana blushed, looked at Ravin with an embarassed smirk.
"What?" Ravin asked.
"Were you talking to me?"
"No--I mean yes...I was talking about you--I mean, to you!" Ravin started to color. Diana gave him a confused look. She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say.
"Uh, the Blue Star! It's pretty!"
"...yes, I think it is very breathtaking. It is more beautiful from here." Diana wiped her mouth with the napkin, making sure she corrected herself speaking before her secret got out. "From Burg, that is."
"You are really interrested in it aren't you?" Ravin sounded surpised. "You are the first person I've met who is more into the Blue Star than I am!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!" Ravin beamed. "Nobody's been interested in the Blue Star for years!"
"Why is that?"
Ravin shrugged. "Ever since Lucia restored the Blue Star, people on Lunar just ignore it." Diana blinked.
"How do you know about that?" she whispered. She knew that people on Lunar aren't supposed to know about the restoration of the Blue Star, so that they don't travel to it and bring magic with them.
Ravin's eyes widened. His mouth was agape. "I-I..."
"I think you and I should talk." Diana said calmly.
Ravin looked out the window with a worried look on his face. Oh, no! Ravin thought. This isn't good. When Mom and Dad find out I blurted out their secret, they'll have a cow! He looked off to the side. And I'll probably lose Diana.
* * *
Somewhere in the middle of the Frontier, which have gotten smaller over the years, there were three markers as graves dug deeply into the dead earth. These three markers represented three of the many exiles Althena sent here. The markers read "Royce, Xenobia, and Taben".
"Taben, Royce, Xenobia,...the three of you have been offered another chance to succeed at what you have failed to do previously. AWAKEN!!! Your new master commands it!!"
At the command, three dead hands shot up from the ground where the markers were. The free hands removed gravel to reveal the bodies they were attached to. Once the entire bodies were standing over the dug-up graves, the zombies' eyes started to glow red.
There were two females and one male. One of the two women had short blonde hair, a blue tattoo of a bolt of lightning under her right eye, and was wearing a torn black cloak. The other woman had longer blonde hair and was wearing a revealing black dress, where you could see markings all over her scarred body. The man wore a torn purple cloak, broken glasses, and a dark brown beard.
"Now, come and obey me!!!" yelled the same voice that summoned the three exiles. The zombies screamed a war cry as they disappeared from their graves.
* * *
Ravin and Diana were quiet for the rest of the evening. Once they reached Schorr, they started to talk about how one knew what.
Schorr, the unimaginable dense, yet beautiful city, with winding roads and streets lined with little shops selling everything imaginable, but mostly sweets and fudge. The small sidewalks were littered with wooden benches and people. Large, different colored, heart shaped balloons were tied to almost every light post and door handle.
Couples walked hand and hand down the small cobblestone streets and a man sitting at an isle who was painting a portrait of a couple, was yelling at a man demon-strating a new shaped kite because he had gotten the string wrapped around the leg of the isle.
Others leaned against the railing of the large wooden bridge stretched over a large, man-made pond filled with small pebbles and turquoise water, while lilly pads floated on the surface. A large gold plaited statue of the Goddess Althena stood, spouting water from the base, in the middle.
"Now, Ravin," Diana started, calmly. "How do you know about the restoration of the Blue Star and Lucia?"
Ravin sighed. "To start it was all supposed to be a family secret, just between my parents, sister, and I. And...I am--Wait! How do YOU know about it--?"
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Ravin and Diana looked up when they heard a group of people scream in horror. More people were running out of the town, away from a certain area in Schorr.
Joon peeked out from a nearby bush, the shriek inturrupted her spying. "Huh?!" she gasped, falling out from her hiding place.
"Joon?!" The couple exclaimed.
"I thought you were with Azura?!" Ravin yelled over the crowd. Diana looked up at the name, but the sight of a familiar person caught her eye.
"That is Fional, is it not?" Diana asked. The Beastman was running from something, that soon followed afterwards. It looked like a giant dark green, two-headed snake with a green flaming mane.
"THAT?!" Joon screamed, right before some fat lady with a string of licorice hanging in her pudgy hand ran into her.
"No! Over there!" Diana pointed at Fional, who was drawing his bow and arrows and turning around to face the monster. He shot an arrow at the monster, missing it.
"Blast!" Fional cursed. The Serpant raised one of it's heads, with a roar, and swung at Fional, knocking him back.
"We've gotta help him!" Ravin yelled, running towards the Beastman. Diana and Joon followed. "Fional! Hold on!"
"Thank Althena." Fional called back to him after noticing the three of them, trying to stand up. As the party got in battle position, Joon flew higher in the air.
"What IS that thing?" she called down to them.
"They call it a BiSerpant." Fional replied. "It's chest seems to be it's weak spot. Aim for dat wit whatever kind o' weapons ya got!"
"Dammit, I left my dagger at home, Joon!" Ravin swore, feeling around his belt where he usually keeps it.
"Looks like you'll have to use your magic, Ravin." Joon responded, flying down in front of the two-headed snake, blowing bubbles in it's faces. The Serpant bellowed and threw its enormous heads in the air, launching its first attack on the party. It smacked the ground with it's heads, causing it to shake and break. Diana created a shield around herself, making herself hover inches above the ground so she didn't even feel the quake. However, Fional and Ravin were weakened by it after they recovered from falling. "FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional lobed an arrow at the monster. This time the arrow struck in the neck of the right head, making it shriek, revealing long, enormous needle-like teeth, dripping with venom. The head wavored, thrashing about in the air.
Just at that moment, Diana's sheild lost power and she dropped to her feet.
The flailing head with its dripping teeth lashed out at Diana, gripping her arm with its teeth and blocking her from getting away with one of its two claws.
"AHH! Get it off!" Diana cried, kneeling on the ground to relieve pressure, it not working at all. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time Ravin (Fional was distracting the left head with a swarm of Cupid's Arrows) had run to her side, unhinging the dead, lolling head from her arm. The monster's arm went limp. As soon as her wound hit oxygen, it started to bubble green, like acid.
Ravin ripped a small green pouch from his belt, and poured the contents, shredded, dried Purity Herb, over the wound, which dried up instantly, leaving nothing but perfect skin. Diana looked at him; Ravin looked at her. She mouthed the words "thank you" to him and he started to smile.
"Ravin, hit dis thin' wit somethin', will ya?! I keep missin'; de damn thing won't sit still, even when it's Charmed!" Fional called to him.
Ravin stood, raising his hands over his head and called, "FLAMING ICE!!!" With that, a large spout of frozen fire rose from the air, and shot at the remaining head, freezing it.
The Serpant finally disappeared in a puff of red smoke with the final blow from Ravin.
"Well, that was easy!" Joon grinned.
"Hmph, easy for ya maybe," Fional said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Fional, how did that thing get to Schorr?" Diana asked the Beastman, as she rubbed her once-wounded arm.
"Monsters come to Schorr every other day." Fional explained. "Ever since I met ya guys, they've been comin' in larger groups. I've been told by me Pop, Izmere, dat I was to protect Schorr from monsters. But NEVER 'ave I battled creatures like dat Serpant."
"If you like, we can help you protect Schorr." Ravin insisted.
"Beauty, mate! I'll tag along wit ya three until dese folk can protect demselves sometime!"
"Can we go home now, Ravin?" Joon yawned. "I'm getting sleepy."
* * *
The party then headed back to Taben's Peak. As Fional met Nall and Ruby, he took out a jug of wine and the three adults had their own little party getting drunk. Joon went to bed and Ravin and Diana went out to the playground to finish their conversation.
Diana first explained to Ravin that she was from the Blue Star and that she was the daughter of Lucia and Hiro.
"Hold the phone!" Ravin inturrupted. "You couldn't have SEEN the restoration of the Blue Star! That was years ago! That would make you at least 100 years old!"
"Yes...?"
"No, offense, I mean," Ravin pointed his finger at Diana, raised an eyebrow, and grinned. "Looking good, but--"
"What is wrong with being immortal?"
"Nothing, but...that's just the thing." Raving scratched his head, trying to laugh. "This is gonna be hard to explain to you, but...I am the son of Nall and Ruby, the White and Red Dragons. I am also immortal. Heh."
"As is Bianca, for she is your sister?" Diana made a face. "I-I mean-- "
"I know what you mean," he laughed. He sighed and shrugged. "So now you know..."
"And now you know that I am from the Blue Star."
It was past midnight when all of them went to bed; Ravin, Diana, Nall, Ruby, and Fional. The Beastman slept like a log on the floor in Ravin's room; Joon sleeping on Ravin's pillow.
Diana was in the arms of a nightmare again, only this time the dream was different. She dreamed of her mom, like she is now. She was standing in the doorway of the tower, looking up at Lunar. Diana saw a familiar demon- like shadow glide through space towards the Blue Star. It flew down the atmosphere and attacked Lucia with a magma bomb.
Diana's eyes snapped wide open and cried out her mom's name. She noticed it was just a dream and tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn't.
"Hmm." Diana whispered. "I have never had this problem before." She tried to fall asleep again and again for several minutes, but still couldn't. She decided to go see if Ravin was awake. She walked down the hall and opened the door. "Ravin?" she whispered. No answer. "Ravin, are you awake?" she whispered a little louder.
"Huh...?" Ravin rolled over in his bed to face the door. "Diana, w- what is it?" He blinked at the light coming from the doorway and covered his eyes with his hand.
"It is kind of dumb, but I need to get it off of my chest..." She walked in. "So to speak."
"Here." Ravin sat up in his bed and patted the side of it, allowing Diana to sit. "What's bothering you at this time of night?"
"First of all, I am sorry for waking you."
"It's okay."
"Second, this might sound foolish to you, but I had this dream--" Diana put her hands on her knees. "And I know it is just a dream, however, this one was of my mother."
"Oh?"
"Something, that seemed so familiar to me, attacked her."
"What was it?"
"It was like a dragon, only not like Althena's Dragons, this one was larger and skeletal, and was more like a shadow."
"Do you think that this dream is something you're supposed to know?"
"I-I am not sure..." Diana looked at him, her eyes were almost tearing. "But what if it DOES mean something? What if something terrible is going to happen to my mother? I told my father that I would take care of her and the Blue Star if anything happened..." Diana's voice cracked in panick.
Ravin grabbed her hand, knowing she was afraid. "Diana, you are going to be just fine; Lucia's going to be fine. I promise."
"It is not just the vision that worries me, Ravin." Diana squeezed his hand. "When the time comes and I have to keep the Blue Star safe, I am afraid that no one nor my mom will be there to guide me. What if I mess up? What if...I...?"
"You won't be alone when you protect the Blue Star." Ravin put his hand under Diana's chin to have her look him in the eyes. "I promise you that Lucia will be there...and so will I." Diana really looked into his soft brown eyes. She could sense several feelings within his stare. A mixture of certainty, fear, and love. Love? How can that be? No one can fall in love in three days! Love at first sight was a myth! Diana didn't believe in that! But she knew what she saw and she saw that Ravin REALLY cared for her.
Ravin looked deeply into Diana's brown eyes. He saw something in them that he'd never seen before in a girl. What he saw in her eyes seemed to be her soul. Was Diana meant to be his love if he could see her soul? Ravin seemed to have no control over his hand when he brought Diana's lips to meet his own. Once their lips brushed against each other, with just the gentlest touch (which was probably as far as that kiss had gotten to) there were so many wonderful feelings at once.
Once they broke the incomplete-kiss, Ravin and Diana looked at each other lovingly. Ravin thought that he'd never feel love like this. He knew Diana loved him the way he did her. Diana squeezed his hand one more time before she stood up to walk back to her room. When she opened the door wide enough to walk through, she glanced back at Ravin and smiled. He smiled back. Diana walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Ravin sighed and plopped back onto his pillow like he was on Cloud 9. Joon yowled in pain.
"Oh, crap! Joon! I'm SO sorry!" Ravin cried out.
"You almost broke my back, Dragon-ditz!" Joon yelled. "You big oaf!"
"I said I was sorry!"
* * *
Diana was still sleeping when it was morning. Ravin peeked in her room to see if she was waking up, but she was still asleep. He sat down on the floor outside her door. There was nothing to do since the kids were all eating whatever Ruby was making, Joon was in the Blue Dragon cave with her mother, and Fional had left for Schorr.
Diana's wonderful dream of a shirtless Ravin suddenly switched to her previous nightmare. The scream of Lucia caused Diana to wake up gasping and shrieking. Ravin, panicking, burst back into her room.
Diana screamed, as Ravin opened the door. "Ravin! Do you not know when to knock?!"
"I'm so sorry!!" Ravin covered his eyes and looked away from Diana in her nightgown. Diana sighed with relief and rushed over to him. "Take me to the Blue Spire! I think my mother is in trouble!"
"What do you mean?" Ravin faced her, trying not to peer at anything below her neck.
"Something has happened to my mom! This is urgent, Ravin!"
"Okay, okay," Ravin tried to calm her down. "Get dressed and I'll take you."
The two of them ran and ran until they got into a forest, where Ravin transformed into a white Dragon.
"Get on my back, Diana!" Ravin ordered. Diana was too shocked to move. "Diana!!"
"Right." Diana leaped onto Ravin's back and he started to fly. The girl, like Joon, was hanging onto Ravin's mane for dear life.
Ravin flew over the Blue Dragon Cave.
"Ravin!!!" Joon was calling from below.
"Huh?" The Dragon looked down. He saw a blue cat flying up towards him. "Joon!"
"What's the rush?!" the cat asked.
"Diana says there's something wrong! I gotta take her to the Blue Spire!" Ravin started to fly faster, when Joon clutched onto Diana's shoulder.
Once the trio got to the Blue Spire, Ravin changed back into human form, grabbed Diana's hand, and started to climb the stairs into the spire. They battled some monsters along the way, but they finally made it to the seventh floor. Diana got onto the platform.
"Wait! What are you doing?" Ravin asked.
"I am going to the Blue Star."
"Then, I'm coming with you."
"But--"
"No! I'm coming with you. Something might've happened to Lucia and I'm not going to sit and do nothing."
"Ravin..." Diana whispered. "Alright. Get up here." Ravin ran on the platform, Joon hanging on his shoulder. Diana consentrated hard to imprint her will upon transporting them to the Blue Star. She gathered the field of energy that constituted her own aura, and let it merge with that of Ravin and Joon next to her, and the swirling silvery strands that were the wind. After a while, the trio was floating higher and higher up the tower, gathering speed as they went, and soon they were moving faster than the speed of light.
Before Ravin knew it, all of them were in a familiar blue tower, yet something was different about it.
"There are monsters in here?!" Diana growled, seeing a group of Crystal Knights floating towards them. Ravin, Diana, and Joon gave it their all in trying to defeat the 3 Knights. "We have to hurry." she told Ravin. He led the way and started to run as fast as he could, dodging as many monsters battles as possible.
The party finally reached the top of the Blue Tower. And there, lying on the ground lifeless, Ravin saw Lucia. He ran over and sat her up, using his arm for support.
"Mom! Mom!!" Diana screamed, gently shaking her mother's shoulders. "Please, you have to wake up."
"Ugh..." Lucia opened her eyes to see three faces staring at her with concern. One was her daughter and she didn't recall the other two. "S...Diana..."
"What happened?" Ravin asked.
"T...The Death Wraith..." Lucia whispered. "Zophar's four Demons...is alive..."
"Wha...?" Diana breathed.
"He tried to...kill us...you, your father, and I...once before...Hiro died. Hiro...saved me and also you...as a baby." Lucia tried to grab her hand. "I...thought the Death Wraith would be...dead, but...now that Hiro is gone...and the Death Wraith is still alive...he thought that...I was weak, so he tried to kill...me...Now he is after...you, Diana."
"Me?" Diana asked. "Mom...are you okay?"
"I will be...Do not worry about me."
"Diana," said Joon. "Can't you heal her, like you healed Ravin?"
"Let me see." Diana examines her wounds. She shook her head. "No...I cannot. These wounds were caused by magic more powerful than mine. Mom will have to heal on her own, but it will take a long while." Diana stood up. "Ravin, can you help me bring her inside?"
"I can get her by myself, thanks." Ravin scooped Lucia up in his arms and carried her down the stairs. Diana led him into her mother's room and he set Lucia on her bed. Diana put the blankets over her.
"Are you sure you will be okay?" asked her daughter.
"All I need is...rest for a couple of...weeks."
"Weeks?" Joon shrugged.
"Would you not want to go inside of your crystal until then?" Diana offered. "You will heal faster."
"Yes...I can...put myself inside of it. After that...I am going to...vanquish the Wraith...once and for all...before he...causes trouble on...Lunar and the Blue Star."
"No, Mom." objected Diana. "The Death Wraith is after me now. This is my fight and I will win it."
"This is serious, my daughter." Lucia whispered. "The Death Wraith is...too powerful...I do not want you...getting killed..."
"She won't." Ravin assured me. "I'll protect your daughter, Lucia."
Lucia looked at him for a minute. She knew he meant what he said. But wait. How did HE get here? Who WAS he? Lucia rolled her eyes at her questions. If Diana knew and trusted this human, then she will also. Lucia nodded.
"If you promise not to do anything crazy, Mom, I am going back to Lunar."
"Yes, try to...hide there." Lucia closed her eyes to sleep for a few minutes. "Do whatever...you can to defeat...the Wraith...You may leave now." Lucia opened her eyes again. "Wait. Diana!"
"Yes...?"
"Take my...Pendant."
"But...Mom, it does not work anymore." Diana told Lucia, taking it from the picture frame.
"I know...but...take it anyway...It might aid you, somehow."
* * *
Ravin and Diana and Joon were all silent on their way home, the exception of Ravin's wings flapping. They had already used the Blue Spire to get back to Lunar and it was now night there.
Ravin could tell that Diana was worried. He decided that when they got home, he'd talk it over with her on what they should do to keep hidden until they can do something.
Joon went home to her mother, Azura, and Ravin and Diana went back to Taben's Peak. Diana went to the playground and kneeled next to the rail to stare at the Blue Star to think. Ravin walked up to her.
"Diana," he said. "What are we going to do?"
"Well," she started. "First, we have to find someone who will fight along with us. Both you and me cannot fight the Death Wraith by ourselves."
"That's true."
"And we will need the help of the Four Dragons." Diana bit her lip. "But...will your parents accept?"
"Of course they will. They have to; it's their duty to protect Lunar for all costs."
"But they cannot give us the magic as humans, they have to be Dragons in order to give the power."
"That shouldn't be too hard."
"It is easier said than done."
Ravin remembered that in order to achieve the Dragon Magic, you had to pass the Dragon's trials. "Oh...yeah. I forgot."
"May we leave in the morning?"
"Yes." Ravin touched her shoulder. "Get some sleep. I'll go over it all with my folks."
The next morning.
Diana was packing the little clothes and items she had for her and Ravin's journey. She swung her pack over her shoulder and put Althena's Sword in it's sheathe. There was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" she called.
"It's me: Ravin." He walked in. "Fional's coming with us, if you don't mind."
"He is?" asked Diana.
"Yeah. You said that we couldn't fight alone. So he agreed to help us."
"H-He knows that--"
"Fional promises NOT to tell anyone." Ravin held out his hand. "He's waiting for us."
"But who will watch over the children?" Diana asked Ravin.
"A responsible teen, who's lived here all her life. Her name is Neri."
"Oh, okay."
"G'morning, ya two!" Fional greeted the couple. " 'Ey, where's dat chubby blue cat dat follows ya 'round, Ravin?"
"She'll meet us in Takkar." Ravin told Fional.
"Dat's on da way to Zulan, isn't it?" the Beastman asked.
"Yeah, it might take a day or so, so we can restock up on Herbs and stuff there before we go to the White Dragon Cave." Ravin smiled at Diana and Fional. "Shall we go?"
"Yes, sir!" Fional grinned. The party started to head out north of Taben's Peak. "'Ey, if yer a Dragon, why doncha turn into one and fly to de cave?"
"I can't transform around here." Ravin exclaimed. "People will see me and I'll get in deep trouble."
"Understandable."