Chapter 1: Astronomy! The Dangers of Wishing Upon a Shooting Star? [Part I]

Six months had passed since they'd defeated the ghost of Shabranigdo. With Taforashia awakened and the spirit of the Red Priest finally taken care of, it seemed only natural that things turned out the way they did.

Zelgadis Greywers gave a sigh as he looked upward at the bright starry expanse. It should have been natural, everyone splitting up as they had. Pokota stayed behind to help rebuild Taforashia, just like he'd intended all along. Amelia was supposed to have gone back to Saillune but from what he'd heard, she was still in Taforashia and aiding the reconstruction project, which meant Pokota wasn't alone. That was nice, he supposed. Lina and Gourry had taken to the open road, off on another one of their little adventures; Xellos had disappeared again, to no one's surprise. Where that fruitcake went off to was hardly anyone's concern.

Zelgadis has gone his own way as well, alone as usual. He hadn't offered any excuses, just up and left one evening without saying goodbye, nodding to the Taforashian guards before vanishing into the night. The next morning, he bought himself a small boat and set out to the seas in the direction of the Outer World to explore the areas he hadn't already. He hadn't stuck around long enough to watch the supplies come in from Saillune – he'd heard about that in one of the port towns along the coast. He'd also heard that Inspector Wizer Freion of Ruvinagald had given up on arresting Lina Inverse. That tidbit of news was nice to hear, but Zelgadis had a notion that the old man would eventually find something to pin on the Dragon Spooker and then the fun would begin all over again.

Fun.

There was no denying traveling with Lina Inverse was fun. The insanity that perpetually surrounded her kept them all on their toes, made them think. He could have asked them to come along – it definitely would have made things more interesting. But when it came to Lina and adventures, Zelgadis knew that she'd be more concerned about treasure hunting than assisting him with finding his cure. Their hunt for the Claire Bible was proof enough of that.

'Or was that really your reason for not asking them to come along?'

He looked back up at the sky, then groaned and closed his eyes. Who was he kidding? The truth was that he was running out of excuses to leave; disappearing was simply the easiest thing to do. He'd always fallen back on hunting for his cure and the dangers it entailed, but even that was getting to be a flimsy excuse in comparison to everything they all had gone through together. Each time he tried to escape, it just seemed to get harder. Sneaking away, leaving in the dead of night… he was amazed that he was able to get out of Taforashia so easily.

Despite the insane ease of it all, however, it somehow felt… wrong, leaving as he had. It always did, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. That strange gaping emptiness always seemed to creep up on him when he least expected it.

He cracked an eye open. It must have been close to ten o'clock, judging by the moon's position. Who had taught him about using lunar positions to tell time? Was it Rodimus, or had it been Zolf? He couldn't remember for sure, but he was fairly certain it had been Rodimus, given the older man's years as a mercenary before joining Rezo's group. They hadn't all begun as lackeys for the Red Priest, after all.

Rezo.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and listened to the gently crashing waves of the open ocean. It really was a nice night. He shouldn't have been thinking so much.

No sooner had that though crossed his mind, a bright green glow penetrated through his eyelids. His eyes snapped wide open and he bolted upright, staring wildly at the object bolting across the star-scattered sky.

"What the…?" He faltered, his mind trying to register what he was seeing."That can't be a…"

"Gourry, please tell me you didn't eat that last piece of chicken," Lina Inverse whined, looking only somewhat hopefully at the blond and knowing all too well what his answer was going to be.

"Well, gee, Lina..." he began, "you weren't eating it, so I thought…"

The Bandit Killer groaned loudly. Ordinarily she would have pummeled his head in, but it was too nice of a night and she was really getting tired of reprimanding the swordsman at this point.

"Maybe it's true, what they say about the Sword of Light draining the brains of its wielder."

She smirked a little at the memory of that statement. Leave it to Zel to come up with something like that.

'I wonder what he's doing now?' she thought, and had to catch herself from frowning. It seemed like every time Zelgadis Greywers wandered off on his own after their adventures, she found herself thinking about him. Despite her curiosity to the subject, she never asked him about his solo adventures. He never told. It was like there was never any time or even the right moment.

Zel was always searching for a cure, a way to turn his body back normal. That was the only thing that seemed to drive him forward, and there were times when it really drove Lina crazy. She couldn't blame him for wanting to turn back to normal – being turned into a three-part chimera obviously hadn't been a pleasant experience, after all – but his obsession with it was maddening. Although she'd never say it to his face even when he deserved it the most, there were moments when Zel reminded her of Rezo, and not in a good way.

In truth, the only difference between Zelgadis Greywers and his infamous ancestor, aside from age and physical appearances, was that Rezo had searched for a way to obtain the sight he never had, while Zelgadis looked for a way to regain what he'd lost.

"Hey, Lina?" She snapped out of her thoughts and found herself looking into a pair of concerned blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back a little as she tilted her head to look at the sky. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you're acting like you're off in your own little world or something. I just thought there might have been something wrong."

"We're being unusually perceptive this evening, Gourry," she said coolly, casting a slightly suspicious glance in her self-proclaimed bodyguard's direction. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing, really," he said, leaning back against the tree. "I just saw you looking all spacey and everything, and that's a not normal look for you."

"Oh." She frowned at that. For Gourry Gabriev to have noticed that something was wrong, she really must have been showing it.

The swordsman sighed audibly. "If I had known how much that piece of chicken meant to you, I never would have eaten it."

"The… chicken?"

Out of seemingly nowhere, a slipper went across his face.

"I'm sorry, Lina! I didn't realize how much it would affect you!"

"Affect me? You idiot! What makes you think I'd be upset about a chicken? If I had wanted it so much, I would've just beaten you over the head for it!"

"I thought that maybe for once you were going easy on me!"

"Easy on you?" The slipped descended once more. "Are you trying to imply that I've gone soft?"

"Well, a guy can always hope, right?" Gourry looked up hopefully. His face fell at the expression on her face. "Uh, Lina…?"

"Okay, that does it!" Gourry suddenly found himself unable to breathe as Lina grabbed him by the throat.

"But… Lina… I said I'm…!" 'Ack! I can't breathe!'

She raised a hand into the air and grinned at the cowering mercenary evilly as the telltale orb of flame sprung up. "Say your prayers, Gourry, 'cause I'm going to Fireball your —HUH?"

The Fireball in her hand fizzled out and died. The Bandit Killed did a double take as a bright green light passed over the swordsman's terrified features.

Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune sighed loudly as she collapsed in the armchair nearest to the balcony. Six months into the rebuilding of Taforashia and the work was still nowhere near being done. Truth be told, it was beginning to get to her.

"Anyone who thinks being a princess is easy has obviously read too many fairy tales."

She smiled to herself. Miss Lina had said that to her before she took off with Mr. Gourry again.

'It must be nice to be able to keep on wandering around so freely,' she couldn't help thinking enviously. Amelia didn't mind being a princess; after all, it came with its perks... but when it came to all the things that came with the package – envoys, visitations, pacts, politicos, you name it – well, she started longing for the open road again.

'It isn't so bad this time, though, now that I've got somebody to talk to.'

There was a smattering of laughter from below. Amelia pulled herself out from the chair and walked out to the balcony to see what was going on. She smiled broadly when she saw what looked like a small, hovering stuffed animal waving a stick about in a mock effort to fight an off-duty Taforashian guard who was wielding a sword while a small group of children watched intently.

"Take that, evil villain!" the stuffed animal exclaimed in a greatly exaggerated tone, and lunged. The guard parried and did a fancy twirl before bowing deeply.

"Oh, Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom!" the guard responded with equal exaggeration. "You are far stronger than I had expected! Had I known you were this powerful, I would have brought in my minions!"

"Have you forgotten, you terrible knave? I destroyed your minions before I arrived at your castle!" Pokota made another feigned strike at the guard, who blocked it while trying not to laugh.

"Oh, woe is me! Now I know that I am doomed to failure! Whatever shall I do?"

Amelia had to suppress a giggle. How long had they been acting out this skit? The children certainly weren't growing tired of it. Neither was she, for that matter. The Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom had become a sort of nightly presentation over the past few weeks, and the audiences just kept getting bigger.

'Pokota is really great around children,' she thought, and smiled. After the initial shock of discovering Taforashia's crowned prince had been converted to a stuffed animal, life moved on the curious way it always did. While the adults were considerably slower in accepting Prince Posel Korba Taforashia's transformation, the children took to Pokota's current form instantly. That was the beauty of small children: they were quicker to accept things than adults were.

"The choice is yours, oh dastardly villain!" Pokota had finally managed to "knock" the sword out of the guard's hand. The guard in question was currently pretending to beg for mercy, although he looked ready to burst out laughing at any minute. "Repent your evil deeds and join me in my hunt to awaken my people, or taste defeat!"

The guard fell forward and bowed before the hovering Pokota.

"Oh, Great Prince! I repent my evil ways and will follow you without hesitation!"

"All right!" Pokota exclaimed. "Arise, my new companion!" The guard did as he was told, and the prince happily tossed him back his sword before striking what thought was an impressive figure with his stick held to the sky. "And now we shall venture forth to awaken the people of the Sleeping Kingdom!"

"YAY!" the children shouted, clapping and laughing merrily. Pokota and the guard bowed. As Amelia looked on, she noticed that a few of the parents had gathered to watch the skit as well. She was pleased to note that most of them were clapping and cheering with their children.

"All right, kids," the guard announced, gesturing for them to all quiet down. "It's time for everyone to go home and get some rest. No arguments!" He clapped a hand to his head and laughed as the children groaned. "Come on, now! It's already late, and most of you should have been asleep hours ago!"

"But what about the story?" one of girls asked, looking up at the guard with large green eyes.

"Don't worry," Pokota said with reassuring smile. "We can continue it tomorrow."

His brought on a great deal of cheering, which were quickly reduced to unhappy whines as the parents came to round up the children.

"You were great, Dad!" a boy with sandy hair said, running up to the guard. "I thought you made a super bad guy!"

"Thanks, Tyler!" He picked up the boy and gave him a quick hug. "Ready to watch me become a super good guy?"

"Yeah!"

"Randy! Tyler!" a woman's voice called out. "Time to go home!"

"Coming!" the father and son duo trilled. With a wave to Pokota, they walked in the direction of the voice as the rest of the small crowd dispersed.

"Prince Pokota?" Pokota looked down to see the little girl with green eyes peering through her bangs up at him.

"Yeah, Sera?"

"Does the Prince of the Sleeping Kingdom ever rescue a princess and live happily ever after?"

"Well…" he began, searching for an out. Pokota felt himself begin to blush, the question having caught him off-guard. A sudden thought occurring to him, he smiled at the girl and leaned over to her as if he were going to reveal a great secret. "Let's see how the story goes. You wouldn't want me to spoil the ending, would you?"

"Oh, no!" Sera gasped, and shook her head furiously. Pokota laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Prince Pokota! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" He watched she scampered off towards a woman with the same green eyes as hers who was extending her hand for the girl to grab. It was nice, seeing all the families like that. In a way, he almost envied them. His father and he had so much to do in rebuilding their homeland – the most time they could spend together were in fleeting, snatched moments before the day was over.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of clapping coming from above. He whirled around and saw Amelia, who was now waving to him from the balcony of the room she was using as her own during her stay.

"You did great, Pokota!" she cheered.

"A-Amelia?" The blush returned. How long had she been watching? He shook himself mentally and decided to make a sweeping bow, eliciting another cheer and even more applause from the Saillune princess. He laughed and tossed the stick aside before levitating up to the balcony.

"I guess we really had a hit tonight," he said, landing on the railing next to his friend.

"It was terrific," agreed Amelia, still wearing her brilliant smile. "The children are really eating up the story."

"Yeah, but now they want to know what happens next!" Pokota laughed and sat down. "I even had Sera come up and ask me if the prince lives happily ever after with a princess at the end of the end of the story!"

Amelia giggled. "Well, does he?"

"What?" He gave her a panicked look, and responded hastily, "Oh, no! Well, yes, I mean I don't know yet! Uh… can I just say it's a secret?"

"But if you did, you'd sound like Mr. Xellos."

"Oh." Pokota frowned at that. He hadn't seen that crazy priest since the night they defeated the ghost of Shabranigdo, and he hoped to never have the occasion for a reunion. Even though he'd helped Pokota defeat the Dark Lord's ghost, Xellos was just too weird and unpredictable for the prince's tastes. Pokota didn't trust that Monster and he certainly didn't want to sound like him!

"Well, at any rate, I think you should have the prince live happily ever after with a princess," Amelia continued, leaning against the railing. A light breeze had picked up; it felt good against her face. "It would make the story even nicer."

"Yeah, but then it would wind up just like every other fairy tale out there: all that mushy romance and everything."

"What's the matter with that?" She looked over at Pokota questioningly. "Romance isn't so bad. There are a lot of people who like happy, romantic endings. Life isn't like a fairy tale, but as long as there are fairy tales to tell the children, they have something to believe in. Children need that sort of thing and so do the adults, even if they won't admit to it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Pokota frowned again and looked into the room. His eyes fell on the small, leather-bound journal sitting on the desk next to Amelia's bed. Life wasn't like a fairy tale. The both of them knew that all too well. Sometimes your savior was your enemy, and sometimes you had to fight against your friends.

The journal was proof of that, or at least it was going to be. While they had a dozen other projects to head in the reconstruction, that journal was number one on their list. Not long after the others had departed, Amelia and Pokota decided to chronicle the events leading up to Taforashia's disappearance. With so many tales surrounding the kingdom's mysterious disappearance, it seemed only natural that someone should write out the truth. They'd gone up to their fathers, and both Prince Philionel and Taforashia's king agreed to the project. It hadn't been easy. Six months later, the two royal heirs were still researching old records, and Pokota had discovered that everyone had some difficulty remembering what had happened prior to the Durum Plague outbreak. He and Amelia figured it might have been a side effect of the sleeping spell Rezo had used when he sealed the kingdom; without the sage's journals and notes, however, they probably would never know for sure. Taforashia's disappearance was far more complicated than anyone would ever believe, thanks to the Red Priest. It would take a lot of effort to flesh out the true story of the fabled kingdom.

Amelia followed his gaze, and her expression grew solemn. "One day, they're going to read a fairy tale of a different kind," she said softly, and walked over to the desk to pick up the journal. "The ironic thing is that, no matter which way you look at it, the true story about Taforashia sounds more like a fairy tale than anything else."

"Yeah, a warped fairy tale," Pokota agreed, hovering over to where she stood. He chuckled. "Of course, when we get to all the parts about Lina, we're going to have fun avoiding the use of excessive exaggeration."

"That may be hard to do, given Miss Lina's antics," Amelia laughed. It was a nice sound to Pokota's mind.

'But life isn't like a fairy tale, even if it sounds like one. The savior isn't always the good guy, and sometimes the good guys get knocked down a lot before they can get back up. And the prince doesn't always get the princess in the end…'

He watched as Amelia put the journal back on the desk and closed her eyes. He was about to change the subject and ask her about her day with the roads project, but anything he might have said to that effect was suddenly washed aside as the Saillune princess and the room were suddenly bathed in an eerie green light.

"Hey, what the –?"

Amelia's eyes snapped open wide, and she looked around in bewilderment. The two locked eyes for a brief second and bolted back out to the balcony. Looking upwards to the sky, they saw the strangest thing either of them had come across since defeat of Shabranigdo's ghost: a bright green streak racing across the starry expanse, leaving a trail of the same eerie colored light in its wake.

Pokota cocked his head to one side.

"Hang on a second, isn't that a –?"

Sylphiel Nels Rahda sat on parapet basking in the moonlight, enjoying the temporary serenity. The reconstruction project was hard work, but helping people was something she lived for. To Sylphiel, the effort was all worth it.

She heard children laughing down below and smiled a little to herself. It had been a long time since she'd been able to fully enjoy that sound. Ever since the night Copy Rezo had destroyed her hometown of Sairaag, Sylphiel hadn't been able to enjoy the nights and laughter as much. She'd lost sleep over nightmares replaying that fated evening, waking up in cold sweat and hearing the sound of Copy Rezo's insane laughter ringing in her ears even after the vestiges of the dreams had faded away; she'd rediscovered her childhood fear of the dark in the long hours she'd lain in bed, insomniac. For the longest time, she'd been afraid. But now…

She breathed in the night air deeply. She was better now, a few years later. She'd gotten past most of her fears and could handle herself relatively well, even if she was still a little awkward. She'd found her niche in Saillune, and now in the newly awakened kingdom of Taforashia. For her, all was well again.

For the most part, anyway.

She sometimes wondered what it would be like to travel with Miss Lina and the others. She'd only joined them in their adventures briefly here and there, but she was never with them for long. She always seemed have bad timing when it came to joining them – no sooner would they run into each other, there was a terrible catastrophe about to happen, and then it would be all over. Coming in towards the end of things tended to be her biggest problem.

"Oh, well," she said to herself softly, kicking her legs a little as she looked down. There was a small group of children watching what looked to be one of the off-duty guards and a moving stuffed animal acting out a sword fight. Sylphiel smiled – it was so nice to see everyone happy like that, especially the little ones.

'I wonder if Dear Gourry likes children…'

She closed her eyes as a gentle breeze blew her dark hair back from her face. Children and her Dear Gourry were two things that could always make her happy. A big part of the reason she wanted to travel with Lina Inverse was because she wanted to be closer to the blond swordsman – he was why she'd attempted to master the Dragon Slave, after all. Being with him made her feel somewhat stronger, and each time they parted ways she tried even harder to be as strong as she could for the next time they met.

She glanced down and smiled even more when caught a glimpse of Amelia talking with Pokota on one of the balconies. It was so nice to see them together, Sylphiel thought. They got along wonderfully, and they respected each other. It was just too bad Mr. Pokota was stuck like that…

'But at least Miss Amelia doesn't seem to mind.'

She closed her eyes and gently tilted her head back while humming a song her father had taught her when she was little. It such a nice and peaceful night, one of those rare kinds that left the mind opened to all sorts of whimsical thoughts.

Her own thoughts were soon thrown out the window, for a strong green light penetrated through her eyelids, causing her to jolt back into reality. Her emerald green eyes snapped wide open, and she stared at the green streak crossing the night sky, bathing the whole of Taforashia in an eerie glow.

Without a second thought, Sylphiel bolted from her spot on the parapet, heading in the direction of Amelia's bedchamber.

'I don't know what it is,' she thought as she ran, 'but it looks almost like it's a –'

"Make a wish, Helmina!" the chocolate-haired guard laughed, earning himself a prompt swat over the head from his blonde companion.

"Grow up for once, would you?" Helmina Ulcourt admonished. She slumped back against the cold stone outer wall of the royal palace's northern lookout tower and folded her arms, all the while looking at her comrade sourly. "Honestly, Aramis. We're supposed to be keeping an eye out for that merchant caravan, not stargazing!"

Aramis Dawes-Trask stuck his tongue out at her before returning his gaze up the green streak in the sky. "Lighten up, would ya? Besides, just look at that thing! Pretty weird, don't ya think?"

Helmina glanced upward with a frown. "Yeah, but what can you do about it? Maybe it's something that shows up every once in a few hundred years."

"Only Inverness would know that kind of thing."

Inverness Hoary sneezed, causing the pages of the aged tome in front of him to flip over. Rubbing his nose and sniffling, he frowned upon realizing that he'd lost his place.

It wasn't as if it mattered, he thought ruefully as he closed the book entirely, the action creating a small gust of years-old dust across his desk. Looking out the window of his second floor location, he couldn't help but think that any attempt on his part to trace information on that strange green streak crossing the sky would be futile. The moment the eerie light had caught his eye, he'd dived into his nearest astrological and astronomical texts. Despite his near-photographic memory for trivial information, he could find absolutely nothing even hinting to such a strange phenomenon. The only information his reference material could provide was what he already knew: that enormous blasts of magic could very often create wild and fantastic spectacles seen from across a continent if powerful enough. Anyone who studied magic even briefly knew that.

Inverness wasn't too surprised by this revelation. Considering this tiny kingdom had been locked away for well over a decade, updated information was understandably – if not somewhat infuriatingly – difficult to come by.

All the same, it irked the man that he knew nothing about that thing in the sky. While the object seemed innocent enough, the unsettling feeling in his gut that told him that it was more than it appeared.

"It's an omen," said the elder, his face turned skyward. The others sitting round the campfire nodded mutely, all very much in agreement to his statement.

The small group of nomadic seers had at long last settled in this part of the kingdom of Lyzeille, just south of Krimzon after a week's stay in the temple dedicated to Ceipheid at Telmoord. In another day they would reach Sairaag, where they would set up another weeklong camp and offer prayers to the Flarelord for a blessing upon the land before beginning their work on reconstructing the lost Magic City. If the Lady of Fate saw their attempt as futile, they would make their way back to the Coastal States in hopes of being granted permission to exchange work for land to settle on.

In this small clearing in the forest their small party had lain down for rest, the elder and his four-member council having stayed up to discuss their plans for permanent settlement. No sooner had they begun, the evening sky lit up with an eerie glow as a strange green streak bolted across the expanse, having come from the very direction in which they were headed. By now almost everyone in the caravan had awoken, and many were gawking openly at the enigmatic sight.

"Should we take this a sign to turn back?" inquired the youngest of the council, looking to the elder worriedly. "Perhaps now isn't the time to return to Sairaag."

The elder let out a low hum of consideration. "While it is difficult to say what omen it may be," he said after a moment, "it may be wise for us to proceed to Krimzon as opposed to Sairaag."

"This isn't the first time such an omen has presented itself," said another member of the council.

"Ayuh," said yet another. "It was maybe two years ago when the Holy Tree Flagoon died and began to rot away. We made plans to settle there even then, and we were forced to turn away because of an ominous sign."

"It is perhaps in our best interest that we abandon Sairaag altogether," said the third member of the council, an aged man whose eyes had been burned out years ago as punishment for an unfavorable vision. Feeling the eyes of the others upon him, he continued: "The Holy Tree Flagoon fell shortly after Sairaag was destroyed. After an even shorter period of time, Hellmaster Phibrizzo met his downfall, and the land continued to rot. It is safe to say that the Magic City has long since been forsaken by the gods. We would do well to offer only our blessings and move onward to a more favorable location as had been previously suggested."

The elder nodded slowly. "Yes. It would be best…" He looked up at the retreating streak and frowned, his brow furrowed. "It would be best…"

Only one in their party did not openly gawk, nor did she offer any speculation to the rapidly populating gossip. Saitron Eluveitie instead sat upright on the cold stone next to the weeping willow, her face tilted towards the sky. Though she could not see past the folds of the black cloth over her eyes, she could feel the light against her, the shift in the wind and the change in atmosphere; she could hear distinctly what each person said.

The elder called it an omen. Saitron had never been one for dramatics; she called it a precursor. Semantics aside, it was obvious that streak in the sky meant nothing good.

She didn't have much of a chance to think further on the matter – a hand clasped over her mouth, and something yanked her back roughly. The only thing she knew afterwards was an unfamiliar darkness.