A.N. Been a while since an update, and as such chapter five will be up shortly. Anyways, this chapter marks the last of the "old" chapters I wrote a long, long, long time ago. You may notice shifts in the writing here. Enjoy!

"While we're out this way, we should go visit everyone in Arlia. It's been a while since we last saw them. Mother must be worried sick about me…"

Rena's words broke the long silence that had been lingering on as we left the inn. I had never been to Arlia and was much curious to see the village. It was said to be the most beautiful village in all of Expel. Claude, however, seemed skeptical about the idea; he wasn't the only one either.

"That would be out of our way though." He said, trying not to be rude. Rena frowned.

"Claude is right, Rena sweetheart. It would set us back a day; we need to set sail from Herlie and get to Lacour as soon as possible." Celine said, agreeing with Claude. Rena's frown got bigger. Celine quickly spoke upon seeing Rena's facial expression. "Besides, don't you want to know what these say?" She asked Rena while holding up the ancient tome and tapping the cover with her index finger. Rena shook her head.

"It's not that…" She started politely. "I just thought it'd be nice to see everyone again." She finished. Her head dropped slightly as she looked downward.

I decided to speak up.

"Why not go to Arlia?" I asked. Before they had a chance to respond I spoke again. "Translating those texts can wait." I stated in a straightforward manner. Rena glanced over at me. A small smile curled onto her lips.

"That's not the only reason we need to get to Lacour." Claude said, looking straight at me. I shook my head at him.

"Whatever the reason, I'm sure it can wait." I replied to him once again with a straightforward manner.

"But you—"

"Oh all right, you win." Celine said, cutting off Claude as he began to speak. "You're right. Translating these can wait. We might not be out here again for quite some time, so we might as well let Rena visit while she can." She concluded.

Claude gave out a heavy sigh in defeat, and we then left Salva for Arlia.

The village was just as it was said to be. Birds flew over the town playfully; the sound of slow running water could be heard throughout the village; and to top it off, a beautiful forest border-lining the edge of the village. It left me awestruck.

"My, this is a beautiful little village." Celine stated with awe. I got the notion that this was her first time here, just like me.

"I'll be off." Rena said suddenly. She then walked away into the village without saying another word. Claude and Celine soon after walked off also, leaving me alone—well, not really—without any idea of what to do or where to go. I shrugged to myself and then made my way around town.

A rather large house had caught my eye. It seemed to be in the dead center of the village. My first guess was that it was home to the mayor, as people of such importance typically lived in grand houses. I decided to see just what it was and who lived there. I made my way around the sides and eventually came to the door. The house sat on the side of the small river running through town. Its reflection was clear on the calmly flowing water. I knocked, and shortly after a woman answered the door. She had long, blue hair. It somewhat reminded me of Rena, but it was much darker than hers.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a polite manner that seemed to fade as her eyes met with the dragons on my back. I scratched the back of my head.

"I'm sorry. I really have no clue where I'm going in this town." I stated dumbly. "I thought maybe this was the mayor's house…" I left my words unfinished.

The woman laughed nervously at me, and pointed straight across from her. "That's the mayor's house, there." She said.

"Mother, who is it?"

That sudden voice was familiar. The woman turned her head and leaned back into the doorway.

"It's a strange man. Much like that Claude." She yelled back teasingly.

I soon saw Rena appear behind the woman.

"Oh, Ashton!" She called out to me. She squeezed out of the doorway that the woman was blocking.

"You know this man?" The woman asked, looking at Rena curiously. She nodded.

"Yes, he's traveling with us." She replied. The woman smiled at this comment.

"Well he's awfully lost." She said truthfully. "Why don't you show him around the village like you did with Claude? When you get back, I'll have a nice dinner ready for both of you." She seemed to be telling Rena to do this rather than asking. Rena thought for a moment, then agreed.

"Okay, mother. Just don't go off and make too much food this time, 'kay?"

So that was her mother. I glanced back and forth between the two, yet saw no resemblance other than hair color. Rena had long, pointed ears, yet this mother of hers had ears like the rest of us.

Rena suddenly grabbed my wrist and tugged on it. She burst into a jog.

"Come-on, let's go!" She said excitedly. She dragged me along.

She took me to the mayor's house first. I stood by while Rena knocked on the door. Moments passed, and she turned to me with a smile, her hands behind her back. I smiled back. She turned away and knocked again. As before, there was no answer.

"He's not home?" I asked.

Rena shrugged, "I guess so."

We made our way to the small shop of the village. We entered, a small bell chiming as the door opened.

"Why hello, Rena." The shopkeeper said.

"Hi, Mr. Hearn." Rena said back. I saw the shopkeeper glance over at me.

"Giving yet another grand tour?" He asked her teasingly. Rena nodded.

"Yep!" She replied. "This is Ashton," she gestured to me, "That's Gyoro," her look went to the red dragon, "And that's Ururun." She finished finally, looking at the blue dragon. Mr. Hearn gave out a small, nervous laugh.

"I see…" He said somewhat quietly.

Before Rena could say anything back, I was suddenly lunged forward towards the small display case. My body had moved without my control, and soon Gyoro and Ururun were staring into the display case.

"H-hey, cut it out!" I yelled at them. They growled at me and kept staring into the display case. I decided it was futile to try and resist, so I too looked into the case.

Inside was a small helmet. I was confused as to why they took such interest in it.

"Buy it!" They both suddenly said in my head.

"Huh? What do you mean, 'buy it'?" I repeated out loud. Rena was soon behind me, looking over my shoulder with much interest.

"What's wrong, Ashton?" She asked curiously.

"These two are telling me to buy them this helmet." I told her. She blinked at me in confusion.

"Oh, you mean Gyoro and Ururun." She said, now getting my meaning. "Why do they want that?" She asked peculiarly. In my head they were saying such odd things about the item.

"Well, they say that it would be beneficial to them, and also me." I told her. I felt a bit awkward in saying that.

"Bene…ficial?" She said with confusion. I shrugged, not knowing myself how it could possibly be beneficial.

"They say that I should think of them and buy it for them." I said. I felt like their puppet…

"How much does it cost?" She asked, trying to get a view on the price tag.

"It costs…" I started, looking closely at the object, "10,000 Fol!" I shouted ludicrously. Rena took on a shocked expression, her mouth now agape.

"W-what?" She asked with the same ludicrous tone that I had used. "We can't afford that!" She said.

"Agreed." I said.

Gyoro and Ururun had a hissy-fit as Rena helped pry me from the store. In my mind they were saying that I didn't care for them and all sorts of persuading rubbish.

She continued to show me around the village. She took me over a small bridge and led me into the forest that was on the outside of the village. The sunlight pierced the open areas of the leaves, creating playful images on the damp ground. She stopped in front of a rather large tree.

"This…this is my favorite place to be." She told me. She turned and looked at me. "It's also where I met Claude for the first time."

I was a bit surprised at her words. She met Claude here, of all places? It sure did add more to that air of mysteriousness that surrounded him.

Rena sat down against the large tree and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them.

"He saved my life here, with his 'Sword of Light.'"

I was truly surprised now. That's how they met? He saved her life? I was lost, not knowing what this whole thing was about. I peered down at her. She had her eyes closed, and I could only wonder if she was re-imagining the whole event. I stayed quiet and sat down next to her. I began to remember the fight I had with that strange creature in the Mountain Palace. I still had no answer as to how my wounds had vanished. I looked at her, as did Gyoro and Ururun. She opened her eyes and faced us as if she had felt all three of our questionable stares.

"What is it?" She asked me curiously. I didn't respond right away as her eyes once again entranced me. Gyoro and Ururun snapped me out of it though.

"Back at the Mountain Palace…" I started hesitantly, "…What did you do to me?" I felt as if I had come off a bit rude. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that." I quickly added to reprimand my action.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. I was worried about Claude and…" Her words grew hastier as she spoke, but she caught herself before she went off topic. "…I can heal people. I don't know why, I know it's strange…" She once again grew hasty but stopped herself. I laughed at her display.

"It's not strange," I told her truthfully, "I think it's a good thing. You can help people." I smiled, and so did she—that beautiful smile—and then we silently listened to the forest.

After a while she stood and led me out of the forest and towards the church. We entered, and if I had to guess, mass had just ended as some people were leaving. The preacher simply smiled at us before turning around and bowing his head in silent prayer. As I looked around the church, I was awestruck by all the vivid pictures made of glass. The one that really caught my eye, however, was the large picture of a blonde man garbed in red-trimmed white garments, holding up a shimmering sword. It was positioned above the altar at the front of the church.

"This here is our church." Rena said, pointing out the obvious. "It was just recently that our prayers were answered."

I looked at her, confused. "Your prayers have been answered?" I asked.

She nodded and smiled. "Yes," she began. "'The Warrior of Light' has come…Claude. He's going to save everyone!" She finished excitedly. I stared at her in disbelief.

"Is that so…?" I murmured.

I took a few steps forward, getting closer to better examine the picture above the altar. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the sword in the picture. It seemed so…

I unsheathed my right-hand sword and held it into the air, mimicking the man in the picture. Much to my surprise, the swords matched perfectly. I heard a loud gasp from behind me, and turned to look at Rena without lowering my sword. Her eyes were wide and shining with wonder. She brought her fingers to her lips before backing up a bit.

I lowered my sword, its tip catching a ray of sunlight as I brought it down. For a moment it shined just like the one in the picture. I walked up to her. For reasons I did not know, she was blushing.

"Rena?" I called her name with concern. She gasped suddenly and turned, walking towards the church's doors.

"Uhm, let's go." She responded tensely. I watched her leave, and soon after followed her. I glanced back at the picture one last time before leaving.

We made our way back towards her house, stopping one final time beforehand. Our final stop was at a small house just next door of the shop. Rena opened the door and led me in.

"Rena~!"

Two small children—one a boy, the other a girl—suddenly ran up to Rena, clinging to her legs.

"Yay, Rena!"

I chuckled at the sight.

"Hi there." She said sweetly to the small children. She had reached down and was running her hand through the girl's hair.

"Rena, Rena! Have you come to tell us a story?" The small boy asked. Rena shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I came to introduce my friends here." Rena responded. I took note that she referred to me as "friends" rather than "friend." The children looked up at me. "This here is Ashton, Gyoro, and Ururun." Rena told them in a sweet voice. They stared at me for a long time, and I began to feel a bit embarrassed.

"He's not at cool as Claude." The boy suddenly said, breaking the long silence. I was taken aback by his comment, and so was Rena.

"That's not very nice to say. Besides, you hardly even know him." She said to him, her voice no longer sweet.

"But he's funny lookin'." The small girl said, adding to my demoralization.

"Don't say such things!" Rena said in a chastising manner. The small children let go of Rena and backed up. They began to laugh, a teasing laugh.

"Rena got angry!" The small girl said in a singsong fashion.

Rena's face went red.

"She doesn't usually get angry, does she?" I asked, looking down at the small children.

"Rena has never gotten angry! Never-ever!" The small boy said through his laughter. I looked at Rena. Her face was very red, and for a moment I feared that she was actually very angry. My mind wandered to thoughts of Rena being mad and yelling at someone out of pure spite. It was an awkward thought, that's for sure. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and led me out the door.

"We have to get going now. Bye!" She said as we left.

Rena led me back to her house, stopping at her door. I could smell the aromas of various foods coming from inside. It smelled delicious. Rena looked at me, as if wanting to ask me something. Her eyes seemed to be examining me from head to foot. I spoke up, as she wasn't saying anything.

"What is it?" I asked her. She shook her head and opened the door.

"Come in, mother must be waiting." She said, ignoring my question.

I entered the house. The aromas of the foods grew much stronger as I entered, and suddenly I felt extremely hungry.

"Ah, Rena; you're back. How was it?"

I looked up at Rena's mother as she spoke. Rena pulled a chair out for me to sit, and then proceeded to sit on the chair next to me.

"Rather eventful." She responded to her mother. She passed me a plate.

"Please, help yourself." Her mother told me kindly.

Set on the table was a mountain of food: biscuits, turkey, ham, stews of many types, a variety of vegetables, gravy, and desserts. My mouth was hanging open in astonishment. She made all this food…that fast? I decided not to inquire about it, and instead filled my plate with a variety of food. It didn't last long, as Gyoro and Ururun rudely cleaned my plate before I even had a chance to take a bite.

"H-hey, cut it out!" I yelled at them. They grinned at me mischievously. Rena and her mother were laughing. I sighed multiple times as this process repeated until Gyoro and Ururun were full, which then finally I was able to eat after I loaded my plate for a fourth time. Rena was already finished by this time.

"How is the investigation going?"

"We haven't found out much…"

I set down my fork, my attention now set on the conversation between Rena and her mother.

"We had an audience with the king, but unfortunately he could only tell us what we already knew."

"Oh, I see."

"We are planning to set out for Herlie tomorrow so that we can cross to Lacour."

"Herlie? That's a rather far way away. What brings you out here?"

Rena turned towards me. "We ran into Ashton here while attempting to slay a dragon in Salva."

"A dragon? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Her mother seemed worried that Rena was being reckless.

"That's right…we accidentally caused Ashton to become like this." Rena's voice was sympathetic. It suddenly fell silent and Rena's mother was staring at me. I felt a bit uneasy, so I spoke up, trying to get back onto the original topic.

"You said something about an investigation?" I said, reiterating on the past topic. Rena's mother nodded, her stare finally broken.

"Why yes; Rena and Claude are to investigate the Sorcery Globe. Did you not know?" She looked at me with confusion. I was shocked at what she had just said.

"The Sorcery Globe? That's a dangero—"

"Yes, but Claude is with me."

I looked at Rena with even more shock, my jaw hanging agape. She seemed rather confident about what she had just said. Claude was reckless, unskilled, and far from strong, from what I could tell. Did she really believe that he could protect her? Then again he had saved her life once…

"He's saved me twice already. I'm sure he'll protect me—he is the 'Warrior…" She stopped, her mouth still open. Her gaze fell upon my sheathed sword. "…Of Light'…"

Twice. He had saved her life twice. Not once, but twice. That air of mysteriousness that surrounded him just turned to fog.

"Speaking of Claude," Rena's mother started, looking side-to-side, "Where is he? He's usually with you, Rena."

Rena shrugged, not knowing the answer to her mother's question.

Suddenly the door opened.

"So this is Rena's house…!"

I recognized the voice. It was Celine. She came into the dining area with Claude right behind her. They both stopped when they saw us.

"Oh, I'm sorry darlings. Are we intruding?" Celine asked. There was no sign of concern in her voice.

"No, not at all. Please, sit down; there's plenty to go around." Rena's mother replied while shaking her head. Celine and Claude nodded, and both took seats at the table. They each took a plate, and with it a share of the mountain of food. "I see you've made yet another friend, Rena." Her mother looked at her with praise. Rena nodded. Her mother turned to Claude. "And how have you been, Claude?"

Claude set down the biscuit he was eating and swallowed. "Great. We haven't made much progress on our investigation, though." He told her.

"So I've been told." She said, glancing at Rena.

"Mother," Rena called, "Where is Mayor Regis?" She asked, changing the subject.

"The mayor is visiting with Alen on business." She replied.

From there the conversation seemed to dwindle. Claude, Celine, and I soon finished eating. It was getting late now, and Rena's mother offered us to stay the night there. It was a grand idea, seeing as this village had no inn. However, the grandness of this idea was soon diminished as I found out that there were only three beds—one of which was Rena's, and the other her mother's—which really only left one. I volunteered to sleep on the floor, since chairs would be uncomfortable for Gyoro and Ururun.

Sleep seemed to evade me again that night. I just couldn't get used to the hard floor, no matter how hard I tried. I closed my eyes tightly, yet again, trying to fall asleep. It didn't work, and instead I heard a quiet noise, followed by the scampering of feet down a staircase. Then I heard a voice.

"Mother!" It was Rena's voice.

"Rena? What are you doing up so late?" I heard her mother's voice now.

"Mother! Look!" Rena was saying. There was a short pause.

"Why do you have a sword? Rena, whose sword is that?"

I sat up now, and noticed that one of my swords was missing from the pile of my belongings. I stood and drew closer to the staircase, to better hear the conversation.

"It's Ashton's. Mother, look—it's the 'Sword of Light!'" I jumped a little at the title Rena had given my sword.

"But Rena…" I heard her mother begin to speak. Her voice seemed hesitant. "Ashton uses twin swords, right?"

"So?" Rena replied, not understanding what her mother was getting at. I knew where she was going with this.

"How can it be the 'Sword of Light' if it has a twin?"

There was a long pause after her mother's statement. She had a very good point. How could the fabled 'Sword of Light' have a twin? However, in this case she was both right and wrong. My blades were not real twin swords. They may look the same, but one was a gift from my childhood friend Rosalia, while the other was a quickly-forged duplicate. The blacksmith had told me that creating a full-fledged duplicate would take years of perfect blacksmithing. Not that I actually believed it was the 'Sword of Light.' In all honesty, I wasn't quite sure I even believed in the legend.

"But…it matched the one in the picture—perfectly!" Rena said, her voice now firm with belief. "It has to be it!"

"He may deny it himself, but do you not believe in Claude anymore?"

Rena's mother shot back with that question as if not wanting to argue Rena's belief; her words perked my curiosity. Claude denied being the 'Warrior of Light?'

"I…" Rena couldn't reply. I could tell she was rather upset and decided to go downstairs. I descended the staircase. My intrusion surprised them both.

"Ashton!" Her mother exclaimed with a gasp. I turned towards Rena who was looking away with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Ashton." Rena said guiltily. "You heard all that, didn't you?" She asked, now looking at me with a sad face.

I nodded. "Yes, I heard every word." I told her honestly. I looked at her with sympathy; she truly believed in this 'Warrior of Light' legend. I thought it'd be better if I played along with it, in hopes of cheering her up. I reached out my hand and took my sword from the table. I held it into the air and once again posed like the man in the picture, and this time Gyoro and Ururun joined in, trying to look as chivalric as possible. "Who knows," I began, looking down at Rena now. "Maybe this is the 'Sword of Light' after all. And possibly I'm the 'Warrior of Light,' too!" I chuckled slightly at my proclamation. Rena's eyes lit up with joy, and she was suddenly filled with happiness. Her mother seemed relieved.

"Just maybe…" Her mother murmured.

"Ashton, the 'Warrior of Light.'" Rena stated. She then giggled. "I'm sorry," she started, "I've forgotten two of you. Ashton, Gyoro, and Ururun—the 'Warriors of Light!'" She said as if dubbing us so. I laughed with her.

Rena returned upstairs after saying goodnight and giving Gyoro and Ururun their goodnight kisses. Her mother had teased her, saying she had forgotten one. Rena had laughed sarcastically at her mother's comment and I had let out a small chuckle myself.

I too was about to return upstairs, but was stopped by her mother's voice.

"Thank-you, Ashton." She told me. I was a bit confused, but she proceeded to clarify what she meant. "For letting my daughter believe in you." She stopped momentarily and smiled. "She was so happy. Please, let her continue to believe in you, even if you aren't the 'Warrior of Light.'"

I nodded understandingly. "I will. I promise."

A.N. Has anyone else noticed that the picture of the 'Warrior of Light' in Star Ocean EX is holding a sword similar to the ones Ashton uses? It's a triangle-blade sword, exactly like his. You can see this if you watch the opening of Star Ocean EX. I'm sure it's also in an episode somewhere, but I can't remember which. Anyways, reviews are appreciated!