Orion, Lucy, and Casper sat in the living room in an uncomfortable silence that was only broken by the rhythmic ticking of an old grandfather clock in the corner. Orion sat sprawled on the leather couch, his head buzzing, but his glare venomous all the same. The receiver of the icy star sat on the velvet couch opposite, her slender legs folded over each other. Casper leaned against the wall, impatiently waiting.

Lucy opened her mouth to speck, but a quick glance at Casper's disapproving scowl glued her lips shut. The water dawn light drearily dripped through the small windows; a depressing reminder that Lydia was not yet awake and the professor would be worried that they hadn't returned. Not to mention that Stoneholm was a day and a half walk from Burnadale and Professor Oslo had planned to arrive at the Dwaven City by the following afternoon.

Casper peeled himself from the wall and strode across the room to the spiral staircase. "I'm going to check on Lydia." As he said this, Orion's black and orange cat came bounding down the stairs.

"No need," Orion said from the couch. "She's already awake."

As if on cue, Lydia came walking down the stairs, her eyes red and slightly puffy, but her face a mask of determination. Her hair was in disarray and her leather tunic was crumpled along the hem. Her green eyes were still moist, but they scream authority. Lucy broke off the glaring for a moment to address Lydia.

"Lydia, are you sure you should be out of bed?" Lydia brushed away a wisp of red-orange hair from her face.

"Whatever that woman did is done. There are more pressing matters than sitting in a bed, wasting time. The professor will be ready to go by the time we even get to his house. He will be disappointed if he has to wait." She looked pointedly at Orion. "You'll be coming with us." He sprang up in anger, but collapsed back onto the couch in a wave of dizziness.

"The hell I will! There's no way I'm going anywhere with that arrogant, self-centered skylord!" Lucy's hand clenched into a tight fist.

"I feel the same way about you, you spineless, alchemic imbecile!" They began arguing.

"Shut it!" Lydia shouted. "If you two will argue like this the whole time, I'll slap you both until my hand goes numb!" Both offending parties clamped their mouths shut. "Orion's coming with us in case that woman comes back. It's obvious she wanted something of yours." The silver-haired alchemist's hand flew to the red pendent around his neck, most likely the most valuable thing he owned. His dark blue eyes were clouded.

"My tower is perfectly capable of protecting me." He said plainly.

"I don't know if you noticed, but your front door was blasted door!" Lydia exclaimed, growing tired of his defiance. To this the alchemist has no reply. He simply crossed his arms and sat stoically.

"Casper, we're leaving. Where's my bag?"

Most of the city of Stoneholm was underground, where the lighting came mostly from lava and torches. There was a central courtyard that led to a mountain where the main entrance was actually a door to a half a dozen downward leading staircases. These staircases opened up to an underground square where a shop, inn, and blacksmith were, along with tunnels that most likely led to individual house/caves.

Three people greeted the group of five. The first man was as tall as Lydia, maybe 5' 7", and had a long orange beard. He was wearing a pair of low rise black trousers, and iron shoulder and knee plates. The man next to him was obviously a dwarf, not even as tall as Lucy. He looked like he could be the redhead man's cousin, except the dwarf's skin was a sickly green-gray and he had a howl going strait through him. The last man stood at a little more than 6' and was wearing a tight black and maroon suit. His dark brown hair was slicked back with a single curled bang. The dwarf introduced himself.

"I'm Spacker." He said with a heavy dwarven accent. "These two are Honeydew and Xephos. They're the two who saw the ruins I told you about." He turned to the redhead man. "Honeydew, why don't you show those four to their rooms at the inn. Xephos and I will discuss the excavation for the day after tomorrow with the professor." Professor Oslo cut in.

"Excuse me, but why aren't we staring the excavation tomorrow?"

"Because the new king's coronation is tomorrow." Honeydew explained. His accent wasn't as pronounced as Spacker's. Perfect, Casper thought; no one will be armed. Professor Oslo nodded like he understood.

While Spacker and Xephos led the professor to a giant anvil with a map on it, Honeydew escorted the four teens to the inn. The doors however, were locked. A note on the door read, 'Gone out to collect wood. If it's Moria reading this, the spare key to the chest is in my house. –Rory'.

"Didn't have to lock the bloody inn!" Honeydew called, as if the innkeeper was inside hiding. He plopped down in front of the door and pulled the diamond pick from the holster on his back. "Well," He yawned. "Nothin' to do but wait I suppose." Lydia gingerly sat down next to him, her legs folded Indian style.

"Pardon me for asking, but I heard that the last king, King Finbar, died almost two years ago. Why are you just now appointing a new one?" Honeydew scratched the back of his head with his pick.

"Don't know actually. I've been helpin' rebuild New Mistral." Casper leaned against the inn wall.

"Well aren't you useless." He scoffed under his breath.

"Now don't be saying that to a dwarf." Honeydew said, pointing his pick. Lydia twisted behind her and laid a hand on Casper's leg.

"Casper please." He said his next statement anyway.

"You're too tall to be a dwarf. I'd say you're only half dwarf. On your…father's side." Honeydew's face was red with anger. He sprang to his feet and shaved the blade of his pickaxe under Casper's chin.

"Are you insulting me boy?" Casper stared into the half-dwarf's coal black eyes with his own pale gray ones. They grew colder and paler, the pupils lightening in hue until Casper's eyes were almost pure white.

"All the hardships you faced against Israphel is nothing compared to what's to come." Casper said in a low voice that only Honeydew could hear, his lips barely moving. "I would advice you not to make an enemy out of me." Honeydew's eyes were wide. "Now you're going to lower that pick and pretend I never said anything to you." The bearded man's narrowed and he pulled his pick away in mock disgust. Casper's eyes returned to normal and a slight smile played on his lips.

Lucy laid on her bed in she and Lydia's room at the inn, reading a small colorful book. The door to their small bathroom opened, and Lydia stepped out in a cloud of steam, wrapped in a think black towel. She grabbed her loose cotton pants and camisole from the closet and went behind the screen in the corner to change.

"So Lydia," The blond called from her bed. "I was looking though the clothes you brought-" Lydia leaned her head out from around the screen and gave Lucy a disapproving look. "-and I noticed that you don't have anything to wear for the coronation." The ginger sighed.

"Of course not. I thought we were going to be digging not celebrating. The only thing I brought was tunics and leggings." The black towel flew over the top of the screen.

Lucy pulled out a charcoal pencil and scribbled something in her book.

"Well it's a good thing I packed an extra dress. It's white though. Hope you don't mind." Lydia walked out from behind the screen, her rusty hair looking almost black. She plopped onto Lucy's bed.

"You know I hate dresses." The young skylord gave her a knowing look. "But I guess one day in a dress wont kill me."