Chapter 6

The airship was impressive, to say the least. Doctorman had never seen such a thing. Ilene saw Doctorman's surprise and remarked, "What, they don't fly where you come from?" "Not on ships like this," Doctorman responded. Raven kept a straight face and guided them to the bridge. Along the way, Doctorman saw many workers, running about the place in masks that covered their whole head. "Why are they wearing masks?" he asked Raven. "Is there some kind of toxic gas?" "Of course not," Raven said sternly. "It is part of the uniform when on duty." Then he turned his attention back to the hallway. He's irritated, Doctorman thought. I understand he is trying to bring Dawn to her father, but why is he acting like this? Does it have something to do with her special ability?

As they entered the bridge, Doctorman saw a wide array of electronic devices. Some had Nasods operating them, others had mercenaries. Raven took his seat in the captain's chair, and called one of the Nasods. "Lead them to the bedchambers," he ordered. "And set a course for Bethma." "Very well," the Nasods responded. "Right this way," it told them, then walked back towards the hallway. They followed, though Doctorman was skeptical of Raven. Why does he seem so uncaring right now? He noticed Dawn was trudging slowly, with her drones on her shoulders. He frowned. He knew she was sad, and he wanted to comfort her, but he had no way of doing so. Ilene saw him and said quietly, "Don't worry about her, she will be fine." Doctorman was a little surprised by this, but he did his best to hide it. The Nasod stopped. "Here is you room, Lady Dawn," it said, opening the door to a luxurious room, with pink and white covering nearly every inch of the room, despite the rest of the ship being metallic and black. Dawn smiled weakly, and went in.

The Nasod closed the door after her, and then told Doctorman and Ilene, "Under no circumstance are you two to see Lady Dawn. She needs to prepare herself to see her father." "Who is her father?" Doctorman asked, but the Nasod ignored him and led them to two other adjacent rooms. "These are your rooms," it said emotionlessly. "I suggest you get some rest, I'm sure you had a long night last night." Ilene nodded, and quickly went into her room. Doctorman entered his room. He noticed it was drastically different than Dawn's room. It had a black metallic floor with rivets poking out of the floor. When he sat on the bed, it felt slightly hard and the pillow was about as thin as a cracker. The blankets were of poor fabric, and Doctorman thought, Exactly how do the mercenaries live with this? Sighing, Doctorman stored his equipment in the nearby chest and went to shower. He was a little tired of smelling demon all the time.

"Where is he?" Darkside questioned Stella, head of the Bethma Guard. "Where is the Chosen!?" "He is away," she said calmly. "traveling across the world, teaching the young generation of fighters. I understand-" "GAAAAHH!" Darkside growled. "How am I supposed to get my revenge if he is not here!?" "Calm down," Speka said, "you are making a scene!" Indeed, the town was all staring at them. Darkside, frustrated, shouted, "What, surprised to see a warrior asking about the Chosen?" Speka shook her head. He is so temperamental, she thought. But when he gets his revenge he will change. "How about we go to Altera?" she suggested. "If he went there, he would no doubt be spending some time there, seeing as he fought alongside the Nasod Queen." And I could confirm what my research told me, she thought to herself.

"Very well," Darkside scowled. "I suppose we can pay a visit to the floating island. I hear there is an artifact there that you are interested in, anyway." With that, he walked briskly away towards the docking station in Bethma. Just you wait, he cursed inwardly. I will have my revenge on you, Red Knight!

"It's no use," Doctorman said aloud, getting out of his bed. "At least the ground is covered in grass to cushion it-this bed is as hard as stone." He checked the clock on the wall. He could not tell the time by it-it had markings on it he did not recognize. He looked at his watch, which he had on at all times. It read 5:47. He sighed, and went to put on his equipment to train on the ship's deck. When he got out there, he noticed Dawn standing on the prow of the ship. She was wearing an elegant dress and her hair was braided and decorated with jewels. He approached her and said, "Couldn't sleep either?" She turned around quickly. "Doctorman..." she responded, a hint of hope in her voice. "what are you doing out here?" "Well, the beds on this ship are not that comfy," he admitted. "And I wanted to practice my swordsmanship anyway." "I see…" Dawn sighed. "Are you alright?" Doctorman asked.

All of a sudden, Dawn began to cry. "I don't want to go back," she said, trying to keep from sobbing. "What do you mean?" Doctorman inquired, drawing closer to her. "I mean, your father must be a nice man to have a Chosen look for you." She looked away. "My father is nothing like that," she responded darkly. "He cares more for his own wealth and life than anything else. As long as he has money for alcohol and entertainment, he could not care less about the state of the world." Tears began to pour down her cheeks. "He let my mother die," she sobbed, "And he could have saved her with his vast wealth. But he cared nothing for her or for me-Even when I was born, he was away on one of his extravagant trips!"

Doctorman was shocked. He never would have imagined Dawn was treated badly. "It's alright," he told her, putting his arm around her to comfort her. "I'll go with you to confront your father-if he has not changed, then I will certainly convince him to leave you alone." She sniffled, laying her head on his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. The two of them stayed there for a little while, watching the stars. "Well, that does it," a voice said. Both of them turned around to see the mysterious girl who had appeared to Doctorman in Elder. "You have proven yourselves worthy," she said. "Who are you," Doctorman asked, "and worthy of what?" She pushed some hair out of her face. "I am Eve, Queen of the Nasods," she said. "And you have proven yourselves worthy to know why Darkness is beginning to spread. However, I will only tell you if you truly wish to know and fix it." Dawn was staring at Eve, surprised that she was considering her worthy. "Yes…I want to know," she said slowly. Doctorman nodded in agreement. Eve smiled gently. "In that case, I want you two to meet me in Altera. There I will tell you how these times came upon us." She looked at Doctorman. "You have a great role to fill, should you take on this knowledge," she told him solemnly. "If you take on this task, you will be here for much longer than I believe you intended." Doctorman was silent. Eve looked at him for a little longer, then said, "Take care of my spiritual daughter."

With that, she vanished, leaving a bewildered Doctorman and Dawn behind. Doctorman was trying to understand how Eve knew he was not from around Ploune, and Dawn was trying to wrap her head around her being Eve's "spiritual daughter". They told each other good night, and returned to their rooms to try and get some sleep before reaching Bethma, which they saw in the near distance. Soon, they told each other, they would find out what exactly was going on with the world.