SOI Chapter 7: The Inquiry

A/N: Hey guys I'm back with another edited chapter of the Shadow of Israphel! Read this chapter carefully. Some interesting stuff happens near the end ;)

I know the pacing of this story is a little on the slow side. Don't worry; we'll be picking up the pace by the next chapter, which WILL cover the incident at Jasper's place.

"Well…on the plus side at least we've got the gunpowder now." A voice muttered. The spaceman's eyes slowly fluttered open as he searched for the source of the voice. The world had returned.

"Hey! Welcome back hero! How's your head feeling?" A friendly voice called cheerily. It was familiar, Martin? Xephos wondered momentarily oh yeah…the quest.

"Martin?" Xephos called groggily.

"Yea hero, thank Notch you're okay, nearly reckoned you were done for a moment." Martin said cheerfully. "You head doing alright? Not got a dent in it or anything? It looked like you had a bit of a fall."

"Yeah well I'm still here…mostly…" Xephos muttered rubbing the back of his head. At least his head wasn't dented anywhere. Good, he didn't want to spend the rest of his lfie looking funny. Even so, the spaceman had a terrible pain in his back. Slowly he reached behind his shoulder and removed a small chunk of rubble and tossed it to the other side of the room.

"Did you know you've been unconscious for 'round twenty minutes or so." Martin asked as he brushed his mess of hair aside with a flick of his wrist.

"No I didn't…It could have been better. " It would've been a bit more pleasant if I wasn't lying on a load of rubble the entire time! Xephos thought with a flash of irritation. If there was one thing the spaceman couldn't stand, it was being perpetually uncomfortable. Where's my sword? Xephos realized that the weapon was neither in his hand nor in his carefully crafted scabbard. The spaceman searched blindly for a moment before finally locating the diamond blade lying a foot from him. Careful to avoid another accident akin to the incident in Mirkwood, Xephos grabbed his sword by the pommel and sheathed it quickly.

Eager to relieve himself of the stony bed upon which he had lain for twenty minutes after the explosion Xephos stood up slowly, glancing around the shop surveying the scene. The shop made Lysander's Elysium appear neat and organized in Xephos' opinion. The demise of Mr. Astley had left its mark, a chunk of stone was missing near the doorway and part of the ceiling had been blasted out as well, leaving a weak winter light to dimly illuminate the place.

"So that was Mr. Astley? That creeper?" Xephos was still in utter disbelief at what he had just occurred. I didn't know Creepers could talk…

"Yeah Mr. Astley's a bloody creeper, and yeah…we killed him." Honeydew chuckled. "Funny thing is I don't feel that sorry that he's gone."

"Well it's not like you really knew him." Martin interjected.

"Would you want to get to know a creeper?"

"Hang on, do you reckon Lysander knew Mr. Astley was a creeper? I saw him and his butler, they seemed to know something…" Xephos said with a flash of irritation. That could have killed us!

"Dunno pal. But we got the gunpowder right? I mean look at all this!" Honeydew laughed as he tied a string around a sack which, judging by the large bulge in it contained a massive amount of gunpowder.

"Yeah I mean that's brilliant and everything," Xephos said "but what if that had killed us?"

"Not a chance. We're bloody heroes aren't we?" Honeydew laughed. Xephos dropped it, he was inclined to agree with the dwarf on that one.

"So," Martin spoke up, brushing some dust off his hands "Where too next heroes?"

"Eh- feels like we've had enough adventure for today you know." Honeydew said. It was a statement Xephos found himself nodding furiously in agreement with. Yeah, one creeper's enough for today thanks. He thought sarcastically.

"I'm going to kill Lysander when we get back…Mr. Astley is a vendor for gunpowder!" Honeydew said doing a fair imitation of the Skylord's baritone voice. Xephos and Martin laughed but Martin's expression became serious a moment later.

"We'd better clean up heroes. Don't want to arose suspicion you know." Right, Xephos thought because no one heard the loud Creeper explosion. "And don't worry about the explosion hero." Martin said reading the spaceman's mind "It's alright, everyone thinks its Fumblemore anyway."

"Dammit Fumblemore!" Said Honeydew with a laugh. "So…anyone fancy a drink?" the dwarf asked giving his large belly a pat.

"Yeah. We could plan strategy there." Xephos suggested.

"Well heroes…I know a good place down the street from here, a little shady but pretty decent ale."

"What time is it anyway? I er- forgot my watch." Xephos asked curiously. As far as I can tell it should be around one in the afternoon…

"It's about three hero. The crowds should be thinning out by now you know. It's always a bit crowded in the morning cause that's when Bateaus the Burper's shop is open." Martin informed them with a check of his battered gold watch. Well that's good news! Xephos thought smiling slightly, the spaceman had been way closer than he ever wanted to be to some rather smelly people.

"Bateaus the Buper?" Honeydew guffawed.

"Well actually his name's Mike but everyone calls him that on account of his-"

"We know!"

"Alright, as they say, after me?" Martin said with a grin, "By the way you might want to wipe the dust off your shirt hero," The Bowman said with a gesture at Xephos "no offense but you look like murder."

"It's the gunpowder." Honeydew whispered.

"Oh right-"Xephos said absentmindedly, as he paused to give the front of his shirt a few quick wipes. With that the three left the Astley residence and headed out again into the midafternoon streets of Mistral.

"Alright heroes, what's the plan?" Martin asked expectantly.

"Well we walk into Jasper's house see, and we take the record when no one's looking." Honeydew said, looking very proud of the cleverness of his idea. Martin laughed "Yeah but what about the specifics hero? Oh sorry I mean- Skylord."

"Where's Jasper's house located?" Xephos started up. I mean we ought to at least know where to break into for starters…

"The center of the city of course!" Martin explained.

"Yeah –um where in the center?" Honeydew asked.

"Somewhere." Martin said unhelpfully. Yes…very helpful Xephos thought, "That could be anywhere!"

"Oi- don't blame me for not knowing, Jasper's a private person."

"Hey Xephos, Xephos, oi- listen!" Honeydew called over Xephos' and Martin's bickering. "D'you reckon Lysander knows where his house is?"

"Oh yeah! Lysander would know!" Xephos smiled. Brilliant! But not a moment later the spaceman realized the problem with this plan. "But Lysander said the inquiry will take all day…"

"So?" Honeydew retorted, "Then we just go in there and tell them to do their stupid inquiry some other day- oi listen, we got a house to rob! And we still haven't gotten our drinks yet!" he finished grumpily, looking over at the counter where waiters were shuffling through carrying trays of dishes.

"Wait – hang on – are you saying what I think you're saying?" Xephos asked.

"'Course I am." Honeydew grunted. "Look at this, two days in and all we've got for that potion is some dirt" the Dwarf tossed a sack of it on the table "and this water!" he said holding the bottle in a clenched fist.

"Well that leaves another problem," Xephos laughed sourly at the irony "we don't know where Lysander's trial is!"

"I might heroes." Martin piped up.

"Ah bloody hell of course you do- wait hang on, you know where it- the- the trial thingy-is?" Honeydew asked with a look of both utter bewilderment and excitement at Martin.

"Yeah hero, the SkyCouncil building not far off from the Ye Olde Towery-"

"Wait- did you say the Ye Olde Towery?" Honeydew guffawed. Martin laughed himself "It means – The Old Tower in the old language." The Bowman explained, to the looks of complete confusion upon the two heroes faces. "Anyway, the building's in the center of the city- the very center heroes. Can't miss it, big white building with airships floating overhead. You saw the airships when you first entered the city right hero?" Martin asked glancing at Xephos, indirectly stating that he was the object of Martin's query.

"Oh yeah- they were pretty cool…" Xephos said affirmatively causing Martin and Honeydew to bark a laugh. "But wait, how do you know where it is?"

"I've been to a few inquiries there. They've got public hearings there once in a while." Martin explained. " And yea everyone thinks the airships are pretty amazing. Don't worry you'll get used to 'em after a couple months. Anyway heroes here's the plan…" Martin said leaning forward on the table, suddenly talking rapidly in a low voice so that none of the other customers might hear him. Martin was talking so fast, (his voice was filled with excitement) that Xephos had to ask him to slow down at several points to grasp what the Bowman was saying. However, after several repeats and dinner- which had been served while Martin was going over the specifics, the three had their plan.

Honeydew would be the first to approach the SkyCouncil building. There he would present himself and show his Skylord license to the guards. After doing so, Honeydew would gain access for Xephos and Martin much the same way Lysander had done for them back on the sky-bridge from Fumblemore's tower. Then all three of them would enter the SkyCouncil building and head for the fourth floor where Lysander's inquiry would most likely be taking place- according to Martin. There, in the SkyCouncil chamber they would nab Lysander and get on with the quest.

"That's a good plan." Xephos admitted once Martin was done and the spaceman had finished downing his glass of malt whiskey – which Honeydew had ordered for all of them.

"Well there's only a fifty – fifty chance of failure, but better than a one hundred percent chance of failure right?" Martin added with a grin.

"Yeah- that's loads better. Really makes me feel confident." Honeydew grunted with a scratch of his neck. "How do we know Lysander's trial – thingy isn't already over?"

"Lysander said it would take most of the day." Xephos said thoughtfully.

"A whole day just going over paperwork?!" Honeydew exclaimed, nearly choking on a piece of chicken he was swallowing "That sounds horrible!" Xephos and Martin laughed at Honeydew's horrified expression.

"Yea hero, I know what you mean. I get this impulse to just let it all go every time I have to file another bloody tax return…" Martin concurred.

Suddenly Honeydew burped loudly, so loudly it caused customers at several other tables to glance at the Dwarf for a moment before returning to their dinners. Clearly, Honeydew had signaled the end of dinner as his plate was polished clean and he was currently smacking his lips, oblivious to his breach of table-manners. I can just hear Lysander groaning at our table manners Xephos thought with a hint of amusement. Their Skylord companion was very highly minded when it came to social rituals.

"So-are we going yet?" Honeydew asked impatiently, looking sadly at his now empty plate.

"Why the hurry hero? Not filled up yet?" Martin asked with a smile as the Bowman drained his glass and pushed his emptied plate aside.

"I am! It's just the thing with food- you eat it and then it's gone…" Xephos and Martin chuckled, by now even the Bowman was well acquainted with Honeydew's huge appetite.

"Well we'd better hurry heroes- nearly five o'clock, it'll be nightfall soon." Martin said, with a brief check of his watch. "Don't want to get caught out at night you know."

"Yeah we know." Xephos and Honeydew said at once. The two heroes were all too well acquainted with the tendency of monsters to spawn in the darkness.

With that, and a special thank you to the cook from Honeydew, the heroes made their way out of Big Shawn's Breakfast and Evening Bar (which was according to Martin, the name of the place) into the streets of Mistral once again. The good news, the spaceman observed was that the crowd had greatly thinned out, even more so from when they had left the Astley residence over an hour earlier. The bad news was the increasing cold and lessening light of the hour. And to make the situation even worse, Xephos had heard several people in the bar mention that it was going to snow sometime in the evening! Xephos drew Lysander's traveling cloak around him tightly shielding himself from the worst of the cold.

Martin led them down the twisting streets of Mistral at a quick pace, thanks largely to the few passerby's that were around. After about thirty minutes or so – the spaceman didn't bother to check his watch- the group had made it to the inner city. This was made increasingly obvious by the pleasant looking buildings and the absence of poor people that were a common sight in the outer city.

Suddenly Martin stopped. Xephos was taken by surprise and nearly bumped into him.

"Behold heroes! The SkyCouncil!" Martin said throwing both his hands in the air at the magnificent, imposing white structure that stood before them.

"Oh crikey!" Xephos exclaimed, staring up at the building. It's amazing…The building easily dwarfed anything in Terrorvale. Even the Sky-Tower with its polished stone structure paled in comparison to the enormous structure ahead of them.

"Wowwww…" Honeydew said staring, almost starry-eyed at the huge building. "So that's the SkyCouncil building thingy- what did you call it?"

"The SkyCouncil Tower hero." Martin replied with a laugh. I don't care what you call it Xephos thought this is bloody incredible. The SkyCouncil Tower was a huge white structure with several towers extending high up into the sky from its base. From those towers were ladders, without handrails as far as the spaceman could make out, which led to platforms where several airships were docked. The building itself was perhaps half a mile wide, and looked like it could hold fifty of their caves inside it! The threesome was still almost half a mile from the building but even from such a distance the SkyCouncil Tower spoke of power and accomplishment in its very structure.

"It's like this is from some fairytale." Honeydew murmured as they gradually approached the SkyCouncil Tower.

"Alright hero, got your license?" Martin asked with a glance at Honeydew who was still immersed, staring at the tower. "Oi-hero! Honeydew!"

"Huh? Oh - the license? Yeah I got it somewhere…" Honeydew muttered as the Dwarf took of his pack, and stopped to shuffle through it for a moment. "No…no that's personal…" Xephos heard the Dwarf mutter. What's personal? Xephos thought for a moment, thoughts of some love letter momentarily flooding his mind. "Got it!" Honeydew said waving the license out of his pack with a flourish.

The Dwarf had pulled out his license with perfect timing too as two guards from the SkyCouncil building, both with long-swords around their belts had nearly reached the trio.

"Who approaches the SkyCouncil?" one of the guards asked as they stopped before the trio. The guards were wearing the same blue and green slashed tunic as the bad tempered guard back at the SkyTower. For a brief moment Xephos hoped they wouldn't recognize him and Martin but the fear passed as it was clear the two guards had no idea who they were.

"Skylord –Skylord Jankle and two companions!" the dwarf bellowed importantly.

"Skylord…Jankle? Ever heard of a Skylord Jankle Ned?" one guard with a thick Irish accent asked his companion.

"No- don't reckon I have Jevy. Skylord Jankle eh? Do you have a license?" the second guard asked giving the dwarf a suspicious look.

"Here." The dwarf said simply handing out his Skylord license to the guard. The guard named Ned took it with a gloved hand and stared at it for a moment.

"By Notch! Look at this, a dwarf Skylord! Look at this Jevy." Ned said with a look of complete surprise at the dwarf.

"Yeah…alright Skylord Jankle sir you can go, but who are these companions of yours?" the guard named Jevy asked giving Xephos and Martin a once over. Xephos wasn't sure but it seemed as if Jevy's eyes seemed to linger an unusually long time on Martin. Please don't let him be the guard from before. Oh gods! Xephos thought, his pulse pounding.

"Lewis and Aaron, friends from Icaria." Honeydew said gesturing from Xephos to Honeydew.

"Hey-look at this Jevy! This one's wearing a Skylord's cloak!" Ned exclaimed, as he reached forward and briefly felt the spaceman's cloak with a gloved hand. Xephos jerked back in surprise from the motion.

"It's mine; I gave it to him to keep him warm- from the cold." Honeydew explained. The guard named Jevy gave Honeydew a very long look before nodding slightly. "Alright, you can go." Jevy said taking a step back. "Leave it Ned!" he said with obvious irritation as Ned had been gazing at Lysander's cloak.

Not needing to be told twice the trio moved quickly past the guards along the tree-lined path to the SkyCouncil Tower.

"Nice work heroes." Martin whispered once they were out of earshot of the guards.

"That Ned was a bit creepy." Xephos shivered, clearly remembering the wanting looks Ned had been giving Lysander's cloak. "Does he have a thing for cloaks or something?" the spaceman had to ask.

"Yeah he didn't look quite right did he?" Honeydew agreed.
"He's a bit off…apparently didn't have very good parents." Martin said dourly. "It's alright he's harmless!"

"Oh? Like Mr. Astley?" Honeydew chortled. Xephos and Martin laughed nervously at this, wary the guards might hear them.

"So let me get this straight, I'm Lewis and Martin's Aaron?" Xephos asked.

"Can mine be Rich instead? Aaron's my brother's name you know." Martin protested.

"Yeah sure." Honeydew replied with a chuckle. "Alright, so…which floor is he on?"

"Who?"
"Lysander!"

"Oh yeah…" Martin seemed to have been recalled for a dream as he drifted back into reality "Fourth floor heroes, look there's a sign for it!" the Bowman pointed out, motioning to a nearby sign across the hallway. The heroes hadn't realized it for a moment but they had entered the building.

"Oh what? Wowww…" Honeydew exclaimed staring at the glorious surroundings. Xephos was even more amazed by the inside of the SkyCouncil Tower than the outside. Gods this place is huge!The spaceman thought with awe.

The interior of the place was enormous, the floor was made of marble and had obviously been cleaned recently by the way it clearly cast the reflections of the three companions. The ceiling was a high arched dome, adorned with what appeared to be thousands of colored shards of glass, put together in the form of an airship. Along the walls there were portraits of Skylords including an enormous one that seemed to be more important than the others due to its prominent placing.

SKYLORD LYSANDER REDWING – Founder of the SkyCouncil& High Skylord of Mistral & Icaria.

Lysander Redwing's portrait depicted a large burly man with deep black hair and a bushy mustache. On the top of his face were the signature Skylord goggles and around him were the pictures of airships and divine signs of some kind.

"He looks like Lysander! D'you reckon…?" Honeydew exclaimed, staring in apparent disbelief at the portrait of Lysander Redwing. The man did look a great deal like Lysander.

"What do you think Simon?" Xephos asked with a laugh.

"Well heroes, the staircases are over there, any one of them should take you to the fourth floor." Martin broke in with a cough.

"Let's go!" Xephos smiled as the three companions started for the gigantic staircases that adorned the end of the giant hall.

"Well at least there are some handrails on these…" Honeydew grumbled as the Dwarf trudged slowly up the stairway.

"Thank Notch for that." Martin, and Xephos concurred. The spaceman remembered way too well the group's near death experience in the upper-city. Almost none of the staircases there had handrails; it was almost as if Fumblemore had built the ruddy things himself!

"Hello." a little man greeted them on the first level- which the group reached after a great deal of climbing. The man wore glasses and was even shorter than Honeydew, and could have been a Dwarf save for the lack of a beard.

"Uh…who are you?" Honeydew asked, clearly confused.

"Why I'm a member of the Mistral City Tourist Board!" the little man exclaimed with a little-too-bright smile.

"Er- we weren't planning on buying anything if that's what you mean." Xephos replied.

"No? Ah but sir there's plenty here! Look! All the finest trinkets in Mistral!" the man said opening his coat to reveal lines of pocket watches with little airships engraved on them, along with innumerable little bottles labeled 'Barffulo's Spidereye Brew- Cure for all Ills'. "Surely you cannot resist such tempting brews?" the man asked with a wink.

"Uhhh…" Honeydew stared, completely bemused as to what was going on.
"OI! How many times have I told your people to stay out? OUT! GET OUT OF HERE!" an angered voice boomed.

"Blimey, someone's angry." Honeydew murmured looking to the next staircase, ignoring the little man who was currently trying to show the Dwarf a potion labeled 'Elixir of Happiness – not for those 21 or Under'. Elixir of Happiness? Is that alcohol? Xephos chuckled but was immediately interrupted by the angry voice from a moment before.

"GET OUT OF HERE! The SkyCouncil is not some blasted hawker's post! OUT!" the source of the voice was now apparent, a tall Skylord had appeared – evident by the goggles the figure wore- with two green and blue sashed guards at his sides at the top of the staircase. The Skylord paused, gave some orders to the guards and with that the guards started down the staircase, spears pointed outwards.

"Now – really. I'm an honest businessman-" the little man started but immediately paled at the sight of the guards coming towards him spears raised. Aware that it was time to leave the man pocketed his bottle of Barffulo's Brew and with a brief wave took his leave, racing down the staircase as fast as his little legs would carry him.

"After him!" the Skylord commanded "Make certain he leaves the building."

"Yes Skylord sir." The guards obeyed as they took off at a faster pace, passing the companions on the landing and down the first stairwell where the little man had disappeared.

"What was that?" Xephos asked utterly confused as to what had just taken place. Who was that little man?

"You three!" a voice commanded. A voice from above? Xephos thought at first Notch? Oh no…we're not in trouble again are we? The spaceman thought as the Skylord made his way down the steps towards the heroes. "Well out with it. Who are you?" the Skylord asked, having reached the landing.

"We're uh-" Honeydew started before Martin cut him across.

"Three companions Skylord. May I present Skylord Jankle?" Martin gestured to Honeydew, giving the Dwarf a brief nudge.

"Oh –er yeah that's me." Honeydew nodded. The unknown Skylord just gave him a disdainful look. "Skylord Jankle? You look like a dwarf to me!"

"Yeah well I'm a bit new…" Honeydew said with a weak grin.

"Hmph. Alright then but who are you traveler? And you?" the Skylord said with an odd look at Xephos "Your shirt is most unusual…where do you hail from?"

"A cave by the sea, but it was destroyed!" Xephos explained truthfully "And I'm Xephos by the way." The spaceman said, dropping his fake name from earlier. In all honesty the spaceman favored his current name a great deal more.

"I'm Martin, a traveler and peddler." Martin explained.

"You three are companions then?" the Skylord asked suspiciously.

"Yes!" they said in unison. "Together, forever in all kinds of weather." Honeydew added under his breath.

"Ah! That's very well then. If you'd been hawkers I'd have tossed the lot of you out. Or for that matter if you were anything except official Skylords or companions of Skylords you'd be running from my guards as we speak!" The Skylord said with what he clearly thought was some attempt at levity. "As for those hawkers…I can't stand those kinds of people, always disrupting business. That man with all the watches- he's been caught here seven times! Barffulo's Spidereye Brew-" the Skylord scoffed "it's actually a draught to induce vomiting!"

"Oh gods! I guess that's where the 'Barf' in Barffulo comes from." The spaceman mused thinking for a moment of what might have happened to him had he taken some of the brew. Then we'd have two sick people on our hands!

"Indeed spaceman! I hope he didn't manage to sell any- had to confiscate the lot of it last time and pour it down the toilet…" the Skylord concurred "Anyway, might I inquire what your business may be?"

"Well um- who are you?" Honeydew asked.

"Ah! Yes, yes I must apologize I forgot to introduce myself- I'm Skylord Nathan. Jonathan Wilhelm Nathan if you want to know. Lysander Redwing is my great-great grandfather. Now what is your business at the SkyCouncil?"

As tempted as Xephos was to tell Nathan to sod off the spaceman held his tongue, aware of just how much trouble he could get in if he did. Luckily Martin spoke up just in time, as Honeydew looked far too nervous to do most of the talking himself.

"We have come to see Skylord Lysander. On the fourth floor."

"Lysander? Fourth floor? There's an inquiry going on there at the moment you know. Perhaps you're going to observe? No matter, I can take you there if you wish." Nathan offered.

"Yes, thank you. We accept!" Xephos said forcing what he thought was a thankful smile. Something told him things weren't going to go too well if they didn't do whatever Nathan suggested. With that Nathaniel turned and started up the second level of the staircase. "Follow me!"

"Brilliant, I was getting tired of standing on that bloody landing all day." Martin muttered, Xephos laughed in agreement.

"Alright Simon?" Xephos asked, Honeydew just gave the spaceman a worried look, motioning to the figure of Skylord Nathaniel ahead of them.

"Oh er- I mean Skylord."

"Yeah- I'm okay…just a little nervous." Honeydew admitted. "Listen Xephos we've got to get away from this Nathaniel guy or we'll never get a chance to talk to Lysander! I mean think about it, he doesn't believe that I'm really a Skylord." The Dwarf said frantically, doing his best to keep his voice low.

"I don't think there's any way we could really lose him maybe if we did something to him-" Xephos suggested, maybe they could knock the Skylord out, just for an hour. "Hang on, maybe we could get him with some of that Spidereye Brew?" the spaceman thought, recalling when the Skylord had told them about how it induced vomiting.

"That'd be a bit messy wouldn't it? And er- I don't think we've got any…" Honeydew said with a look of repulsion at the thought of vomit everywhere.

"Got any ideas Martin?" Xephos asked with a glance over the shoulder at the bowman.

"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Martin asked bemusedly.

"How we're going to get away from this Skylord bloke." Xephos whispered.

"There's not a lot we can do heroes." Martin assessed "We'll just have to trust him and hope he leaves us alone before we reach your friend. I would say that we could just make a break for it but…none of us really know the layout of the building well for one thing. And for another, you're not a Skylord, Honeydew." Xephos and Honeydew had nothing to argue with that and fell silent. The spaceman was trying to think of some way to get Nathan away but none came to mind. Honeydew seemed in an even worse state, the Dwarf was the picture of nervousness, his hands fidgeting nervously and his hair slightly wild.

Steadily, the three companions led by Nathaniel proceeded up to the fourth floor along the immense marble staircases, which like the entryway were largely devoid of people save for the guards. Each landing led to a hallway, which in turn led to various Skylord offices as Xephos was quick to discover. Moreover, each landing dealt had specific purposes, for example level two was 'Mapping and Navigation', level three 'Department of Internal, External and Military Affairs' and level four 'Trials, Inquiries and Gift Shop'.

"Hang on there's a gift shop?" Honeydew asked looking in disbelief at the carved out label above the landing.

"That's got to be the most mis-fitting place for a gift shop- right next to trials and inquiries." Xephos laughed in agreement.

"Here's a schedule for the current activities." Nathan broke in, handing a scroll to Honeydew who abruptly turned his attention from the hallway where the Dwarf had been looking for the gift shop. "Oh right. Thanks."

"No trouble at all. Always a pleasure to help a fellow Skylord." Nathaniel said pompously, giving Honeydew a pat on the back before he made his way past the heroes and down the staircases. "Well thank Notch he's gone." Honeydew said with a great sigh of relief. "All right so where is this inquiry thinger anyway?" the Dwarf said with a look of irritation as he unfurled the scroll. Honeydew studied it intensely for a moment before making a sound of surprise.

"What?" Martin asked.

"The gift shop closed three minutes ago…" Honeydew said with obvious disappointment but before he could go on Xephos snatched the scroll out of the Dwarf's hands.

"Leave it- you just had dinner! Besides we've got to figure out where auditorium 3 is." Xephos said, ignoring Honeydew's complaints as the spaceman studied the scroll. Auditorium 3…Auditorium 3.."Here it is! I've found it!" Xephos smiled. "Lysander-Inquiry…there's a lot of official crap here…oh perfect it's twelve-thirty to five fifteen! What time is it?"

"Five – twelve p.m. hero." Martin affirmed.

"That's perfect! Then we've only got to wait here for three minutes!" Xephos smiled. Even Honeydew was clearly happy at the news. Quickly the companions made their way to a set of seats near the wall labeled "Visitor's Seating" outside of the auditorium.

"So…what's new with you?" Honeydew asked glancing at his companions.

"Not a lot Dwarf, you?" Martin replied.

"A bit hungry. You should taste the food back in Khaz Mordan, where I'm from." Honeydew said with a look of bliss which could only mean the Dwarf was thinking about Jaffa cakes. Martin chuckled.

"I get mine from Granny's but you already know her legendary cooking right?"

"Yeah, a lovely old woman…" Honeydew sighed. "Oh er and yea the food was good too." Xephos and Martin laughed at this.

"Is your friend okay? The old guy." Martin asked as the bowman reached for something deep inside his pack. "You mentioned him once, said he was sick or something."

"Taint yeah…" Honeydew said.

"Lysander said he sent Eli to look after him." Xephos added.

"Eli? That drunk? Oh, you got a quality healer right there heroes." Martin smirked.

"Lysander said Eli's medicines have been working so he can't be that bad!" Xephos countered.

"Yeah well, if Eli gets too friendly with the bottle you're going to have two medical cases on your hands." Martin replied as he finally pulled a package of crackers out his pack and started eating them.

The companions sat in silence, broken only occasionally by Martin's munching checking their watches every few minutes. Honeydew checked Xephos' watch frequently before finally cursing "These are the longest three minutes ever!"

"What do you want to do hero?" Martin shrugged "It's taken only five minutes longer than it should." Honeydew just grunted in response and fell silent.

"I'm going in there." Honeydew spoke up at once, several minutes later.

"Are you crazy hero? That's a full inquiry in there and you're not even a Skylord!" Martin exclaimed, keeping his voice low as a Skylord passed by the group at that very moment. Xephos just laughed,

"So what?" Honeydew asked. "I mean I look like one right? And besides- he's taking ages in there! Even longer than Fumblemore!"

"Yeah but Simon – in case you haven't noticed – we don't look like Skylords." Xephos said.

"But I thought that was the plan right?" Honeydew asked. "We go in the Sky council, auditorium place – thingy and tell them to shove it and then we leave with Lysander!"

"Yeah- okay but I can't go in there with you hero. At least you too look presentable enough. Besides, I've got to leave soon so there'd be no point in me going in there in the first place." Martin exclaimed.

"So uh…why are you here?" Honeydew asked blankly.

"To answer your question Dwarf- support. I can't seem to keep my nose out of an adventure since I've been around you two, can I? And besides I've got my inn to tend to you know. Probably should have told you that earlier." Martin admitted.

"So you're ditching us then?" Xephos asked.

"No not in that way!" Martin exclaimed. "But really I have my inn and I can't stay away all day you know – didn't really make plans for all this."

"Yeah well," Honeydew said "if you've got to go you've got to go right?"

"Yea hero. This is where I leave you." Martin acknowledged the Dwarf sadly. "Farewell heroes!" the Bowman said giving them both a wave and with that he took off down the hallway and had disappeared down the staircase within a matter of minutes.

"Great, he had to cop out on us. Well who needs him eh?" Honeydew said, not waiting for a response from Xephos. "Alright, let's do this thing."

"Uh- right. You want to go first?" Xephos asked.

"Me?" Honeydew asked "Why me?" Xephos rolled his eyes.

"Because you're the Skylord Simon."

"Oh yeah…" Honeydew said almost as if he wanted a second opinion on that "Skylord Jankle right. Okay then let's do this thing!"

"Right." Xephos smiled "Let's go Simon!" and with that the two heroes opened the door and entered the auditorium.

The auditorium was cramped by the look of it. It was Xephos' first impression of the place and it had caught the spaceman completely off guard. Xephos had been expecting to see another gigantic high domed room such as what the entry room had been like.

"Well, to be honest- I wasn't expecting this." Honeydew remarked. The design of the room made sense to Xephos however, there were probably loads of auditoriums in the place and so they couldn't be too big after all. The companion's entrance seemed to have gone unnoticed by the crowd in the stands surrounding the center of the auditorium where a single man was standing reading off facts. The people in the stands were largely conducting their own business and most of them seemed to be fairly bored with the current proceedings. Xephos was quick to notice that many of them were Skylord's and wore goggles over their heads, some were wearing a green and blue outfit like Honeydew's while others wore red and black.

"So where's Lysander?" Xephos said scanning the auditorium.

"That's him isn't it?" Honeydew said pointing out the man in the center of the auditorium. He was wearing the same uniform as Honeydew.

"I don't know…shall we get a closer look?" Xephos asked.

"What do you think?" Honeydew said with a hint of sarcasm. Xephos just chuckled and with that the two slowly walked towards the center of the auditorium glancing occasionally at the crowd. No one had noticed them yet. Soon they were close enough to make out the face of the man who was speaking; he was thick, black haired and bearded not to mention his deep proper voice. It's Lysander alright. Xephos thought.

"62 Iron Ingots…the wood is unaccounted for Skylord Naboth." Lysander said. Xephos and Honeydew were standing behind him at the moment briefly watching the proceedings.

"That's very well Lysander, thank you for your report." The man called Naboth answered. He was clearly Lysander's superior based off the respectful way Lysander addressed him. Naboth, as far as Xephos could tell had completely white hair and his face was lined with wrinkles, the man was clearly very, very old. Maybe he ought to try some of that anti-aging cream Peculier's using. Xephos thought mildly. Naboth was sitting in an elevated podium directly in front of Lysander; he was surrounded by several other Skylords, which Xephos could only assume were also high ranking.

"Indeed Skylord Naboth. When may I attain another airship?" Lysander asked.

"Three days Lysander." Naboth said.

"Three days?" Lysander said with obvious disbelief "But I was told the Bright Dawn was ready to fly today!" Naboth sighed. "I'm afraid not Lysander. You know the rules, I cannot let you fly for three days, it is a necessary precaution." Lysander opened his mouth again in protest but Naboth waved him down before he could speak. "I know you are a good flier Lysander. But these are the rules."

"But-" Lysander said. Again, Naboth cut him off.

"Surely what business you have to attend to can wait three days Lysander?"

"No it can't!" Honeydew blurted out. The room went silent in an instant. Lysander almost fell over at the sound of the Dwarf's voice before turning around and merely gaping at Honeydew.

"Hello Lysander." Honeydew said with a grin.

Naboth sat up in his chair and looked with interest at the newcomer. "And may I ask who you are?"

"Skylord Jankle from Icaria- and yeah I've got some business with Lysander and we can't wait three days!" the Dwarf said heatedly.

"Skylord Jankle? Skylord Jankle…" Naboth repeated to himself. "Robin, do we have a Skylord Jankle in the records?" the old Skylord asked turning briefly to a gaunt, thin little man in a midnight blue suit. Robin looked at the notepad he was holding for a moment before nodding affirmatively to Naboth.

"Welcome Skylord Jankle! From er- Icaria is it?" Naboth said giving the Dwarf an odd look. Naboth had clearly taken notice of Honeydew's undoubtedly Dwarven appearance.

"Yeah!" Honeydew replied. "So why can't we get a ship eh?"

I'm afraid most ships are in current use at the moment… but first please tell us who your friend is." Naboth said calmly, clearly not bothered by what the Dwarf said.

"He's Xephos, an old friend of mine." Honeydew said stoutly, patting Xephos on the back as he said so. Xephos nearly stumbled from the force of the pat. "Oh uh- sorry mate." Honeydew apologized. Naboth chuckled at the scene.

"What do you make of this Lysander?" he asked.

"I-" Lysander stammered clearly shocked at the appearance of the heroes. "Yes I know them- they are companions of mine I can vouch for that." He said.

"Really Lysander! What is the meaning of this?" a white clad Skylord to the left of Naboth asked with obvious irritation.

"Please Vitali! Let me speak!" Lysander asked.

"You may continue." Naboth said leisurely. The Skylord named Vitali glared at Lysander before settling back in his chair.

"Skylord Naboth I would like to discuss this with you in private if possible." Lysander requested. "It is a matter of the gravest importance."

"Well then by all means Lysander you may discuss your business here." Naboth said calmly before motioning the two heroes' forwards. Xephos and Honeydew walked forwards and down the short staircase to the center of the floor where Lysander was.

"Well you've got good timing – I was just finishing! Couldn't it – whatever it is have waited until later?" Lysander hissed.

"No." Xephos said flatly. Today's the last day to get the ingredients and it's already halfway over!

"Well we're all very sorry we interrupted!" Honeydew said heatedly.

"Alright, alright." Lysander sighed "So you got in here, I don't know how you did it…"

"The license." Honeydew explained.

"Ah yes of course." Lysander recalled "Very well let's talk over here lest Vitali hears us."

"So if Vitali can't hear us over hear does that mean everyone else will?" Xephos asked curiously.

"You know what I mean hero." Lysander chuckled as he motioned them to a desk at the edge of the center of the auditorium. The three took their seats before Lysander spoke. "Alright, what is it?" he asked his brow furrowing.

"Lysander –" Xephos started before he turned and whispered into Lysander's ear "We need to break into Jasper's house- we don't know which house it is so we need you to help us!"

"What!" Lysander exclaimed causing the heroes to jump back momentarily. Lysander paused as he caught Naboth staring at him from his podium before continuing in a low voice "Don't you know the penalties for burglary heroes? Especially of a Skylord's house?!"

"Yeah uh – we're not exactly familiar with all this protocol since we've been here for what? Two days?" Honeydew said sarcastically. Lysander lowered his head "Well I suppose you wouldn't know about that one…" he muttered before continuing "What's in Jasper's house?"

"Diamonds." Xephos and Honeydew said at once although quietly. "To buy a gold apple of Granny and uh- hang on are we forgetting something?" Xephos asked scratching his head.

"Oh yeah and a record. The Presley record or something Father Braeburn wants." Honeydew chipped in.

"Right, and he – Braeburn will give us the Holy Apple in return." Xephos finished. Lysander paused for a long moment as he considered what the heroes had told him. Xephos was about to check if he was still alive before Lysander abruptly spoke. "Yes I do know where Jasper lives. So in regards to your request…well I can aid you in it. "

"Thanks Lysander." Xephos said with a smile.

"Yeah – always knew you would come around." Honeydew said as well.

"Yes, yes." Lysander said obviously annoyed "Let's get out here! We can continue the conversation later! Come along heroes." Lysander said as he stood up, gave a brief bow to Naboth and then walked towards the side aisle where Xephos and Honeydew had entered.

"Oh uh – yeah thanks." Xephos said giving a bow to Naboth. Honeydew followed his lead and did the same before rushing over towards Lysander. Xephos glanced back for a moment at the Skylords in the crowd; many of them were involved heavily in their own business. For a moment Xephos thought he saw someone familiar in the crowd. Was that Honeydew? The spaceman thought, he could have sworn he saw someone looking exactly like the Dwarf in the stands. Xephos suddenly felt a chill run through him, there he was the orange beard and the pudgy face it was unmistakably Honeydew sitting in the stands. But the next moment Honeydew was gone.

Xephos stared at the stands in disbelief. "H-honeydew?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah I'm here. I've been standing here for five minutes! Are you just going to stand there all day?" a familiar voice asked gruffly.

"Huh? Oh yeah – sure thought I saw something…" Xephos said absentmindedly. Come on, pull yourself together Honeydew's right in front of you, not in the stands! The spaceman thought.

"Well come on, we've got to save the world and all that crap." Honeydew said giving Xephos a friendly pat as the two walked out of the auditorium into the main building. Lysander took the lead as he walked them out of the SkyCouncil building and into the night of Mistral. Xephos stared at Honeydew, lost in his thoughts. I must be going mad! Xephos thought. But if I'm not mad and I did see something than who was that? The spaceman shook his head in confusion it couldn't have been Honeydew, his friend was right in front of him! But that face was unmistakable. It had been his friend staring at him from the stands.

"Hey – pal? You all there?" Honeydew asked, bringing Xephos out of his thoughts. The dwarf had glanced back at Xephos slight worry etched into his face. "You've been giving me the silent treatment the entire time! I've been talking to Lysander and you know how boring that is." The dwarf said with a laugh.

"Oh! Yeah I'm fine. Everything's fine…" Xephos trailed off. Yeah that wasn't Honeydew…probably something I saw…

The old man had been feeling terribly for the past couple days. Peculier had not had a decent night's sleep on either the floor of Lysander's Elysium nor the bed. However, Peculier's discomfort was not the main reason for why he had gotten so little sleep lately although this bed isn't exactly helping things Peculier thought with a grimace. And for the hundredth time, Peculier wondered who in Notches name designed the blasted thing and how on earth Lysander's guests had ever been able to sleep on it.

The reason for Peculier's discomfort had originated from his dreams of late. Peculier was afraid to close his eyes, because every time he did, Father John or some other nightmarish apparition was always there. They were strange dreams; first that one with Father John, and then that other one with that strange man in the desert. It was chilling, the man had looked oddly like his father, although his eyes were discolored and his face was meaner. Peculier had been wondering about these things for days.

When had they started? Peculier remembered feeling ill soon after the crash. But that was only natural after he had sustained multiple burns and a cracked rib. Even so, he remembered the sand in the cave. He remembered feeling strange standing near the portal. He could hear voices, strange voices, and tortured voices calling his name. Then he remembered falling to the ground, but then Lysander and the heroes had saved him. Peculier sighed, he had heard tell that the tainted sand could cause insanity, how it was cursed by Israphel and affected anyone who ventured into it. Had he stepped in cursed sand back at the cave?

It didn't matter; he had been suffering strange hallucinations. Yes, a hallucination that's what the dreams were. After all the heroes were on his side, not against him! They would never kill him. It was utterly ridiculous to even think that they would. Besides, John was dead. He had died months ago. Yes, yes of course, this is all a nightmare. I haven't been feeling well as of late and it's only natural to think irrationally…

Sighing in anguish, Peculier slowly got up out of the bed, the first time he had moved since his second stroke in Mistral. The old man was determined to move and stay awake at all costs otherwise Father John would visit him again in his sleep. Stumbling out of the room, Peculier entered the hallway, which was better lit.

"Hello?" he said hoarsely. No one was there. Peculier felt his throat for a moment; his voice was cracked and weak as he hadn't talked for well over a day. He didn't feel well at all, his head hurt and his knees were weak. It feels like someone's hitting a hammer over my head… Peculier thought, the description was a fitting one to the pain he was feeling.

"Anyone there?" he called. There was no answer. Irritated at being left by himself in such a poor condition Peculier started down the staircase leading to Lysander's sitting room. "Water…" the old man croaked. Peculier's throat was sore; it felt like he had been traveling through the desert for many days with no reprieve.

Slowly the old man crept down the staircase and finally reached the landing after a few minutes. Grasping the staircase handrail for support Peculier took a deep breath and continued into the sitting room. It's so hot in here… Peculier thought as a blast of heat greeted his presence. I must get some water… the old man thought desperately as he heaved himself upright and began to move very slowly to the open kitchen door.

It was at least ten minutes before Peculier entered the kitchen where to his surprise he saw a man in a very neat black suit chopping away on some type of herb. The man had neither noticed nor sensed Peculier's presence.

"Hello? Who are you?" Peculier asked blithely. The man seemed to have either ignored him or did not hear him. "Hello! Can you tell me who you are?" Peculier said as loudly as possible, nearly cracking his vocal cords as he did so.

This time the man seemed to hear him. The man turned around very slowly, at first Peculier could only see the half of his head but then steadily the man's features became apparent. Or what he thought was a man. The thing was staring at him, eyes glowing red. The thing's skin was of a white color, whiter than that of an albino pig. Peculier knew in an instant, who it was, the creature of his nightmares, Israphel…

"N-no….NO!" Peculier cried. "It cannot be…" the thing's red eyes glowed, slowly it took a step towards him. "NOOOO!" Peculier screamed in anguish, fumbling at his belt, his sword was not there. This is a nightmare…it has to be. Peculier thought desperately. The thing took a step closer, raising its right hand where it held the kitchen knife as if it was attempting to stab Peculier. A grotesque smile spread across the thing's face as it opened to say two words: "Hello Peculier." Peculier stumbled as he heard it speak. Israphel had Xephos' voice.

Peculier screamed throwing himself at the thing. The old man thought as he let his fury take over him, and with a sudden surge of strength Peculier forced the thing down to the floor, his hands closing over its neck. This is a dream…leave me be! Was Peculier's last thought before a great force threw him against a wall and the world went dark.

The man smoothed out his black beard and his royal red shirt. The old man had messed up his hair. He looked with disdain at Peculier who was now lying on the floor, breathing slowly. He had killed that Skylord's stupid butler and put on his clothes, and had easily been able to take out this silly old man. Well, in either case he would serve his purpose well enough. The man reached down and gently picked Peculier up and carried him to the side door, walking past the note he had left pinned to the door. A fleeting thought crossed his mind before he left. Had it all been too easy?

Xephos smiled. No, this service to his master was worth the risk. Now, it was time to wait.

A/N: You might be very confused by the end of the chapter, so I'll say this right now- Xephos is not evil. For more reference to this check the beginning of the chapter, Xephos can't be in two places at once can he? But someone else certainly has some malicious intents for the heroes, involving Israphel of course. What is going on? Wait until chapter 9 (will be released by Sunday) to find out!