A/N: When I checked the stats the other day I noticed this story had 666 hits! Yikes:P ("Now I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious." Quote Michael, from The Office.) And just clearing things up, I'm not even a little stitious. I just found it a little funny that my story became the sign of the beast, at least for that one time. XD Don't worry, it doesn't have 666 hits anymore. Speaking of The Office, I like Dwight!

Oh, and I thank 5hadowDr3amer for your encouraging comments! I admit I have no idea what I'm doing, just writing whatever comes out every day, lol:D Glad you like it.
This chapter will contain PURELY ORIGINAL ideas and will reveal a HUGE part of the Dragon Kingdom's society. This story will probably be incorporated some day into an original fiction. To warn you, this is under the Burne Convention copyright. Anything written down belongs to the owner, and trust me, you won't get away with it if you attempt to steal my ideas.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE BLACK WIND HOWLS (ooc: no Chrono Trigger refrence intended)

"Remember those two Dragons we met back in Toad Town?" Mario asked Luigi as he rested in the grass, staring at the still starry sky. They had been walking for very long, and they didn't exactly know how long, because the sky was perpetually starry. They decided to take a break, because Aeolian was tired, and Mario was still under the weather.

"Yes," Luigi replied, his voice full of thought.

"They told us that their master was going to hire Bowser to take us down. So since we defeated Bowser... aren't we home free from here on?"

"I guess so," Luigi shrugged. "But how do we know we can even trust those dragons? And what about this strange wind Aeolian keeps telling us about?"
"He hasn't mentioned it yet." Mario replied. "Maybe Bowser was responsible for it?"

"I don't know..." Luigi sighed, closing his eyes. "But I don't want to worry about any of this right now... let's just get some sleep, alright?"
"I hear ya." Mario yawned, "Goodnight, Luigi."

Luigi wasn't sure how long he was asleep. Groggily, he came to his senses, suddenly awoken. Stretching as he looked around him, he realized soon that something was wrong. Out of place. It took him a few moments to realize what was wrong.

"Aeolian... is... gone?!"

Fear raced through his heart.

He grabbed Mario who was sleeping elsewhere, and shook him awake. "Mario! Mario! Aeolian is gone!"

"Huh...?" Mario was exhausted, and it took him a while to realize what Luigi was so frantic about. "Luigi... what?"

"Aeolian!" He repeated. "He's gone!"
Mario and Peach both awoke, and saw that the dragon was nowhere to be seen. There was silence, then, a howl of wind could be heard in the distance. Slowly, Mario, Luigi, and Peach turned their heads to look at each other, not a word escaped their mouths. Their eyes wide, they found themselves communicating in silence the emotion they all felt all too well- fear.

Panic ensued.

"Aeolian! Aeolian where are you!? Is there a trace?! Anything!?" Mario yelled frantically and began running. He was followed by Luigi and Peach, who hastily grabbed their things and ran after Mario frantically.

They were making their way hastily over a low hill, whatever beyond it was obscured. Once the three had reached the top of the hill, breathing hard, they looked up and gasped.

There was a gigantic citadel in the distance, and around it, the starry sky seemed to seep into blackness. It was as if a plague seemed to loom over the citadel, and anything that came within its boundaries was consumed into a terrifying darkness. There was a single thing in the dark sky above the citadel- a very low moon which seemed to nearly touch the spiked roof of the castle. The beautiful world was consumed by it- and even looking at the thing struck terror into the hearts of its overseers.

"Aeolian went there...?" Peach breathed. "Why?"

There was unexpected movement in a dark forest nearby. The three quickly snapped their attention to whatever it was, and immediately suspected something. Was it Aeolian, or was it his kidnapper?

"Who's down there?" Mario demanded, and began running towards the source of the movement. "Mario, this isn't very smart," Luigi said as he followed Mario, placing his hand on his hat while he sped downhill. Peach ran after Luigi, lifting her bright pink dress slightly to avoid tripping over it.

They reached the edge of the forest, and Mario had already discovered who had moved- it was none other then Reyva and Serphen from Toad Down.

"You two!" Mario sneered at the purple and yellow dragons.

"Oh, hi, Mario, looks like you made it." Reyva said calmly, "how's Aeolian?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" Mario stiffened and jabbed a finger at Reyva. "You know EXACTLY where Aeolian is so GIVE HIM BACK!"
Marios face reflected the color of his hat as he glared at Reyva in a fury.

"What?" Reyva's expression went from calm to defensive as she was accused by the angry plumber. "I didn't do anything with Aeolian! How'd you get here if you can't find him?!"

"He disappeared last night and YOU'RE the one near the area! We've already defeated your king's mercenary Bowser so I don't see any other threat other then you!"

"I told you, Mario, I'm a friend!" Reyva was backed into a tree by Mario. "Luigi! You know I didn't do anything wrong!"

Luigi looked at Reyva's frantic expression, then squinted. "I'm... not sure I could've trusted you in the first place, Reyva. Please return Aeolian and we won't hurt you."

"I told you, I didn't do anything to your dragon Aeolian!"

Mario hit her, and she landed harshly on the ground with a groan.

"That has gone too far, Mario!" Peach grabbed Mario's arm before he was able to hit Reyva again.

"Peach, honey, this dragon... she has to be the one!"
"We don't want to become like them, Mario! We are not interrogators! That is something of the evil."

Mario's tensed muscles began to relax, and he sighed. "You're right... I... I'm sorry, Reyva... I just don't have anyone else to blame..."

Reyva rubbed the spot on her muzzle where she was hit, then said, "Its fine, I don't blame you... Serphen, its alright, I don't think he's hostile anymore."

The plump dragon Serphen came out of hiding.

"Last night I was spying on Growle." Reyva told Mario. "I discovered that he only hired Bowser as a distraction. He didn't belive the Koopa King had anything new up his sleeves."

"A distraction for what?" Luigi asked, concerned.

"I don't know. He stopped talking before I could hear. I think he suspected he was being spied on... but I'm pretty sure that its nothing to be messed with, whatever it was."

"Maybe this thing is responsible for Aeolian's captivity?" Peach asked.

"I don't know, and I don't see any reason to trust you and Serphen." Mario glanced at Reyva. "If we let you two go you might return to your master. So I want you to travel with us, and tell you what you know about this world. Let's call it a friendly captivity."

Reyva smiled. "I will gladly follow you, Mario, because I have nothing to hide. Would you like to know where the Starbringer's hideout is? As you may have guessed, that citadel is the fortress of the Moonshards. They're trying to engulf our world in literal darkness, and destroy all of the stars in our sky."

Reyva sighed, then said, "but before you walk aimlessly through our world we need to clear some things up for you. We are Starbringers, and we have a commitment to protect Aeolian. One thing you have to know about the Dragon Kingdom is this- every star is someone's life force. Every time someone is born, a new star is ignited. And every time someone dies, a star falls from the sky. A Dragon cannot live without his star, and vice versa. Every star is very strong, and will only falter in its light if the Dragon gives up hope."

She looked down sadly, and let Serphen continue.

"Some Starbringers are losing hope. We think that we cannot survive this war. When a star is weakened by loss of hope, the Moonshards can destroy the star. Thus, darkness fills in that starless area. That's why the sky is so dark around the citadel. The Moonshards, see, get their power from that one moon. The Starbringers and Moonshards used to live in harmony, but then, the heir to their throne, Growle, took control, and he began a reckless age of tyranny over us.

"Aeolian is the son of a Starbringer Dragon that married a Moonshard Dragon years ago. Their egg was prophesied to be the child that will once again unite the clans into a forever peaceful era. To prevent this from happening, Growle sent his best spies into the Starbringer Clan to capture the egg and retrain the dragon inside to follow his instructions, thus rendering the prophecy untrue. They successfully captured the egg and were leaving to the castle when they were attacked by two brave knights of the Starbringers.

"They fought for days in the skies. While they were battling, the egg slipped from the grasp of the Moonshard spies, and fell out of the atmosphere. It ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom below us on your planet. No one knew where it landed, so the Moonshards and the Starbringers searched in the shadows high and low for the egg."

Reyva continued for her cousin, "In the meanwhile, our king, the father of the egg, sent us as double agents to Growle- Serphen and I, that is. We joined as a Moonshard to spy on him and figure out where the egg went and who found it.

"Luigi picked it up on that fateful day, right at the moment when the Moonshard spies who originally stole the egg arrived: Ironclaw and Malice. And here we are now- standing under the same sky. Now what worries me is Aeolian is gone, you say? The first thing we need to do then is find our king, Kinimanji. Maybe he will know where his son is by tapping into his subconscious. Did I tell you how Dragons do that?"

Mario, Luigi, and Peach shook their heads, captivated by the story. They had no idea such a complex civilization had been living over their heads at all times.

"Blood-Related dragons can communicate to each other by using their own physical vigor through their minds. Its called Mindchat, and it helps a lot to keep Dragons working together. And though contact, they can also communicate to people outside their Dragon's mind. By touching Aeolian or his egg, Luigi, you could also hear Kinimanji's voice. But without Aeolian I'm afraid we won't be able to hear him. He's been Mindchatting a lot lately, and its really been sapping his strength. Come on, let's go to the Starbringer hideout, Mario!"