Chapter 13: You Don't Have To Live Like A Refugee
From below, the sky looked blue to the denizens of the world. When it was visible through the thick clouds that often covered the horizons, at any rate. More and more, they hid the sky, thanks to the jealous efforts of the Fiend of Air. But on some days, the bright blue sky could be seen clearly and beautifully. Unless one actually flew into it. Then, as one flew further and further, they would see the blue slowly give way, replaced by an eternal, never-ending darkness that was only illuminated by far-away stars. It was in this pitch-black height that the Sky Palace hovered, the temple to the sky built by the people of Lefein. A gift for which Tiamat, Fiend of Air, had thanked them for upon her rising with her personal attention. Now, the Fiend brooded upon one of the many marvels in the Palace; a window, with which one could see the entire world below laid out before them. And more; the window allowed the viewer to see the currents of magic that the world relied on to keep itself intact revealed clearly to the eye. And so, Tiamat saw as the massive surge of power in the Sea Shrine dimmed, faded, and finally died, only to return in a much brighter form.
"So much for Kraken." The Fiend of Air informed her only companion dismissively. "I was afraid that would happen. He probably tried some last-minute psychological warfare on the girl, knowing him. Too little, too late." Her companion was silent, making no comment, and after an uneasy moment Tiamat continued. "Well, he's dead now, and that's that. I'll be next, although I don't intend to make it easy. And if I fail…" She shrugged.
"Kraken." The other present spoke at last. "Power?"
"You mean the portion he allocated to the Black Orb?" Tiamat guessed. "It's still pouring in. Like the other two, Water doesn't have enough of a grip yet to realize where the power he's missing is going, or even that he's missing some at all." She frowned. "If I'm slain, though, doubtless it will be made clear then. It will have to be completed before that happens." Looking back to the window, she smiled at the intense beam of magical energy, a sickly green color, pouring out from the altar above her and streaming steadily down towards the earth, crossing countries and oceans before finally ending in the Temple of Fiends. Three other identical beams were similarly flowing in from the other three Altars, although their colors were mixed; decaying orange and solid brown, insane blue and warm red, gross purple and soothing indigo. Glaring up at her own stream, Tiamat scowled; for a moment, she had seen just a flash of yellow. Shaking her head, she turned away again. "It's near completion, at any rate. Just a few weeks more, a month or so, and then…"
"Stall." The other being suggested.
"I wish I could." Tiamat hissed. "The ideal situation would give them no choice but to storm the Sky Palace directly in their airship. With the forces at my command, I could have kept them busy for long enough, no question about it. But with that damned robot escapee, there is a possibility for an alternative. If the Light Warriors find him before my minions do…" Looking up at the ceiling, she screamed. "Shiva! To me!" After a few moments, the sounds of light, careful steps echoed down the halls as a dragon approached. Almost as huge as Bahamut, but much more slimly built, the sapphire-scaled beast flapped her wings to calm herself before speaking.
"You require something of me, my queen?"
"Ah, I never get tired of hearing you say that." Tiamat purred, mood suddenly improved. "So pleasing, to see you brought so low; you, who were once so prideful. What was it you told me, before we fought? Ah, yes. 'There is only one queen of the dragons, and it is me, you wretch.' How you sneered. And look at you now." Reaching out, she traced the side of Shiva's head with one claw. "Bowing to me. I am the dragon queen now, Shiva. And you? My personal slave."
"Yes, my queen." The blue dragon agreed without a moment's hesitation. "Always."
"Good girl." Tiamat chuckled. "As to your question. Has there been word from the Gas Dragon unit I sent to Onrac?"
"Yes, my queen." Shiva answered. "Unfortunately, they reported failure so far. The robot has not yet been located."
"Damnation." Tiamat growled, good mood evaporating instantly. "Get out your copy of that prophecy, Shiva, and scour it for any mention at all of that robot. I've looked it over so many times my eyes start to bleed if I even glance at it, so I'll leave it to you while I keep an eye on them from here."
"As you command, my queen." Shiva bowed, then departed.
"Boring." The observer offered his opinion after a moment.
"You think so?" Tiamat glanced at him sidelong. "You prefer them with a bit more spirit, I assume? Leave them just enough to know what's happened to them, and struggle eternally to return without any actual hope at all, no matter how much they delude themselves?"
Her companion said nothing to that, but grinned silently.
"I thought so." The Fiend of Air nodded. "That has its perks, I will agree; but there's also a distinct charm to breaking them so completely, that you can't even find a trace of what was there before, no matter how hard you look. Especially with the ones that have angered you severely. Such as that silly queen there. At least Bahamut can back up his pride."
"Bahamut." The other echoed. After a moment, he added, "Interfere?"
"With his queen here? Not likely." Tiamat laughed. "Just the thought of going claw to claw with her keeps him awake at night. He won't dare provoke that possibility." Looking back at her companion, Tiamat raised an eyebrow. "Is it still that difficult to talk? You seem only able to manage a few words at a time."
"Hurts." The one addressed replied after a moment's thought. "Better."
"Getting better? Good. Well, it's not surprising this hurts." Tiamat shook her head. "We've never had to do this before, after all. It's been sufficient just to wait for you to select the next Chaos Knight. This time, though; I don't like that prophecy business at all. We've never been killed before, and who can tell if they don't plan something further after? I'm sorry this hurts so much, but we needed you. There was no other way, Garland. Calling you back was all I could think of."
"Yes." The withered, dead, decaying body of Garland, the Chaos Knight, answered from the wall, where he was slumped, motionless. "Back." After a moment, his rotted features pulled into another grin. "Better."
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"Explain this to me again." Vlad grumbled as a carnivorous fish hit him in the face. Growling, he stabbed it repeatedly. "Ugh. So, we've finished with Kraken. Onrac is restored. By all logic, right now we should already be moving on the final Fiend's location. Tiamat, in the northeast. And yet, we remain here in Onrac. Specifically, spending all day rowing our canoe up the Onrac River, towards a massive waterfall." He paused for effect before finishing. "And this is why?"
"Because we suspect something happened at the Sky Palace." Drake replied easily, stunning a fish with his oar and frying it with a low-level Lightning spell. "Haha, I love doing that. Uh, as I was saying, when we were in Gaia me and Mary saw something fall out of the Sky Palace. Or at least the area of the Sky Palace. And maybe fall isn't the right word."
"It was more like launching than falling." Mary picked up the thread. "It was headed towards Onrac, and it looked like it was going to make it. Then when we were in the bar after the fight with Kraken, Mrs. Delphine's friend Kope said on that night he had seen something in the sky falling towards the waterfall."
"Ah, yes. Kope." Vlad remembered. "He would be the one who, shortly after telling us that, downed twenty mugs in twenty minutes."
"I called up Water, too." His sister continued, ignoring that. "He said that some of Tiamat's forces were searching the area, and that there was a cavern behind this waterfall. And by forces, he specified dragons."
"Oh." Vlad blinked. "You didn't mention that part before."
"I didn't?" Mary said innocently. "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten."
"Hey, if you can point that out, that means you remembered why we were here the entire time!" Drake growled, mock-angrily. "What's the deal, huh?"
"I… you…" Vlad glared at them both, attempted to pull his hat down over his face, remembered he was no longer wearing it and settled for slumping down in the back of the canoe. "Bah."
"Enough. Lay offa him." Luke told them. "Let's just get this baby upstream as fast as we can, eh? Shame there's too many trees around the area for the airship to get closer, but them's the breaks."
Unlike the harsh desert or the threatening coastline (although the latter had improved dramatically with Kraken's demise), this portion of Onrac was actually pleasant. The trees were thick and lush on either side of the great river, everything around them teeming with life as the forest animals went about their business in a land that was safe once more. The higher riverbanks to either side showed that the water level had been much higher here as well a few days ago; this proved troublesome when it came time to rest for the night, as the Light Warriors were unable to climb up the steep slopes onto dry land. They would have been forced to sleep in the canoe had Mary not discovered that their enchanted one-night houses were further enchanted to float on water. That and the monsters were the only downsides of the current situation. With the sun shining overhead and the pleasant atmosphere, even Vlad found it hard to keep a bad mood going.
"Good thing we didn't try this before wiping out Kraken." Luke commented as they neared the waterfall. "This river must have been a hell of a lot meaner then. Probly downright impossible to paddle upstream against."
"Good thing the new guy's on our side then, eh?" Drake winked, then turned to stare once more at their destination looming up before them. "I still can't get over how big that thing is." Stretching a solid mile straight up, the cliffs of Onrac were an unsurpassable barrier that stretched across the entire length of the land from east to west. According to geographers, above and beyond them was only Lake Onrac, the largest freshwater deposit in the world, along with the beginnings of the far north's massive glacial icelands. This had turned out to be true when they took the airship up to look before beginning the actual trip. What concerned them, though, was the connection between Lake Onrac and the Onrac River; the massive waterfall that poured a mile down before crashing into the land below.
"Taking the canoe through that's not gonna be fun." Luke pronounced glumly.
"There'll be edges we can sneak around." Drake grinned at him, then slowly dropped it. "If we could get onto the ground again, anyways. Which we can't. Looks like we're getting wet."
"Hold on, let me try something." Mary held the Orb of Water, and after a moment, the Element's face appeared in the river before them. "Hi. We're heading through there… is there anything you can do about that waterfall?"
"Of course, missie. Just try to make it quick, hm?" Water winked, then turned to stare at the falls. The rush of water slowed, dribbled, and stopped, revealing the hole in the caverns beneath that stretched back into the darkness. "Right, call me again when you're ready to head back out."
"Got it." Mary nodded. "Let's go, fellas." The Light Warriors walked through the cavern mouth, then jumped as they heard the thump of hundreds of gallons of water striking the river again behind them.
"By the way, Tiamat's forces are in here searching." Water's voice continued behind them. "I'd get moving, if I was you."
"Good advice." Luke drew his sword. Behind him, Drake did the same, Mary pulled out her modified lamp spell, and Vlad stretched out his hands. "Let's get to it, then."
Compared to the many horrible caverns they had been through previously, the tunnels behind the Waterfall were actually rather pleasant atmospherically. No slime, no heat or cold, no strange glows; only condensation dripping here and there, and of course the monsters. The advance forces were mummies, some with magic and some without. It didn't really matter; with all four Light Warriors now capable of casting numerous medium-level Fire and Harm spells, they simply launched one massive wave of destruction that wiped out anything undead between them and the wall at the other end of the passageway. Nightmares and Mud Golems were present as well, like the ones from the Castle of Ordeals; for them, hand-to-hand combat sufficed almost as easily. The true enemy was the cavern itself; though it was almost pleasant at first glance, it turned out to be a winding labyrinth with many, many turns and forks. Even with Mary drawing a map as they went, it was slow going, and many times they found themselves in dead ends. Mostly this was merely discouraging, but on the fourth time, they finally discovered a serious problem. A dragon, lean and green, with a mane and trailing whiskers.
"So, the Light Warriors have come as well." It hissed. "Then I must delay you to give my brethren time to find our prey!" Widening its maw, the dragon breathed a cloud of gas the same color as its scales.
"Bane?" Drake asked sharply.
"No, that's blue. This is something else." Vlad answered grimly, then swore. "Damn, look at the floor!" Where the cloud had touched the stone, it was melting to slime. "Don't let it touch you! At all! I'll handle this!" The other three backed up eagerly, as Vlad began casting.
"Ha!" The Gas Dragon sneered, opening its maw again to belch out another cloud of acidic gas. "What do you think you can do against-"
The noise as Vlad's fireball ignited the gas was truly colossal.
"Well." Drake winced, taking his hands off of his ears and looking around at all the smoke and char marks. "That seems to have done the trick." Where the Gas Dragon had stood there was simply a larger, more disgustingly colored mark. "But where's Vlad?"
"Back here." The Black Wizard croaked from his position embedded in the wall behind them. "Maybe you should stand in front of me next time, Luke."
"Gee, thanks." The Knight pulled him down. "Just kidding. I know, I can take hits a lot better, even ones like that. Let's do it that way next time, huh?"
"You'd think you'd have learned your lesson after the pufferfish." Shaking her head in resignation, Mary healed her brother. "More importantly, that guy said they had to 'find their prey.' Sounds like whatever they're looking for here is alive."
"We'd better get moving, then." Luke reasoned, and they pressed on. Several more Gas Dragons were found, but were dealt with just as spectacularly, and in the end they discovered a steel door in the back of the cavern. It didn't budge when they tried to open it.
"Hey! Anybody in there?" Drake knocked on the door. "It's okay, we're not Tiamat's! We're the Light Warriors!" As soon as he had said that, the door creaked open.
"Truly?" The being inside asked fervently. It was man-shaped, but that was all it had in common with humans; made of metal, it was constructed from separate pieces all stuck together to form the final result. A single eye glowed green as it stared at them. "Come inside, please!"
"A robot." Vlad whispered. "Lefeinish technology. So you really are from the Sky Palace."
"Yes." The robot agreed, bowing over and remaining that way; it seemed its natural stance was hunched down, arms dangling. "There are many of us there. Most of us are completely reprogrammed to serve Tiamat without question, but a few of us hide our remaining will. When we heard that you had killed two of the Fiends, we knew one of us would have to escape, to bring you something you would need. I was elected."
"Bring us something?" Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. The key to the teleporter in the Mirage Tower." The robot held out a strange-looking mechanical cube. "This cube is the activation device. If you wish to assault the Sky Palace from the Mirage Tower, you will need a chime to enter, and a cube to teleport to the Sky Palace from the top."
"You don't say. Well thanks, then! We woulda been out of luck without you." Drake started to take the cube, then blinked. "Wait, what was that about a chime?"
"Er…" The robot blinked. "A chime of Lefein is necessary to enter the Mirage Tower. If you do not have one, you may find it at the refuge where the Lefeinish descendants hide from Tiamat."
"And do you know where this refuge is?" Mary pressed.
"Yes."
"Well, looks like we're going to Lefein." Luke shrugged. "We've gotta go through that Tower if we want to follow Bahamut's game plan."
"And we can learn Lefeinish off that slab from the Sea Shrine." Drake snapped his fingers. "That prophecy knew this would happen." He turned back to the robot. "Looks like you're coming along with us, then. We can't leave you here."
"Thank you." The robot said, the smile evident in its voice even if its face was frozen. "Here, I was able to take these with me as well." Turning around, it came back with two things. In its left hand, a scrap of ribbon like the one from the Sea Shrine dangled. In its right hand was an extremely broad-bladed sword.
"Hmm." Luke hefted the latter. "I like it. I'll take this, thanks. Is that ribbon…"
"Enchanted like the other, yes." Mary took it from the robot's hand. "Thank you, sir robot. Let's leave, then. We have quite a few trips ahead of us."
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"Take care of yourself now, Bikke." Delphine and her two daughters waved to the heroes and pirates as the Icarus started up. "Don't do anything that'll get you killed now, after making it this long."
"Don't let 'em catch me, got it." Bikke winked at her. "Don'tcha worry, there's only one of 'em left now, and we got help for that. Right, Intyre?" He glanced over his shoulder at the green-scaled dragon, who was crouched on the ship's prow like a gargoyle."
"Right, Bikke." Intyre waved a claw lazily. "Just remember to drop me off at Cardia before you head to Melmond so I can join up with the others. It's been a while since I've been back. I'm sure Bahamut already felt Kraken's death, but it's best to be on the safe side, and it'll take us a few days to get ready anyways."
"See? We got a whole army o' dragons, and fer once I'll be runnin' with the army 'stead of away." Bikke announced proudly. "We'll be fine, 'specially with the Icarus here. Just take care o' yerself, and we'll be back soon, aye?" He turned away from the rail as the airship blasted off. "Right then, first to Cardia to drop off Intyre here. Next, Melmond so you lot can learn Lefeinish. Leave me outta that one, by the way; I ain't too good at our language, let alone another. Then it's that one last outpost of Lefein you found out about from that robot, and after that, time to knock down Tiamat's door."
"Hey, laddie, dontcha ferget about me." Senna, the fairy from Gaia, was perched on Intyre's head. "These boyos promised to drop me off at home."
"Oh yeah." Bikke nodded. "Well, Gaia's in the same area as Lefein anyways, so we can do that no sweat. Speakin' o' that robot, by the way…" He glanced over at said robot, who was standing quietly in the center of the deck. "What's the deal, matey?"
"Well, we couldn't just leave him there for Tiamat's guys to find and trash." Drake reasoned. "Plus, we need him to find the Lefein guys once we know the lingo." The robot saluted.
"Captain Bikke, I am here to serve. Direct me to any tasks and I shall endeavor to complete them."
"Hmm…" Bikke looked him over. "How are ye at piratin', do ya think?"
"What?" Mary choked. "You don't mean…"
"Pirating." The robot's eye blinked. "Robbing and/or committing illegal violence at sea and/or plundering the land from such without commission from authority."
"Pretty much." Mr. Smite shrugged. "Though we're in the air now instead of the sea."
"Ah. Definition updated." The robot noted. "I have no previous experience at such, but am willing to learn."
"Works fer me!" Bikke laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Welcome to Bikke's pirate crew, uh… say, what's yer name?"
"Name?" The robot's eye dimmed, then widened again. "Ah, my serial number! It is SID-OH-23508250563."
"…Uh." Bikke stared, as did everybody else.
"Right." Drake shook his head, recovering first. "Sid it is, then." That seemed to bring everybody else out of it as well.
"Sid, eh. Yah, that works. Well, welcome aboard, Sid." Bikke nodded. "Free advice, don't go fer the eyepatch option."
"A robot pirate." Vlad shook his head. "What have we done?"
"All in the name of a greater good, buddy." Luke reassured him. "Onwards we go."
Although the trip to Melmond itself was only a few days, the Light Warriors were detained there longer for the process of learning to speak Lefeinish. Bikke's friend in town, Dr. Unne, was jubilant upon seeing the slab and all too happy to teach it to them, but the actual process of doing so was trying, especially with Luke. In the end, after two weeks of intense study, they departed Melmond with the other three Warriors still drilling their leader on the complicated language, which consisted of no more than two hundred and forty two-letter words, and placed much emphasis on pronunciation and tone to convey different meanings. Another week took the airship to the northeastern lands, and after a side trip to Gaia to drop off Senna, they flew south and further east, to a peninsula of wilderness beyond the Yahnikurm Desert.
"The barrier of mountains beyond the desert mark the edge of Tiamat's direct control." Sid, as the robot was now called, explained. "At least, they did when she first rose. Her control is probably lessened now."
"We still made the right choice skirting around that desert." Luke looked behind them with a frown. "Got jumped plenty of times as it was. Tiamat's edgy; she knows we'll be coming for her soon."
"Got some bad news for ya, though." Bikke frowned, looking over the peninsula ahead of them. "We can go all the way down to make sure, but from here it looks like the entire damn thing's too forested fer me to land the Icarus here. Seems we'll have to put 'er down at the edge o' these mountains and ye'll have to walk."
"The peninsula is extremely wild." Sid confirmed. "I apologize; I should have informed you. Indeed, the airship will be unable to land, and the Lefeinish survivors would probably assume you to be Tiamat's if you attempted to land the airship in the town itself. This would almost certainly provoke attack."
"We walk, then." Luke shrugged. "Not like we've become allergic to it or anything. It'll take a while, but there's no helping it."
"Right." Bikke nodded. "If'n ye don't mind, we'll head back to Cardia after droppin' ya off, then. If we're gonna be flyin' this baby with the dragons 'gainst Tiamat, Big B's probly gonna want to tell us what to do. Have one o' yer Element buddies call us up when yer in the town. Once ye actually explain it to 'em, we'll be able to land and pick ye up there without ye needin' to hike all the way back here."
"Sounds good." Drake nodded. "Might as well get going, then."
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The lost nation of Lefein had, centuries ago, been located in the far east of the northern continent. Technologically advanced far beyond any other land, they hoarded their secrets in solitude and lived their lives isolated from the rest of the world. Worshipping the sky, their cities towered high above the world, atop the ring of mountains that surrounded their vast country. The only population center built on the plains below was the capital at the center, with the royal palace named the Mirage Tower that led up to the true palace of the Lefeinish. The Sky Palace, the heart of the air… and, in the end, of Tiamat as well. Her coming had completely destroyed Lefein, transforming the plains into the Yahnikurm Desert and sweeping the cities from the mountains. The few survivors had been reported as fleeing to the southeast, onto a wild peninsula beyond Tiamat's reach, but due to the ferocity of the monsters, the rumors had never been confirmed. At least, until the day when four travelers strode from the forest, each bearing an Orb, and looked upon the last remnants of Lefein.
"How the hell do buildings get that tall?" Drake wondered, staring up and up, and further up. "Those can't be real." The structures he described were indeed built high beyond human imagination; a solid row of square towers at the back of the city that stretched into the sky for miles. They were the only actual buildings there; the rest of the space within the city walls was devoted to pleasant atmosphere, grandly decorated bridges and rivers that carved a pretty path around each other, with parks and statues everywhere. Men and women with brightly colored hair of every shade on the rainbow strolled through in simple togas, conversing in the odd, stilted speech of their race. To all observation, it was a place of beauty, but on the central building, a colossal mural bore eternal remembrance of the truth, naming the city Re Lu Ka So; Place of Hiding.
"They could have come to the outside world." Mary shook her head, speaking unconsciously in the tongue she had spent weeks learning. "Other countries would have taken them in, helped them. Why didn't they try?"
"It was not our way, young lady." An elderly man with white hair so bright it reflected the sun's light explained as he walked towards them. "In our times of peace, we held ourselves apart from the rest of the world, and kept our secrets to ourselves. After doing so, it would not have been right for us to seek their aid, when we gave them none. We chose our way, and even now, we live with it."
"You don't seem surprised to see us." Drake raised an eyebrow. "I take it you know who we are, then."
"Sage Lashee told us what she knew before she left us to join the others, including that you would come one day." The old man nodded. "I am Halcyon, and I welcome you to Lefein."
"Then you likely know why we have come as well." Vlad guessed. "We are here so that we may seek the means to strike down she who was your people's downfall. Of the four Orbs, only one remains unlit. Tiamat, the Fiend of Air." He nodded at the others, and all four Warriors took out their Orbs to show the elder. "Lich, Kary and Kraken have all fallen at our hands. She is all that remains."
"But she is a mighty foe." Halcyon warned. "And yet, you may be able to slay her. We shall do all we can to aid you. Here, let us go to a more suitable place to continue our talk."
Leading them through the city, Halcyon brought the Light Warriors to the base of the mass of buildings, and into a box that seemed to move upwards of its own power. When they stepped out, they were in a comfortable study, with a window that showed them to be at the building's top, miles above the ground. To the north, they could see the mountains far away. And beyond them, barely visible, a speck in the sky that never moved, but remained eternally hovering.
"The Sky Palace." Halcyon confirmed their thoughts. "It is there that Tiamat reigns, above what was once the heart of our people. In our pride, we ignored the Element of Air's warnings that her time was approaching, and thus doomed ourselves to her opposite. Only now, so many years later, can this be overturned."
"That's what we're going for." Drake confirmed. "With our allies. The plan is for the dragonkin of Cardia and the men who fly the last airship for us to assault the Sky Castle while we climb up from the Mirage Tower. If they can hold the greatest mass of Tiamat's armies, we'll be able to break through to the nasty lady herself."
"The dragonkin… they have suffered from Tiamat as well. They will be strong allies." Halcyon smiled. "And the Icarus as well. It gladdens me to know that the ship of our Sky Warriors will return to do battle with Tiamat once more. If you plan to enter the Mirage Tower, you will need one of our Chimes to enter. We shall give one to you, of course. Then, once you enter the tower, you will need a key to the teleporter on the top in order to access the Sky Palace. Any of Tiamat's high-ranking minions in the Tower should have one."
"We have one already, actually." Mary smiled, showing him the Cube. "One of the robots escaped from the Sky Palace for that purpose. Some of them still maintain their old programming, it seems. He's joined the men on the Icarus, if you'd like to meet him."
"Indeed I would." Halcyon nodded in awe. "Robots who still remember us; we never suspected that. And to serve on the Icarus…" He shook his head. "A shame we would have had no way to tell your airship from one of Tiamat's, or you could have brought it here."
"Actually, we can contact them now and have them bring it here to pick us up." Drake suggested. "You can meet Sid-he's the robot-and the other guys then. Would that work?"
"That would be wonderful." Halcyon clapped his hands together. "For now, though, you must be tired from your journey. Rooms have been prepared for you. Tomorrow, if it pleases you, I will tell you of the creatures that serve Tiamat so that you may be better prepared to fight them."
"That would be useful." Vlad nodded. "Very well."
"So it shall be." Halcyon nodded back as several servants entered the room. "Before you go, one more thing." He glanced at Luke. "If it is not impolite, you have not spoken at all here, young man. Is there a reason?"
"I…" Luke sighed. "Bad at… your talk."
"He's not good with the language." Drake translated, and Halcyon winced.
"Ah, yes. That accent is-well, never mind. None of us can be perfect at everything. I will see you tomorrow, then."
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The night sky over Lefein was truly a wondrous thing when seen from the top of the towers of incredible height. Such a position was occupied by Luke on the eve of his arrival, sitting in a padded chair with a mug of ale as he gazed upon the stars that looked as far away as ever despite his knowledge that he was closer to the sky than he had been before in all his days, even on the airship. With nothing aside from the wind and his own thoughts, Luke had little track of time, but eventually, footsteps behind him signified the presence of another.
"Hey, man." Drake greeted his friend, taking a seat next to him. The elf was loosely dressed, absent his ninja garb and armor, and bore a mug similar to Luke's own. "Having trouble sleeping?"
"A bit." Luke admitted, swishing the ale around in his mug. "Just came up here to do some thinking. And before you make a wisecrack, yes, I do know how to do that."
"Wouldn't dream of it." Drake winked, then sighed. "Well, I'm a bit too awake yet still, and Mary won't share a room with me yet, so there are worse ways to kill an hour or two."
"You're lucky she puts up with you at all." Luke gave him a look, which the ninja returned just as strongly.
"Come on, man." Drake prodded him. "You can't tell me you've never tried to score with Sara, even once?"
"Well…" Luke lowered his head. "All right then, you're lucky she doesn't react with violence to that sort of suggestion. That better?"
"Yeah, that sounds more accurate." Drake agreed. "Wants to wait until after the wedding, I'm guessing?"
"It's a princess thing." Luke shrugged. "One of the ones even she considers important, I guess. Idunno."
"And you were telling Drake he was lucky to have a girlfriend who puts up with him?" A third, female voice asked wryly as Mary joined them. "I feel sorry for Sara, although at least she's got to have experience in dealing with you."
"Oy." Luke looked irritated. "Warn us before you walk in on our conversations, will you? That one could have turned into something we wouldn't want you to hear."
"Really?" Mary smiled serenely, and Drake winced, slapping his forehead.
"Luke?" The elf groaned. "Don't say things like that. Please. For both of our sakes."
"Sorry, didn't really think that one through." Luke admitted sheepishly. "No luck sleeping either, eh, Mary? Well, at least Vlad should be sleeping soundly. Some guys have all the luck."
"Man, what did I just tell you?" Drake slapped his face again.
"For once, the idiot has a point." Vlad's voice echoed out of the darkness as he walked forward. "Although as you've probably deduced, you weren't even correct. Fire is busy working on something and I was restless. It seems we all are tonight. I wonder why."
"Could it be the magic field?" Mary suggested. "It's extremely powerful around this city. Understandably so, after everything they've been through."
"Is Lefeinish magic that good?" Drake raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I know it's way beyond anything me or Luke could ever do, but compared to you two?"
"It's the best." Vlad confirmed. "Just like their technology. They even have a couple of spells we can't master yet. A shame; they would have helped against Tiamat. Ah well, there's nothing for it; we shall have to continue to the end of our journey without them."
"The end of our journey." Luke repeated. "Hard to believe it's here upon us. How long has it been? A year?"
"Nearly." Mary agreed. "Almost a year, twelve countries, countless monsters, the seas and the skies."
"Ruined castles, blazing volcanoes and sunken temples." Vlad continued his sister's line of speech. "Caverns of slime and ice and earth."
"A mad king, and a false fiend." Drake picked it up. "Pirates and wizards, and a Chaos Knight. Dragons of fire and ice and gas and death." He paused. "And some weird eye-thing."
"Fiends of Earth, Fire and Water." Luke finished, deliberately ignoring Drake's last comment. "And only Air remains, until our task is complete. The last and oldest of the Fiends. The most powerful, wise and evil of them all. Tiamat, the Fiend of Air. She's waiting for us." The knight frowned. "And yet…"
"And yet, you feel like there's something else?" Drake guessed. "I know what you mean. I've been feeling it too. I'm guessing we all have."
"Indeed." Mary nodded. "I haven't been able to find a source of it, but I feel like there's something important I'm forgetting. Something aside from Tiamat."
"I've asked Fire, but she's unable to tell." Vlad shook his head. "She says there's some sort of influence on us, all right, but she can't figure out what it is, or break it. She's still too half-asleep, and so are her brothers. At a guess, however; she also can't remember why the prophecy was created in the first place. Perhaps that might be connected."
"The prophecy?" Drake blinked. "Wasn't that made so that we'd kill the Fiends?"
"No, it can't be just that." Mary disagreed. "It's not like we're the only way to rid the world of them. In time, they would have turned back to the Elements, just like they did every time before. All we did was speed up the process."
"Yeah, there's gotta be more to it than that." Luke scowled. "But we've still got no clue as to what exactly it is. Damn."
"Think it'll become clear after we take down Tiamat?" Drake suggested.
"Hope so." Luke shrugged. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it now. Let's just be careful, and not throw down our swords the moment she bites it."
"That much, we can do." Vlad agreed. "That, and to go against her with everything we've got."
"Yeah." Luke nodded. "Yeah, we'll do that. Maybe it will be the last hurrah, maybe not. But either way, let's make it one for the record books. Can't let Bikke, Bahamut and the rest of those guys have all the fun, after all. They might be taking on the majority of the armies, but Tiamat herself is all ours." He stood up suddenly, glaring out to the north at the far-distant Sky Palace. "Hear that, Tiamat? Get ready. We're coming for you." As he said that, it seemed that the wind picked up just a bit, howling angrily around them. Despite that, all four Light Warriors stayed resolute, staring defiantly at the enemy. And then as one, they turned their backs and left the rooftop, walking back into the Lefeinish monolith to their rests.