Following the path Fina laid for them, and knocking off some pests from the deck, they arrived to where the Moon Crystal laid. Unfortunately Estelle was far too encumbered by her ailment that she was put to bed with Repede, Raven and Karol watching over her.

What stood before them was an impressive circle of standing stones surrounding a large hole that had a massive metal pentagon with the Yellow Magic seal at the center. "Fascinating!"

As Rita took a firsthand approach to studying the giant metal slab, Fina explained, "Beneath it is the 'Maw of Tartas'. It's an entrance to a series of caverns. These caverns are the resting place of the Yellow Crystal as well as the Yellow Gigas. This seal was built by my people after the Rains of Destruction in order to contain the Yellow Gigas. Now the Yellow Gigas lies dormant…" Fina slightly stressing that point to Rita, who was too absorbed with the seal to even hear her.

Drachma just huffed, "Good…keep that thing locked up…"

Aika started to tap on the seal now, "Well, I know this means the Gigas can't get out… But it also means that we can't get in!"

Yuri looked back to the Jack, "Figured this was a waste of time. So what now?"

Before Vyse could suggest anything someone yelled, "Hey! Don't move!" Above them was a small squad of Valuan enforcers in their blue and red armor, "The punishment for trespassing near the Great Seal is death!"

The four soldiers rushed at them but Vyse and Yuri managed to stop their charge, but they wouldn't be able to do it a second time. Drachma charged in, knocking the four soldiers over with his metal shoulder, freeing up the two swordsmen.

As the soldiers started to pick themselves back up, one of them pulled out a small cylinder as he pulled a pin and threw it toward them. Yuri quickly pulled Vyse away, "Get back!"

The small cylinder exploded as it erupted into a modest sized column of fire. "What was with that grenade?"

Yuri got back up, "Don't know. It was still being prototyped back when I was still in."

"It's a De Loco fire starter." Rita finally joined them, "A Red Moon Stone fragment is broken off and magically sealed to reproduce a fire spell upon detonation. The purpose was to allow soldiers who weren't as magically adept to use spells in combat without the enemy realizing what they were really about to do. And they were designed specifically to avoid magic counters like Aika's shield spell."

"So let's finish this up quickly. Rita, think you and Fina can cast a spell fast enough to give them a good scare?"

"Definitely. Though I can't say anything for Miss Silvite."

Cupil was now formed, "We will be ready to help you. Just tell us what to do."

Rita smirked, "Can your little pet consume Moon Stone energy and redirect it?"

"Cupil can. But there is a limit."

"Then I'll just feed him one fireball." Before Fina could protest, Rita already had the spell casted and the fireball hurdling to Cupil. Out of survival reactions Cupil quickly consumed the fireball. "Shower them now!"

Cupil released the fire over the four soldiers, though instead of being the intense spell Rita normally threw around, Cupil converted it into a small shower of embers that were getting into their armor. The soldiers were patting themselves to put out the embers before they caught on fire, and the others attacked while they did. Drachma fired his fist and clocked one soldier against his helmet as Aika's boomerang did its own cleaning. Yuri rushed at another soldier, kicking him in the gut before using the sword's pommel to knock him out.

Vyse managed to disarm the last soldier as he knocked him off his feet. Vyse kicked the sword away just as the soldier managed to get himself back up. Seeing there was little else he could do now, the soldier was on his knees, "We…we surrender! Please don't kill us."

Aika played this up a bit, just to get him to talk, "Tell us how to open the seal, and we'll let you live!"

"That's impossible! Our entire army couldn't open it! Our commanders aren't concerned with the Yellow Crystal right now because it's already in Valua and it's safe from you."

"Just like I thought," Rita moved to him now, "If the Armada or De Loco's machines couldn't get through, nothing we have would put a dent into this. They focused their resources on the ones they had to fight for."

Vyse started to look around, "Something's not right… You'd think that this area would be more heavily guarded."

Yuri didn't seem all that worried, "If the seal is as tight as they say, then they probably didn't have many more people than this."

"But still…" Vyse looked back to the soldier, "Where are the rest of your men?"

"They're preparing for the raid on Nasrad."

"What?! Valua is going to start a war with Nasr?" Aika knew Valua and Nasr weren't on the best of terms, but to attack now…

"I, I think so. I'm just a grunt, so I don't know any of the details… And there was a giant arcwhale… It destroyed a few of our ships recently… One of our Admirals is hunting it."

"A giant arcwhale?!" Drachma aiming his mechanical arm at the man as the gears that fired it off started spinning. "Rhaknam is here?! Answer me!"

The soldier fell backwards, trying to avoid the fist as he crawled backwards a bit, "I, I don't know for certain. Some fog rolled in yesterday and there were sightings of a huge creature!"

That was all Drachma needed to hear, "That means it's probably still in the area." He turned to Vyse and the others, "I have to go after Rhaknam… I've been following you kids around looking for the Crystals all this time… but now it's your turn to follow me."

"Well, it doesn't look like we'll be able to get to the Yellow Crystal anytime soon. Okay Drachma, we'll go with you."

"Very well… Now the time has come for me to finally face Rhaknam. He was the reason that I got the Harpoon Cannon in the first place… I'm going to kill him…or die tryin'."

As promised, they allowed the soldiers to live, however Rita destroyed their radio equipment, preventing any report about them reaching back to Valua. As the Little Jack took off once more, Drachma was all the more egad now, "We'll need to rest up before we attack Rhaknam. There's always a thick fog surrounding him. He knocks ships out of the sky and they never see him coming."

"Well Rita?" Rita was still too focused on her calculations to even hear, again. "Rita!"

"What?"

Vyse smirked, "I asked if you had any idea where we could go to rest until Rhaknam arrived."

"Sorry. I was busy with that seal's formula. It's rather ingenious."

Aika was curious, "How so?"

"Well, the Silver Civilization prepared the top layer to endure anything and everything short of a super weapon that would destroy the continent. But that isn't the best part. The best part about it comes from the way they made the Gigas dormant. The other side has a magical formula that is syphoning the Gigas' power, using it to contain it and ensure the seal remains strong. However…"

"There's always something."

"For such a high density surface, the other side might not be as indestructible. So this dormant state is only due to a lack of energy and stimuli. But since we have no way of getting through…maybe…"

Yuri really couldn't careless, "That's nice and all, but what about Rhaknam. Even Valua's Lower City has heard the stories of that monster whale. We won't stand a chance if he gets the jump on us in these valleys."

"Right." Rita was looking over the map of Valua she had in her notebook, locating the lake they were near. "First off, go southwest, across the lake." Vyse did as instructed and came across and abandoned castle. "That should give you some gold with the Sailor's Guild."

Yuri seemed surprised, "I didn't think those old ghost stories were real."

Karol was shaking now, "What ghost stories?"

Yuri grinned, "That there was a castle in central Valua that once housed a group of evil wizards that would whisk people away to do all sorts of experiments on them."

Rita blew Yuri's legend off, "That's just a local legend. The truth is that when Valua was spread out within the country this used to be the royal palace. The soldiers who found the dungeon and torture devices were just hysterical. Now turn around and go east-northeast and you should find a rather decent canyon to anchor. Now if you'll excuse me…" Rita left, still jotting down all sorts of notes as she moved to the rooms downstairs.

Like Rita promised, there was a canyon deep enough that allowed them to stay relatively safe from Rhaknam while still capable of taking off fairly quickly. Yet despite supposed to being asleep, Vyse's mind wasn't letting him. "It doesn't look like I'm going to get any shut-eye. Maybe I'll take a little walk to try and calm myself down."

"Ungh…I…swear…I didn't…steal…anything…"

Vyse couldn't help but smile as he heard her, "Sounds like Aika's talking in her sleep again."

"The Rizomata formula…De Loco is a clown…head of research…"

Rita seemed to be having a good dream as well. Even through Rita and Aika's sleep talks, Vyse could occasionally hear a cough or two from Estelle in their room. Karol was sleeping in another hammock next to Vyse as Yuri stuck to just sitting against one of the walls with Repede curled up beside him. Raven was slumped in a corner, trying to sleep despite the lack of room.

Yet with all of this, something was missing. Vyse turned to Drachma's room, "I don't hear him snoring like usual. I wonder if he's awake…" Vyse gently knocked on the door, trying not to wake the others around him, "Captain? Captain… It's Vyse. You awake? …There's no response. I wonder where?" Even though he was curious as to where Drachma was, Vyse continued up the stairs to the deck. Opening the doors he found Drachma sitting next to one of the cannons with a single lantern, looking at something, "Captain…"

"…Is that you, boy?" Drachma turned to look, seeing Vyse out of the corner of his good eye. "What are you doin' up at this hour? You should be gettin' some rest."

Vyse moved closer, "I was about to say the same thing. It's the middle of the night." As he got closer he noticed the small chest Drachma was holding in his hand. "What's that?"

Drachma didn't say a word, looking away for a moment before he turned, "…Open it."

Vyse slowly took the chest from Drachma, slightly hesitant to do so, uncertain what was inside. He took a breath and quickly lifted the lid, "It's full of… Feathers…?" The collection was made of a multitude of multicolor feathers that couldn't have come from a single bird.

"…My son collects…used to collect those."

"You had a son?"

Gordo's conversation with Drachma wasn't heard by anyone else, "…Aye. About the same age as you."

Drachma was looking up to an unusually clear Valuan sky where the stars were visible that night. "A long time ago, after retiring as a raider, I ran a fishin' boat in North Ocean… My son was learnin' to be a sailor. He used to come out with us. His name was…Jack. He was a small boy, who liked to help out. The other sailors…they used to call him 'Little Jack'."

Vyse remained silent, listening to Drachma continue his story, understanding the ship's name now.

"One day, we went out fishin' as usual. Then Rhaknam came. We didn't know how powerful Rhaknam was and we tried to fight him. But, there was no way a fishin' boat stood a chance against that thing. Rhaknam destroyed our ship. I barely managed to survive…" looking to his metal arm. "But my crew…and Jack…weren't so lucky." Drachma reached out, trying to grab one of the stars above, "Last time I saw Jack, he was clutching some feathers as he fell…like they'd stop him from falling." He closed his eye as a tear trickled down, "I can still hear my son scream as he fell… From that day on, I swore revenge on Rhaknam…for my crew and for Jack. I need to kill Rhaknam to avenge my crew…and my son." Drachma huffed, looking down, "I'm getting long-winded in my old age. Don't let it bother you…it's my problem."

As Vyse let Drachma hold onto what few good memories he had, a sudden fog started to roll in the area, dropping visibility drastically. "Captain… This fog! Could it be…"

Drachma picked himself back up, "Boy…go wake the others. It's him. Rhaknam is here."

With most of the crew awake, Vyse rushed back to the helm as he flew deeper into the fog, following Rhaknam's loud voice. Getting closer the sounds of explosions could be heard, relatively close by, "…What's that sound?"

Aika quickly recognized that sound, "It sounds like cannon fire…"

"Boy! Dead ahead!"

Before them was a massive silhouette that only seemed to get bigger the closer they got. "Captain!"

Drachma recognized that form anywhere, "…It's him!"

Rhaknam looked to be on a collision course with them, however the massive arcwhale veered off, just barely missing them. Even as a near miss Rhaknam still shook the Little Jack and its passengers. Karol fell down, "It's…it's HUGE!"

Vyse noticed something just behind Rhaknam's hump, "Hey! Look over there!" There were three Valuan ships, two standard cruisers and a modified red and black one with a horn on its bow. The three ships were actually chasing after Rhaknam as they opened fire now, and it seemed that they were hurting the arcwhale. "Raven, whose ship is that?"

Raven looked out, trying to find any other markings. "Truth be told kid, I've never seen that ship in the Armada before."

Drachma had an idea though, "While we were in Valua, I heard rumors that the Armada altered their chain of command. That might be Ramirez's ship. He was Galcian's Vice Captain… He's the most feared officer in the Armada."

"Right, Ramirez. They say he can kill you with just his gaze. Or was it that his gaze killed you before his sword?"

Rita seemed to know him. "Ramirez is one of the few people you don't say 'no' to if you want to stay alive. He's a ruthless as Galcian and usually angry."

"Ramirez…" Fina was at a gasp, fear filling her heart.

Aika noticed her face, "Fina…what's wrong?"

Fina swallowed loudly as she glanced over, "Nothing… Everything is fine." Yet even saying that she was still dreading the thought in her mind.

"We can't fight them both at the same time!" Vyse looked back, "Captain, what should we do?"

"Take out the Valuan ships first. I don't want them interferin' in the fight with Rhaknam. I need to kill Rhaknam myself. Battle stations! Leave Ramirez's ship alone! Take out the two cruisers in front of us first!"

The crew knew the drill against a cruiser. They angered the two cruisers, pulling them away from the flagship and Rhaknam. Vyse was pulling off a rather risky maneuver against two opponents. He allowed the cruisers to sandwich the Little Jack between them. Rita blasted both sides with Electrum as Vyse managed to dive down just as the two cruisers opened fire, pelting each other instead.

Vyse maneuvered to the rear of the two ships as their cannons fired, crippling their engines that they were forced into an emergency landing for repairs. "Alright! We've got a straight shot at Rhaknam!"

"I've waited for this for a long time… Harpoon Cannon…FIRE!" The aim was true and the shot was clean, the harpoon was now lodged in Rhaknam as it cried out in pain. "Heh… There's no escape for ya now."

Though Fina was not exactly pleased with what they were doing, the Jack was hit hard. Yuri looked out, "Damn it! It's Ramirez! Off the starboard side! He should have pulled back after losing his back up!"

"He got behind us while we were concentrating on Rhaknam!"

Ramirez's ship continued to fire on the Jack, relentless in his assault. Aika rushed over to the instruments while looking around them, "The Little Jack is on fire! Propelling power dropping rapidly! We're…losing altitude!"

"This isn't good…" Karol was running around, "If we keep this up, we're all going to die."

"NO!" Drachma angrily yelled, "I've waited far too long! I may never get another chance!"

Vyse abandoned the wheel, "Captain! We've got to abandon ship! We need to get to the lifeboats down below!"

"What…?!" Drachma grabbed Vyse by his scarf, lifting him slightly, "You're tellin' me to abandon the Little Jack?! You're tellin' me to let Rhaknam go?!"

"YES!" Vyse pushed back, "If you die, it won't bring back your son!" Drachma lowered Vyse though he continued to hold him, "And as long as you're alive, you'll always have another chance! If you die now, then the lives of your crew…and your son…would have been lost in vain." Drachma yelled out in anger, finally releasing Vyse. "Alright, we're abandoning ship! Everyone! Get down below! Yuri!"

"Right, help get Estelle! Come on, Rita!"

Yuri knocked down the door to the girls' room and found Estelle was trying to get herself up. "Estelle!" Rita rush in, "Are you alright?"

"Yes… But what's happening out there?"

Yuri spotted Drachma pulling the leaver to the hatch, "No time to explain. We're abandoning ship, now!"

The three of them rushed over to the three lifeboats Drachma had. Fina, Aika and Karol hopped into one as Vyse and Repede were in another. Raven was helping Drachma with getting the boats ready as Yuri moved to Vyse's boat. Rita helped Estelle into the third as Raven jumped in.

Aika turned back to see Drachma not in any of the lifeboats yet. "Cap'n, hurry! Get on! The ship's going down!"

Drachma ignored her, grabbing hold of their boat, "Captain?!" Vyse called out again, "…Captain! Get on board!"

A call from the great arcwhale distracted everyone for a moment, "Look… Rhaknam, is hurt!" Drachma though continued to push, "Cap'n! What're you doing?"

"No, don't!"

"Wait!"

The cries for all three were ignored as Drachma sent them off. Vyse was about to climb back out, "Captain, hurry! Get in!" Drachma didn't say a word. He just smirked to the young Air Pirate as he pushed the last two lifeboats out.

"Goodbye…" the last words any of them could hear as the Little Jack was pulled along by Rhaknam.

"Noooo!"

"Drachma!"

"Cap'n!"

Fina was shocked, "Why did he do that?"

"Damn it!" Yuri punched the side of the boat, "It's Fedrock all over again!"

However before much else could be done, cannon rounds were fired at them. "Ramirez… He fires at lifeboats!?"

The shelling continued, damaging Vyse and Yuri's boat. Yuri tied Repede's chain down to one of the seats but the strong winds weren't helping and one of the gust and an exploding shell managed to knock Yuri out of the boat. "Yuri!" Vyse tried to grab his hand, but he was already out of reach as the boat started to spin out of control.

"Vyse! Noooo!" Aika reached out to Vyse, but he had already disappeared into the fog.

"Yuri!" Estelle watched in horror as Yuri was still in view as he was being tossed around by the wind.

Rita pulled out her scroll, twirling it around before it was thrown out, "I've got him!" She managed to wrap it around Yuri's leg, however the shelling wasn't stopping and Rita was tossed out too, holding on to dear life as she was pulled away with Yuri.

Yuri pulled out the horn he was given by Judith, "I sure as hell hope they're close!" He blew the horn as hard as he could, as he and Rita were spiraling with the wind.

"Rita!" Another close explosion rocked their boat and Estelle was knocked out as Raven did his best to keep her secured. Ramirez would not stop his attack, damaging the first lifeboat as Aika, Fina and Karol fluttered out of control.

Raven pulled out a signal flare hidden within his coat, firing it up into the air and Ramirez stopped his assault. Raven set the lifeboat back to Valua, toward a secret pass through the mountains traversable only by foot.

A/N: And now everyone has been separated, scattered across the four winds. Things are only going to get interesting from here.