"It's very dark in here..." Lyle mumbled to himself as Prince Sean lead him, Mieu and Wren further into the cave. The King of Divisia had said that a group of rebels used this cave as a hideout.
"We should be careful. The King said there were rebels in here." Mieu said.
"Button it, Mieu! Let's get the parts and get out of here." Sean snapped. Mieu sighed and the party inched further into the dark cave.
"We'll need some light." Lyle said, and then he cast the Luminos Technique, which is a simple technique that makes light. The emerald on his staff began to glow brightly. As Lyle is very proficient in techniques, the light was so bright that it illuminated the whole passageway.
"Good job, Lyle. Now we can see where we're going." Sean said, leading the party further down the passage. They could hear footsteps approaching them.
"Someone's coming! Quick, Lyle! Put the light out!" Wren hissed. Lyle refused to put the light out and said that they could use the light to see who was coming. Voices could be heard.
"Hey, someone's got a light!"
"Lights are forbidden in our cave. Yes they are." The footsteps came ever closer to the party. Wren kept reminding Lyle to put the light out, but he still refused. Two figures crossed into the light.
"See, Wren? We can see who's coming for us!" Lyle whispered to Wren.
"Right, enough of your illumination. Turn out the light, or we turn out ALL your lights!" one shouted.
"No can do!" Lyle replied. The two figures came even closer.
"Well, I'm Wayne. Meet my muscly friend Bruce." Wayne said, pointing at Bruce. Lyle stormed forward.
"I'm Lyle. Meet my band of mincemeat-makers who'll make mincemeat out of YOU!" Lyle replied, much louder than Wayne, pointing at Sean, Mieu and Wren as he spoke. Wayne drew out a small handgun from his pocket.
"I've got a gun. Do you like it?" Wayne said, waving the gun in Lyle's face. Sean had had enough. He pushed Lyle out of the way and drew his sword.
"No, we don't! Now, you leave Lyle alone or you'll lose your head!" Sean snapped, pressing the edge of the blade against Wayne's throat. Bruce stormed forawrd and grabbed Sean's wrist. The prince didn't drop his sword or wince in pain. He swung his free hand at Bruce, startling him into letting go. He was then able to thrust his sword at Bruce, opening a savage gash in his left side.
"That's not very nice!" Bruce wailed, cluching at the wound.
"I'm not a very nice person." Sean snarled in reply. He swished the sword at Bruce again, slicing his left shoulder. Blood trickled out of the wound. Wayne was getting fed up. He jumped up and kicked Sean in the head, knocking him out.
"That'll show him." Wayne muttered, but Sean had only lost consciousness for a second. He got back up and thrust his sword at Wayne, impaling him through the heart, killing him instantly.
"There!" Sean said cheerfully, just as Bruce drew a dagger and grabbed the prince from behind, pressing the blade against his throat. Sean laughed a little, but Bruce jammed the blade harder against his neck, almost on the verge of cutting through his skin.
"You killed my friend, you idiot." Bruce sneered, pressing the blade closer to Sean's throat. The prince gulped and dropped his sword. It clanged on the floor, and the noise resonated through the entire passage.
"Are you trying to scare me?" Sean said, snickering. Bruce growled and slitted the prince's throat, although the wound wasn't serious enough to cause any fatal consequences. Sean picked his sword up and slit Bruce's throat, and that was a fatal cut. Bruce's lifeless body slumped to the floor, and Sean went through his pockets and found 25000 meseta, a scrap of blank paper and a locket. The prince looked inside the locket, and inside was a picture of a young woman. Lyle rushed over.
"Wait! That's..." Lyle began, unable to continue.
"That's what?" Sean asked.
"Uh, well... that picture is a picture of Maia, your grandmother." Lyle replied. The prince clasped the locket in his hand and closed his eyes. A tear fell.
"I never even met her." Sean said softly, his cold, stony exterior melting away.
"She was a lovely woman. Your other grandfather, Rhys... she was his wife, and they were very happy together. Don't worry though, I'm sure you'll meet her soon." Lyle replied gently, resting his hand on Sean's shoulder. The prince closed the locket and put it in his pocket. He stood up.
"Right, let's see what the other one was carrying." Sean muttered, going through Wayne's pockets. He found 1500 meseta and a small knife. He jammed the knife into his belt and picked his sword up. There was blood congealed all over the blade. The prince wiped the blood off onto Wayne's clothes and jammed the sword back into his belt. He ordered everyone to carry on through the passage, and so they did. They reached a massive chamber which even Lyle's Luminos Technique couldn't even illuminate the whole of. There was a silhouette of a man, floating right on the edge of the light.
"I've been waiting eighteen years for this day, Lyle." a voice said. The figure stepped forward into the light. He was a man in his mid-forties, with ocean-blue hair and a very sophisticated dress sense.
"...Rhys? Is that you?" Lyle gasped.
"Indeed it is, Lyle. I could never forgive you for what you did to me all that time ago. And where is Ayn? Tell me!" Rhys said, his voice sounding more ominous than usual.
"Well, Ayn was killed in an explosion. Satellite was attacked, and it blew up. We couldn't save him. I'm sorry." Lyle replied sadly.
"What? You let him die? How could you! I should never had trusted you. At first, I thought you were a pompous brat. Maybe I was right."
"My daughter died in that explosion, too! We tried to save them, but it was already too late!"
"Silence yourself, Lyle. Do you know what stupidity spills from your mouth? You just left them there." Sean had had enough. He stormed in between Rhys and Lyle.
"It's true! I was about to rescue my father and mother, but a huge crack opened in the ground! I couldn't have jumped across, or I could've been killed!" the prince shouted, much to the surprise of Rhys.
"And who is this rude young man, Lyle? He looks like you, he dresses in a similar way to you and he talks a little like you." Rhys asked.
"That's Prince Sean, your grandson." Lyle replied. Rhys looked horrified.
"I knew it. Ayn should have married Sari, then things wouldn't be so horrible." Rhys grumbled, then he muttered something about wanting a time machine.
"You said yourself that it was his choice!"
"Yes, it was his choice, but you kept pointing at Thea, motioning to Ayn that he should marry her! And he follows you and marries her. Damn you, Lyle. Damn you!" Rhys roared, his anger boiling over now. Mieu and Wren came up to Rhys and grabbed him.
"Release me this instant! I haven't finished with Lyle yet..." Rhys yelled, but he stopped. He glanced to his right and his left. "Mieu? Wren? It really is you! Well now, this is good." he said, looking at Mieu and Wren.
"It's been a while, Rhys, we know. But you shouldn't keep going on at Lyle like that." Mieu said, letting go of Rhys. Wren did the same.
"Look, Rhys, I'm sorry about that. I really am. How about we make up and become friends again, yeah?" Lyle said, stepping forward and holding his hand out to Rhys.
"I don't know if I can. But yes, I agree. Let's become friends again." Rhys replied, taking Lyle's hand.
"Well, at least they're friends again..." Wren whispered to Mieu. Sean was confused. What had gone on eighteen years ago? No-one could explain - it was a long story.
"Look, we're looking for some parts here. The King of Divisia said that they could make Wren transform into a submersible!" Lyle said to Rhys.
"Now what is this you utter, Lyle? You say that Wren can transform, but you need parts? In fact, I came looking for Laya's Treasure here, because it could stop all this fighting. Now, the parts... Ah! Here they are!" Rhys said, crossing to a chest. He opened it and took out two very strange-looking metal wings. He handed them to Wren. He began to leave.
"Wait, Rhys!" Lyle shouted. Rhys stopped and turned around.
"What now, Lyle? I have to go." Rhys said, disgruntled.
"You said you were looking for Laya's Treasure. Well, it just so happens that we're looking for it too!"
"In that case, I suggest we work together!" Lyle said that was OK, and so now, Rhys had joined the party.
"Um, Rhys... just to warn you, Sean is the leader of the group. Don't argue with him - he could turn nasty." Lyle whispered to Rhys. Rhys acknowledged this, and then Sean lead the party out of the cave. Lyle turned off the light on his staff by muttering the reversal words for the Luminos Technique, which is a darkness-creating technique called the Abyssa Technique.
"I remember seeing a very deep shaft beneath the river in the Bernink Province. I suggest we go there." Rhys said, phrasing his sentence carefully so that Sean wouldn't get angry with him.
"Gotcha, Rhys. Let's go." Sean said, leading the party out the cave, back through Divisia and back to the Chalst Province. Lyle then lead them through the passage - with Sean's explicit permission - and into the Bernink Province.