Crazy turn of events! Kiryll, a prince? Oh dear…that throws everything upside down, inside out, and whatever else you can do to torture events and memories and stuff like that!

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The air around everyone became as tight as ever. Kiryll, in particular, found it very hard to breathe at the sudden realization. That realization (to sum it up the best he can) was that he might be the prince that everyone was searching for, and that Kanata (an elf-heron half-breed that he MIGHT or MIGHT NOT be in love with) was in fact his ancestor. By the look of his companions, everyone else had a hard time trying to sort that out as well.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I can't see you as a prince." Stahn sighed. "I can only see you as…well, you."

"Which, by what I can grab from the context, equals so-not-prince-like." Yuri grinned.

"I don't think that's offending. I can't see myself as a prince at all, not less of a king." Kiryll chuckled. "Besides, I'm not saying that I AM him, I'm saying that it's the probable choice as of right now."

"Well, that just throws everything out of context!" Arche sighed. "I mean, everyone's trying to find the prince in order to get to YOU! Now, if they know that-"

"Sh! Not so loud! Not unless you want to tell the whole world about this." Yuri sighed. "We throw a rumor like that around without any evidence, and you'll just be putting him in more danger."

"So just between the four of us." Stahn gestured. "OK, good. Glad that we got that out of the way."

"All right, we got all this information, and led ourselves to this very intriguing conclusion." Yuri looked at Kiryll. "What do you want to do?"

"We should tell Chat about all this." Kiryll answered. "We'll leave out what we concluded."

"Yeah, that's true." Arche stood up. "Send the whole world on a wild goose chase while we protect the real prince. That seems good enough to manipulate a few thousand minds for the time being."

"That's not a bad idea, Arche. So let's go do what we as guild members can do." Yuri stood up. "And for the sake of Sylvarant, let's just hope that your guess is wrong."

"Wha-?" Kiryll darted to his feet. "What's that supposed to mean?"

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The four of them were in a heated debate while they headed back to Chat's mission room. Once they got there, they decided that Yuri was going to relate the information. While he was explaining everything, everyone was satisfied by the fact that he was the one to relate the information. He had awesome vocabulary, nothing close to what they had.

"So the prince could be a heron or a half-elf." Chat nodded. "Well, the kingdom of Sylvarant was rumored to be one of the most powerful empires at their time. That might be why…"

"Yeah. Those guys are spread all around the world, but at least we can look for something specific." Yuri said. "The only problem is that they landed in an area they call the 'Holy Land', but we have no idea what they mean."

"The Holy Land? Hm, I'll get the smart guys to think about that." Chat looked up. "You four are going to be part of the front runners. See if you can find something that relates to what you read."

"We can do that." Stahn saluted. "So, any missions for us?"

"There're enough. Take a look."

Kiryll leaned over into the little orb of information and skimmed through as he would usually do. After a few minutes, he found something that he thought was a little weird: it was a request from a girl named Lilith. That wasn't the weird part, and neither was the part that requested that she be escorted to a place that she was going to name: what was weird was the fact that Stahn's face seemed to be plastered in shock when Kiryll read the name aloud.

"L-Lilith?" He stammered.

"Yeah, that's the girl's name." Arche leaned in. "And she wants to be escorted somewhere? What's her problem?"

"Ugh…I knew that I couldn't avoid her for long, but…" He sighed. "You can take the mission if you want."

"You don't have to participate if you don't want to. No one's forcing you." Kiryll said.

"No, it's fine. I had to confront her sooner or later." Stahn sighed. "Hopefully, Kyle doesn't have to get dragged into this…"

"Oh damn, is it that bad?" Yuri chuckled. "You don't seem to be the type to have a crazy ex on your tail!"

"She's not my ex!"

Kiryll stared at a stressed Stahn before noticing that he was stretching his arms and trying to smile as if something that he did in the past wasn't going to be such a big deal. He turned to Chat, who held the same strange look on her face but ignored the whole situation.

"You're going to be headed toward Lienea if that's what you're going to do. However, I'm going to have to drop off a couple of people for their missions, so you're going to have to be patient."

"I can wait." He turned to Stahn. "Take your time."

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He sighed as he leaned on the railing of the open deck. He never saw Stahn look this worried about anything ever since that day when he learned that Astrid wasn't going to be making dinner (THAT was a fun day, let's say that). What was his connection with this Lilith girl? He closed his eyes and wondered if she really was a crazy ex.

Odd though…Stahn doesn't seem to be the type to notice girls that way… Kiryll sighed. We'll worry about that later. This mission seems easy enough, so I can at least get my brain to relax for a minute…

He opened his eyes to stand up, only to realize that Kyle was standing just a few feet away from him, staring at him with a confused look on his face. Kiryll panicked before jumping back, but quickly calmed down. Kyle, on the other hand, jumped back as well.

"Whoa! Sorry, you looked like you were sleeping!" He said.

"Nah, I'm fine. I was just thinking…" Kiryll stood up as snow landed all around him. "What the-? Where are we?"

"We're in Keterburg, or at least that's what I'm told." Kyle said, a grin plastered on his face. "I was gonna warn you about frostbite, but…"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kiryll chuckled. "What brings you out here?"

"I was just going to say good-bye my girl before she leaves on her mission."

"Your girl?" Kiryll rubbed the back of his head. He didn't seem old enough to be a father.

The door beneath them opened, and they both looked over the railing to see Reala step out of the ship. Kiryll barely noticed that others were leaving the ship (one of them looking like Jade, in particular), but he was too busy noticing that Kyle was waving down to them, calling for Reala's name. She looked at him once, nodded with what looked like to be a smile, and then walked away. Kyle's hand lowered.

"Your…girl?" Kiryll voiced again.

"Yeah. I know she acts a little aloof and distant, but we're actually quite close. Stahn approves of it, so…" Kyle looked at Kiryll's confused face. "What's up with you?"

"…your girl?"

"You know…she's my girlfriend?"

"Oh…OHHHHHHHH."

Wow, what a dunce moment for Kiryll Nightroad. All he needed now was a studio audience clapping behind him and a drum roll and this scene might as well be set. Then again, a studio audience probably wouldn't be something he wanted.

"You didn't know that's what it meant?" Kyle blinked. "Oh, that's true. You don't know modern lingo!"

"Uh…wh-what are you trying to say here?" Kiryll felt a little offended.

"Oh, nothing. I was just figuring out how to talk around you without making you confused." He responded. "We should talk inside. The change of altitude might kill us."

Great…

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"So what's your mission?"

"Just an escort mission. Our client is throwing Stahn into a frenzy, though…wish I knew why."

"Hm?" Kyle leaned over on the desk they sat at. "Who's the client?"

"Um…a woman. Stahn called her Lilith, and then he mentioned that you shouldn't be dragged into this." Kiryll blinked. "Do you know who that is?"

"Oh, you mean onee-san? Yeah, I can imagine onii-san being scared of her!" Kyle laughed. "Then again, she's probably mad at me too!"

"Onee-san? Wait, so Lilith is your older sister?" Kiryll was extremely confused. There were MORE people in the Aileron family?

"Yeah. She's the one that takes care of the house and makes sure that we don't oversleep!" Kyle grinned. "Despite her tight grip on that house, I was able to sneak out perfectly fine!"

You're bragging about that? Kiryll rubbed his forehead. Sad to say this, but he had HORRIBLE role models growing up. "Yeah, I can imagine Lilith being mad…"

"Man, poor Stahn…he'll be dealing with onee-san alone…" Kyle turned to Kiryll. "How scared was he?"

"He didn't seem that bad…a little nervous, but nothing life-threatening." Kiryll answered. "Why?"

Kyle didn't reply. He leaned back on his chair, his eyes closed, thinking about something (or at least that's what Kiryll thought was going on). Kiryll sat patiently in his chair, waiting for him to make an answer. With his fine-tuned ears, he noticed that he was mumbling something to himself. He couldn't catch much, pass the words "hero" and "onee-san". Suddenly, he looked up with a grin on his face.

"I can't leave Stahn here to hang!" He answered. "I'll throw myself into the mix, too!"

"Into…the mix?" Kiryll blinked.

"You guys are open for other people to join in, right?" Kyle leaned on the table. "Stahn can't handle her alone, right?"

"Um…how should I know? I never met her." He responded.

"Oh…true." Kyle grinned. "OK, you can come along…hopefully Stahn approves of you."

"No problem. Let me just go get my things."

Kiryll watched as Kyle stood up and dashed off toward his room. After he left, a snap echoed in his brain and a card flew out of his stomach. It held the image of a crescent moon with a face, in a silhouette of a full moon. There were lights that seemed to look like stars, but he wasn't quite sure.

"I AM THOU…AND THOU ART I." Kiryll could hardly believe that this was Kyle's deepened voice. It didn't sound like him at all. "I, THE CRESCENT MOON IN THE DARKENED SKY, WILL OBEY YOUR EVERY COMMAND."

He held the card before pushing it into his stomach. Around that time, he looked up and noticed that Yuri was standing over him, a bag dangling at his side with what he thought he needed. By the angle that he was seeing it, it looked a little confusing.

"Uh…" He looked around, ignoring what just happened. "Are we meeting up here?"

"By the looks of it…yeah." He shrugged. "Oh yeah, by the way…Kyle's coming with us."

"He is? Oh man…hope Stahn doesn't blow up in his face." Yuri shook his head. "I just had a conversation with him. He said that he'll only bring Kyle along once he can get Lilith to calm down."

"Oh…so you know the connection between Stahn and Lilith?"

"He wouldn't let me on with that tidbit. All he's telling me is that she isn't his ex." Yuri answered. "He said that he'll tell us later."

Which translated to Don't Tell Yuri the Truth.

Around that time, he saw Arche and Stahn heading toward their way with what they were going to bring. Stahn's face seemed to be a bit pale as if he was thinking too hard about something, but had quickly tried to rub it off. The ship landed and the door opened, revealing the forest just a few feet away from Lienea's entrance.

"So…I'm finally home." He answered to himself.

From the corner of his eye, Kiryll saw Kyle sneaking after them a few feet away, hiding under a ragged hood. He grinned as he shook his head before the five of them headed out of the ship onto the grassy forest. The ship flew over their heads as they finally found the entrance of the small village.

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"Whoa…" Yuri looked up. "This is completely different from Zaphias."

"Yeah, it isn't much." Stahn laughed. "But feel free to wander."

"Huh…I have to admit, this has a lot more substance than living in the Lone Valley!" Arche looked around.

Kiryll couldn't find words to say anything. He was too busy smelling the crisp air around the small village. He stepped forward, wandering in front of Stahn, and realized that everyone was staring at him with a strange look on their faces. He couldn't quite blame them, since…well…he is an outsider. However, their looks faded the minute Stahn took the lead.

"Ah, Stahn! You're back!" One of the women remarked.

"Hey, Aunt Maggie." He answered back. "How's the village?"

"Same as always." She smiled. "Are you going to visit Grandpa Thomas and Lilith?"

"Well, it's my mission to, so…" Stahn chuckled.

"Oh, so you join a guild now! That would explain the companions with you!" She laughed. "You should go meet up with the others before she blows a fuse!"

"We're going, don't worry!"

"Hey, uh…before you go…" She looked worried now. "Have you had any contact with Kyle?"

"Kyle?" Stahn seemed in the middle to say something.

"Yeah. He left the village a few months ago, saying that he was looking for you." She sighed. "I swear, that kid…"

"He's fine, don't worry about it!" Stahn grinned. "He'll come around!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Stahn triumphantly paraded deeper into the small village. They all ran to catch up to him, leaving Kiryll and the woman named Maggie alone. Yet before he could consider telling her what happened to Kyle, he noticed a hooded figure headed toward the both of them. He quickly threw off the hood.

"Hey, Aunt Maggie!" He waved.

"Kyle! Oh my goodness, you have great timing!" She had a huge smile on her face. "Stahn was just here, and he's headed toward the house!"

"Thanks for the heads-up, obasan!" Kyle gestured to Kiryll as he threw on the hood. "Come on."

"Hey uh…not to ask, but what's with the hood?"

"For dramatic entrances." Kyle answered. "I'll catch up. Just go find the others!"

Um…OK.

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Woohoo…LILITH ENTERS THE PICTURE!