SailorStar9: After uploading Chapter 13, I present Chapter 14 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.

Chapter 14: A Hero's Advent? For Whom Does the Young Girl Pray?

Some time later...

"I've heard this place was once a gold-mining boom town." Filia led the group into a deserted town.

"This town?" Gourry echoed. "You're kidding, right?"

"The town fell apart once the gold ran out." Zelgadis explained. "In the end, people are all the same."

"Anyway, Filia." Lina started. "Are you sure the final weapon is hidden here? I'm getting the feeling you're tricking us."

"What did you say?" Filia snapped. "You still don't trust my holy priestess powers which led me to find all of you? The final Darkstar weapon is definitely in this direction."

"Filia, your tail is showing." Aria supplied helpfully.

"That's cute." Anna gushed. "I like your tail, onee-chan. But this would make it look better." she stuck a flower from her basket on the ribbon tied around Filia's tail.

"Thank you very much." Filia smiled. "What pretty flowers."

"What have we here?" one of the departing merchants rode past in his horse carriage. "Are you still doing that job, Anna? We're finally abandoning this town. You should come with us. Who cares about those stupid flowers? Growing flowers doesn't put food in your belly."

"I''ll be fine." Anna assured. "Anyway, this one just bloomed." she presented the merchant with another flower. "Take care of yourselves."

"I don't need this stupid thing." the merchant laughed and tossed the flower on the ground.

"That's going too far." Luna stepped up.

"Anna, you won't do yourself any good by hanging around a bunch of weirdo strangers." the merchant advised. "The only people who come here now are losers who are searching for gold." he rode off.

"Who are you calling a loser?" Lina fumed. "Bephis Bring!" she buried both rider and carriage underground.

In Anna's residence...

"Pretty lonely town you have here." Gourry opened the window.

"But my grandpa told me before he died that when they still mined gold here, it was a nice town with lots of people living here." Anna readied the spared beds. "But then one day, all the town's wells dried up."

"No gold and no water." Zelgadis nodded. "Which means no future for the town."

"But it's all right." Anna assured. "I just know a hero has come to save the town. My mother told me about it a lot before she died. When the flowers in the flower bed bloom fully, a hero will come to save us from bad people. That's why I know this town will be all right."

"We still have to find that final weapon, so..." Lina trailed when footsteps were heard from outside the window.

"That's!?" Lina gaped, recognizing Sirius' back and leapt out of the window.

"Let's go." Zelgadis led the others out after Gourry jumped after Lina.

On the streets...

"Lina." Gourry caught up with the sorceress. "What's wrong? Why'd you suddenly jump out like that?"

"That guy." Lina replied. "He's one of Armace's comrades. He was there when the gateway was opened. He's gone." the pair lost Sirius at the town square.

"Erulogos' comrade?" Zelgadis echoed after Lina informed the rest of the group about Sirius.

"I'm positive I saw him." Lina was certain. "He was with Erulogos at the Darkstar gateway."

"A God from the Overworld has come to this town?" Zelgadis frowned.

"Does that mean the final weapon really is here?" Amelia blinked.

"I won't go that far." Lina corrected. "But it's clear that something's up around here."

"And add in the legend of this town..." Aria pondered. "Anna's in danger."

Underground...

"Anna, look out!" Lina yelled, the group riding on a mining cart down the abandoned mine tracks as Anna presented a flower to Sirius.

Sirius reached out a hand and blasted the group off the incoming cart.

"Anna!" Lina flew out of the resulting smoke and snatched Anna away from Sirius. "Anna, don't be fooled." she cautioned, the group having sandwiched Sirius on both sides. "If you let him sucker you, he'll blow this town to dust in an instant."

"That's not true." Anna broke free from Lina and defended Sirius. "He's not an evil man; because he's a hero. Like my mother said; he's the legendary hero's who come to save this town."

Seeing a beam of energy shooting down from the sky, Filia grabbed Anna and moved her out of harm's way.

In the air...

"Flare Bit!" Amelia cast the multiple fireball spell at Erulogos and Sirius.

"Grey Bomb!" Zelgadis sank the hill the two Overworlders were standing on.

"Useless." Erulogos snarled, clashing with Gourry in a straight-out sword fight. "Still wish to fight?" he challenged, blasting Gourry off.

On the ground...

"Watch yourselves." Zelgadis warned. "Unlike Armace, these guys enjoy fighting."

"I'll tell you this." Erulogos started. "Even if we don't destroy Darkstar, if we summon him to this world and then close the gateway, we will have accomplished our objective. Isn't that right, Sirius? What happens after that is none of our concern."

"From that statement alone proves you're totally different from Armace." Aria huffed. "You are a disgrace to our kind!"

"Now let me show you the difference in power between you and me!" Erulogos levitated into the air and charged up an attack.

"Ex-quip: Hydro Dragon Guardian Armor!" Aria summoned the energy cleaving armor along with the 'Amethyst Sunder' ax-halberd. "Ragradia Starlight!" with a swing from her weapon, she nullified Erulogos' beam shower.

As the fight continued, Sirius moved towards his original target. Walking past Filia and Anna, he then received a notification from his scout insects and put out the fire Erulogos caused.

"Too bad, you just pissed me off." Aria retorted, swapping out the ax-halberd with the 'Gaiden's Blade'. "Dragon River!" infusing the sword with Ragradia's shinzoku energy, she sent a powered-up energy blade straight into Erulogos' abdomen.

"Lady Ragradia, please stay your hand." Sirius stopped Aria from finishing Erulogos off. "My investigation is complete." he informed his downed comrade. Charging up, he fired an energy beam towards a stone boulder in the distance.

The massive crater that resulted from the attack revealed the second Golden Dragon barrier pillar.

"Another one of these." Erulogos snorted.

"It's a magic sealing crest." Sirius related. "The two are linked together. I now know where the object of our search lies."

"Good enough." Erulogos shrugged and the two Overworlders moved to their next destination.

As a result of the revealed crater, the underwater river started flowing into the newly formed lake.

"It's the same as the one we saw in the last town, isn't it?" Zelgadis gave the crest a good look.

"It can't be..." Filia gasped in horror. "No. These stone crests are made by the Dragon race to seal away something terrible. After all this time, they ended up buried underground. And the thing they sealed is... it can't be." she realized. "It can't be." she sank to her knees in sheer horror.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.