Once we returned to the Starflight Express with the Benevolescence in tow, just as before in the game, the ghost of Serena showed up and looked around, completely oblivious to our group... even as I spoke to her and looked her in the eyes, she simply frowned.
"He's not here either... I must find him..." she said before walking off and vanishing again, which left most of my group in confusion. And by most, I mean all because Carly hadn't played any Dragon Quest game in her life.
"Talk about cold shoulders! How rude!... Bah, whatever, let's get onto the real meat and potatoes," Stella said as we then went inside of the Starflight Express and Pavo gawked at the interior... and we also were surprised at how Carly could see and feel everything inside of it, meaning that she had gained some kind of Celestial powers in this world after Catarrhina's death.
"How come a pure-blooded mortal can see everything in here? Did you have some of Crux's feathers, too?" Stella asked as Carly simply shrugged.
"I think the reason is more because I gained some kind of spectral powers when I took control after Catarrhina's death... so maybe I'm part ghost? Because I could see the hooded girl as well," Carly said... though it was still odd to speak with her when she looked like Catarrhina, especially when I was used to her having blonde hair with blue eyes and being a little bit tubby, but still spunky.
We then placed it into the fuel port and, the moment we put in Catarrhina's hunk, the Starflight Express boomed to life, the lights all coming on and the meters all working like they would in a real train!
"YES! The ol' girl's finally up an' running!" Stella smirked widely as she then flew over to the control panel... before getting nervous. "O-Okay, so I hit the combobulators and pull the levitationers and we should be all set to go... um... are you guys hopin' to get goin' now?" And it was then that I smiled smugly.
"You've never flown this thing, huh?" I asked with some sass, her frowning at me.
"I have, too!... For about uh... 4 times?... With Fatguts watching..." she said with concern as Pavo then went to the controls and then smiled at how each of the buttons had a piece of tape on them to decipher which was which.
"Is that why all these buttons have tape on them? To determine which does which?" she asked, that making Stella gasp.
"What?! That tape wasn't there during the last training flight Fatguts had me do!... That means he must've wanted to make it easier on me... oh, Fatguts, I love ya! Now I just need to find him! Anyways, time to make this puppy fly!" Stella smirked as she pressed the hover button and the train then sprang from the dirt and hovered above the trees. And then, after pushing another button, the carriages returned on the back of the Starflight like a magnetized Thomas the Tank Engine toy set! And after that, she then pushed a couple more buttons to initiate the train's movement and a set course for the Observatory and then, afterwards, she then looked at Keira with a smile.
"Hey, kid. How about I give the honor of blowing the whistle to you?" Stella asked, Keira's eyes going wide as she then went to the button that said 'whistle' and immediately pushed it.
"WWWOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTT!" the whistle bellowed loudly, initiating the train to zoom off into the sky, our group looking out of the windows and gawking at how we were going at a completely vertical angle, yet we weren't flying to the back of the train at all!
"That was so COOL! I always wanted to do something like this!" Keira giggled in glee as we then parted through the clouds and started to see the toll that had happened due to the Celestial Realm on the way, due to the clouds being darkened and purple lightning emerging from the clouds. We then got to see the Observatory once again and Stella then blew the whistle herself, where we saw that a whole bunch of Celestrians were at Yggdrasil, including Apus Major. And when the Starflight pulled up against the edge of the top of the Observatory, Stella then put it in park (again, a special button) and let out the golden set of stairs so we could exit the train without falling to our doom.
"Apus Major, someone is emerging from within," one of the Celestrians said as I then exited first, everyone of the Celestrians being shocked... but not nearly as shocked when they saw all of my party members emerge, including the lost Celestrian in Pavo.
"By the stars! Crux AND Pavo?! And four mortals as well? You must tell us what has happened!" Apus Major said as I then sighed.
"Well, Apus Major... there are a lot of things to discuss, but I'll get the most important one out of the way first... I'm kinda Crux, but also not, if that makes any sense?" I said, him being surprised at that.
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked.
"He means that, before the attack on the Observatory, a mortal from a different reality was suddenly placed inside of my body and given nearly full control. Now I can only speak telepathically," Crux said from my mind, further surprising the Celestrians.
"And as for my name, it's Drake... but that's only the start of the stuff we have to discuss..." I said as we then went over everything that had happened while Apus Major and the other Celestrians explained what had happened after Crux and I had fallen down to the Protectorate. We told them of how the mortals that were alongside us were able to see the Celestial realm such as the Starflight Express and spirits of the deceased because of them eating some of the feathers that had fallen off of Crux's wings.
We told them of how, at the same time the Observatory was attacked by the dark lights, the Protectorate suffered an earthquake that caused troubles in the form of the Wight Knight, the blockade between Stornway and Angel Falls, and the deadly contagion that afflicted Coffinwell. Pavo had to explain why she hadn't returned to the Observatory for so long and why she left in the first place, which Apus Major was quick to scold her for, but she simply frowned at him with her own response.
"See, this is why I left in the first place. You guys act like the mortals care about us, but it differs from place to place. Stornway and Zere don't give a rat's ass, not even to their Ceelstrian statues. I simply stayed in hiding among the mortals, learning how they live their lives to better understand why they were so distant to their own guardian, but I only grew more resentment to them over time, especially the mortals in Zere, worshiping the stupid, dead tree," Pavo frowned in retort.
"Regardless, after Crux - and Drake - had fallen from the Observatory, we sent teams of Celestrians, including Aquila, to try and find you... but you and Pavo are the only ones to return... I must ask you, Crux, to go to Mighty Yggdrasil and ask her for assistance. She may even restore your wings," Apus Major said as Stella then flew out of the Starflight and then went around the place.
"Welp, that's my duty done! Now I gotta find out if ol' Fatguts is around. I'll see you in a bit. After all, I'm your only ride back down," Stella smirked as she then flew off to search around the Observatory for her boss and I simply looked at my new friends with a smile.
"You guys should explore while you can. Besides myself, you are the first mortals to step foot in the Observatory, so go look around for a bit while I go try to talk to Yggdrasil, okay?" I said, Pavo smirking and shaking her head.
"I'd rather stick with you and talk to Yggdrasil as well. I need to ask her what my purpose is, since I don't want to be a Guardian anymore," she frowned, Crux sighing at that.
"Very well," I said as the others then decided to look around and, as I thought would happen, their first instinct was to look over the edge to the world down below.
"I... I can't even see the buildings in Stornway! We're that high up!" Keira gawked.
"And you'd be flatter than a pancake if you fell off, so I'd suggest staying away from the edges," Pavo said, them then backing up, having gotten the message. I then went up the stairs to the giant tree (which was really a goddess in disguise), held my hands together as Crux and Pavo then started to pray fervently and relentlessly... and after a bit, I suddenly felt very tired and ended up falling asleep... and it was then that I had the dream that would happen in the game, only with slightly different dialogue.
"These mortals are a stain of my creation... their greed, their sins, they rot the earth with every mockery they do. From dust I have created them, and from dust I shall return them!" the booming voice of the Almighty shouted as he then sent forth a giant laser blast from on high to try and strike the Protectorate... only for a blue orb of light to stop the laser in its tracks.
"I beg of thee, stay your hand!" said the voice of Celestria... and she sounded exactly like Elora from Spyro Reignited... not the most fitting voice...
"What?! How dare you! Do not interfere!" the Almighty snarled.
"I... I have faith in the mortals. I believe in the mortals, father... I take this form, to prove that the mortals must be protected... I must protect them... I... must..." Celestria said.. and then the dream faded as I awoke to the feeling of a finger moving across my face.
"Hello? Crux? Drake? You awake yet?" Keira asked as I then got up and rubbed my eyes, seeing that Apus Major was with us along with all the others in my party, including Pavo... who I now saw had lost her halo?
"Pavo... what happened to your halo?" Crux asked for me.
"Yggdrasil answered my prayer... partly... I'm still a Celestrian, but I'm now partly mortal as you are, meaning I'm no longer a guardian... so now someone has to fill my place, but I don't know who that could be," she frowned.
"I will find someone to do your duties, but we should wait until the others return... they have yet to return, and some of them were guardians in and of themselves..." Apus Major frowned.
"Well... we kind of had a dream that happened after we fell asleep from praying," I said, noting that Crux and I still didn't have our wings... and we then heard a voice in our heads as we described the dream.
"Crux and Drake... your fate is what caused you to arrive back to the Observatory, even without your wings... I grant you a gift as well as a request," the voice said as I explained the dream and the voice (who sounded like Elora still) showed me a vision of a blue tree. "This tree shall mark the next location fate should have you visit... and I also grant thee the ability to visit any location you have previously visited..."
And at the same time I'd finished describing the dream, our body began to shimmer a bright yellow, Crux then gawking as we then found we could use a new spell in the form of Zoom. "I ask of thee, use this spell wisely. And I beg of thee, find the Fyggs that have fell down to the world below. I put my trust in thee, Celestrian Crux and Drake," Celestria said as the others only then noted the sparkling.
"What in blazes?... What was that bright light on you just now?" Apus Major asked.
"Well... while we explained the dream, we heard a voice in our heads... it was a female voice that gave us the knowledge to use a spell called Zoom and asked us to find the Fyggs. And it was the same female voice that was in the dream we'd had," I explained, Pavo looking at us and tilting her head.
"A bit hard to swallow... but I believe it, since I saw those sparkles and I, too, heard that voice," Pavo nodded.
"Well, if that voice was mighty Yggdrasil, and she said to gather Fyggs, then gather Fyggs you must! Go back to the world of the Protectorate and find the Fyggs! I trust you can do so... and if you can, try to find out what happened to the lost Celestrians as well," Apus Major said, our group all in agreement with smiles on our faces.
"You can count on us, Apus Major," Carly smiled as we then went back to the Starflight Express right afterwards to see that Stella was flying back and forth contemplating her thoughts.
"Hmm... I could've sworn ol' Fatguts would've been here when we came back... he didn't fall down to the Protectorate too, did he? Do I really have to search high and low to find him?" Stella asked herself as Dillon spoke.
"How about we look for him and the Fyggs together, huh?" he asked, Stella being spooked by him talking before calming down.
"Whew, didn't notice you guys come through the door... so you said you'll help me find Fatguts so long as I help you find the Fyggs?" she asked, Veronica nodding.
"That's the idea," she smirked.
"Well, nothin' fairier than that! I'm on a manhunt, and you blokes are on a fruit hunt! Let's get going down to the Protectorate and find our destination!" Stella smirked widely as she went to the controls and then said something. "Hmm... the sonar is showing a blue tree down there. If we land there, it should be a softish landing... yeah... no better ideas, so let's flappin' go for it!" she smirked as she hit the whistle and we then started to fly back down to the Protectorate, not stopping until we'd reached the blue tree in question.
"I still feel like this is a dream, being in a train that's going down at a 90 degree angle, in the body of someone else, in a world I've never seen before," Carly said to me, which made me smile.
"I can affirm that this isn't a dream," I said to her with a frown. "I should know. I felt legit pain and I've even tried pinching myself when I got married to a princess... so yeah, I've had an eventful couple of days," I said, Carly smirking at me.
"You, marry a princess? I don't believe that," she smirked as I then showed her the wedding ring that I was given in the form of a Goddess Ring, her being surprised at it's appearance.
"Oh... you did get married? Well... uh... congratulations? Is it true he married a princess, guys?" Carly asked.
"Yep, it's true. We were there," Stella smiled and the others nodding as we'd finally reached the tree and Stella then had the train land on the top of it.
"Okay, looks like we've made it... hey, look over here!" Veronica gawked as we looked out the window she was looking out of and we saw a giant building that was very important, both in this game and in the Fortune Street game. What importance did it have in Fortune Street? It was the final unlockable level in the game.
"It's Alltrades Abbey! That's where people go if they wish to change vocations and jobs! No doubt that we can find something out there, since it's always chock full of people," Dillon smirked widely at the place.
"Let's get going, then," I smiled as we then left the train out of the door and proceeded to simply slide down the trunk onto the ground. And afterwards, we then started our trek to get the 7 Fyggs. And it would be a very long trip to get it all done, I knew that much for a fact.