Chapter 2

Now that Hikaru's out, I'll tell you a bit more about her castle before she comes to. Her father's name, or what I shall call him is King Barpeth. That is all that anyone ever calls him now. He has just decided to send Hikaru away. She is a burden for him in this time. There is a terrible war being waged between Zylandia and a smaller castle called Andaria. It is in a realm that is quite different from Zylandia, though this particular castle's rule has been disputed for many years. It has been between Zylandia and the machine city Artemis. This is why Hikaru was to leave. The King did not want to have her around when there may be assassins within the castle walls. He didn't want her to leave by herself either. He's looking for her now.

"HIKARU! HIKARU! I'VE FOUND A KNIGHT SUITABLE FOR A GARDIAN!! Where has that girl gone?" King Barpeth screamed.

One of the King's paladins rushed in and yelled right back, "KING BARPETH! HIKARU HAS LEFT THE PREMISIS UNGUARDED! SHE KNOCKED OUT TWO GUARDS AND RAN THROUGH THE TOWN GATES!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!! That's my Hikaru! OH! WAIT! Did you send someone to get her?"

"No, your majesty. She was long gone before anyone found out she left. I'm sorry, sir. I…"

"Damn it, man! Get your best men on the job NOW! I want her back inside these walls before sundown! If you don't get her back soon, I will make sure you are excommunicated and your life made hell!"

"YES SIR! I'll send my best men out on the double! She be back before you can say 'Oodles.' "

"OODLES!….Why isn't she back, guard?!"

"Umm…That was just a figure of speech and…"

"Get going, man! (A figure of speech, huh? Where did that stupid crap get started? Oh, well.)"

Back to Hikaru! She's still out…Well, we'll get started without her. The two mysterious beasts took her to another realm that they call home. As you may have guessed, IT'S ANDARIA! They took her to a hideout deep within the city's walls and back alleys. The strange creature was still peeking through the wrapping of the object, though he wouldn't take it out. The other creature was there along with two others. They began talking, and Hikaru began to wake up. She could here only fragments and couldn't make sense of any of it. As they noticed she was waking, two of the creatures left. She could see who took her now. It was the moogle and the other thing. The moogle told her that his name was Lucas and the other creature was called Mokona. Then they told her that they had brought her to Andaria (but not Mokona, it can't talk).

"PUUUUUU!!!"

"Mokona is happy to see your awake! He's been worrying about you since you ran straight into that elm tree. (not a very smart thing to do…) Well, I'm glad, too. We don't have a dead girl on our hands!" Lucas said with a light-hearted laugh.

"Why did you take me all the way to Andaria?!" Hikaru demanded.

"PUUU!!"

"Will you shut it, Mokona?" Lucas said with a strange look in his eye. "We didn't take you 'all the way to Andaria,' you were just a little bit outside of the walls. Just…uh…well, a few yards," Lucas answered thoughtfully.

"BUT, I CAME FROM ZYLANDIA! I COULDN"T HVE BEEN 'JUST A FEW YARDS' AWAY!!" Hikaru screamed just nearly smacking Mokona with a closed fist. Mokona jumped across the room and hit the wall instead. He sat rubbing his head for a while.

"We HAD to take you here! There was a swarm of goblin warriors tramping through the forest and going TOWARDS Zylandia! If we had left you, you would have been killed for sure!"

"Well…thank you….WAIT!! THEY WERE GOING TO ZYLANDIA!? MY DAD DOESN'T KNOW!!! HE'LL BE KILLED!!"

"HIKARU! There's nothing you can do! I'll have my fastest messenger sent to Zylandia. Perhaps it's not too late…"

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What will become of Hikaru's father, King Barpeth!? Find out in the next chapter!….. Ok, maybe not. Hikaru's story is more important, but you'll find out, anyway.