LUNAR 3
Twisted Realites
Chapter Three: Warlords
The Hispaniola was sailing very slowly, the day after Ruby's abduction, because the winds were barely blowing.
"What's that?" Joon asked Ravin, pointing her blue paw at a tower that seemed to be moving from behind some small hills. Ravin watched and listened for a minute, something looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a while it occured to him that that was no ordinary tower.
"Oh, my god! Joon! That's the Neo-Grindery!" Ravin swiftly turned around towards the steering wheel of the Hispaniola, where Fional would be. Joon was hanging on to Ravin's shoulder with her claws. "Fional! Fional!!"
"G'day, Ravin!" Fional greeted him, cheerily. "I 'aven't seen ya at all dis mornin'! I figured ya and Diana were goin' at it--"
"Fional," Ravin was nearly out of breath. "look over...there!" Ravin pointed behind the hills where he'd seen the Neo-Grindery. "I think...that's the Neo-Grindery."
"Oh...crap," Fional cursed. "We gotta get dis thin' movin'! Oh, cripes!"
"Ravi, it's turning!" exclaimed Joon. "I don't know if it's going away or what..."
"It's coming towards shore!" Ravin shouted.
"Ravin, take da wheel! I've gotta wake dose bastards up downstairs." Fional jumped off of the deck and ran downstair after his sailors.
"Okay," Ravin tripped over the stair he was standing on trying to get control of the ship. "Oof!"
"C'mon, Dragon-ditz! Get up!" Joon shouted in Ravin's face. But just as soon as Ravin grabbed the wheel, there was a loud explosion that was over-heard by the Neo-Grindery's moving gears.
"Eeek!!" Joon screamed flying away from the exploding ship. After a few minutes of flying out of control, Joon found out that she wasn't in the ocean and stayed hovering above the smoke from the fire that was burning the Hispaniola. "Ravin!" she called. "Diana! Fional! Liah! Aimee! Ryan!" The cat looked towards the shore, that seemed to be even farther away, and saw the tower roll in the opposite direction. She turned back to the incident and flew down to the sinking ship. She could hear men screaming from being trapped inside of locked rooms inside of the ship.
"Oh, no..." Joon whispered.
* * *
Ravin found himself lying down on his back in blue sand. He felt sore and cold all through his body. He had a healing scar from a recent battle above his right temple and blood trickling from his wrist. He slowly brought his wrist in front of his face and blew air on the wound, making the sting feel a little better. Ravin turned his head and looked to his right and saw Diana sitting in the sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, her face buried in them. Her back was rapidly moving up and down as if she was sobbing. Joon was lying on her stomach on Diana's head of blue hair, also crying.
"Don't cry." whispered Ravin to his female friends. Diana gasped and looked up, swinging Joon off of her head.
"Ravin!" Diana cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "Your alive! I am so glad your alright." She kissed his cheek.
"Of, course I'm alive," Ravin laughed. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."
"Ravi!" Joon exclaimed, flying in his face, wrapping her arms around his head. "You big jerk! Don't you EVER scare me like that again!" She buried her face in his fore-head. "Gah! I'm so happy!"
"Oh, Joon," Ravin smiled, still hanging on to Diana, "Where is everyone?"
"I guess they're on the other islands." Joon said, releasing Ravin's face. "Unless they're..."
"Do not think that, Joon. They will be okay." Diana looked out at the neighboring islands. "We will search for them tomorrow, when it is light out."
* * *
Diana woke up during the night. Only this time she wasn't awakened by a dream. The noises of the monsters in the jungle woke her up. She sat next to Ravin, who was lying down in the sand on his back, and Joon, who was curled up in a tiny blue ball. Diana wouldn't have been able to see Joon, if it wasn't for her white markings around her legs. Diana looked at Ravin. His eyes were opened and he was smiling.
"Oh, you are awake?" Diana asked him.
"Yep. I've been awake." he answered. He sat up and went right back to gazing up at the stars.
"It's awfully dark without the Blue Star." Diana shivered.
"I know, but at least we got other stars." Ravin looked at Diana. "What woke you up?"
"Oh, it is nothing," she said, as Ravin scooted closer to her. "What do you see in these stars, Ravin?"
"I see...pictures." he pointed his finger at one twinkling star. "See that one? If you look at the star right underneath it and bring it up and around like that and include the three larger stars in the middle, you can see Joon's head."
"Hey, I see it." Diana breathed. "Hmm...those group of stars right there next to Joon's head looks like two people standing back to back and if you look down it looks like they are holding hands."
"I see that one's shorter than the other," he smiled.
"Yes," Diana looked down at her hands and smiled to herself. She kind of laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing at all, really." she blushed. "It is just that I have never been so close to anyone like this before. It...makes me happy. I am glad we are going on this journey together, Ravin. I have met many good friends."
"I don't know what to say, Diana." Ravin said, sheepishly scratching his head.
"That is alright." she said, as Ravin scooted even closer to her. A roar from a monster made both of them jump and look behind themselves. They both sighed and stopped to look at each other when turning around, they were nose to nose. They looked down and bumped foreheads.
"Oof!" Ravin said looking down, noticing his hand was on Diana's. "I'm Sorry..." he apologized, moving his hand from hers, back onto the sand.
"It is okay." Diana whispered, taking his hands back and squeezing them.
"Y-Your hands are very soft." Ravin whispered, blushing. "You must use lotion or something." Diana simpered and rested her head on his shoulder. Ravin lied his head gently on hers. After a while Ravin spoke. "We should get some sleep, Diana. We have--" He noticed that she was already asleep. He whispered, "Good night."
* * *
Joon stretched, similar to how a regular cat stretches. "Meooowwwww!" she yawned, wiping tears from her eyes. "Morning, you two." Joon grinned, getting face to face with Ravin and Diana, who were still sleeping sitting up next to each other. "Wake up!"
"Aah," Ravin groaned. "Joon, you stupid cat. What did you do that for?"
"Oh, no reason." Joon said innocently. "Morning, Diana...!"
"Good morning." Diana put her hand over her mouth and yawned. She looked at Ravin, for she wanted to talk to him. "Ahem," He faced her and Diana signaled to get rid of Joon. He nodded.
"Look, Joon! A fish! Go catch it!" Ravin lied, pointing in a direction.
"Boom! Chicka, chicka! Ooooh, YEAH!!" Joon flew as fast as she could into the water to find the fish Ravin was talking about. When Joon was out of sight, Diana spoke.
"Ravin, thank you for...letting me sleep on your shoulder." she fiddled with her fingers. "I was not planning on doing that."
"No, don't worry about it." Ravin said, standing up. He reached out his hand to help Diana stand. "I didn't mind it."
"Ravi!" Joon called from the water. "There was NO fish!" Ravin and Diana laughed.
"We should go find Azura before Royce does." Ravin suggusted.
"Yes," Diana agreed.
* * *
Ravin, Diana, and Joon ran into a few monsters in the jungle while on their way to Azura's cave. The cave was more like a shrine or a fountain with the huge waterfall. At the waterfall, where Joon said was the center of the island and where her mom would be, there was a light blue, half horse, half fish monster sitting in the middle of the small lake. It's front half was the horse, whose mane was a fin, and it's back half was a large, finned fluke.
"That looks alot like the one monster that almost seemed invincible that we kept on battling in the jungle, only...bigger." said Ravin. "What were those called? Hippocampus?"
"Or something like that." whispered Joon. The Hippocampus stood on it's tail and reared up, pawing at the air. It's whinny sounded much like a zebra's. When it landed, it launched its first attack. The water surrounding it rushed towards Ravin, Diana, and Joon, the white water swiftly formed into the shape of stampeding horses.
"Ahh!" Everyone got flung backwards, nearly downing in the magic rapids.
"Ugh! RED DRAGON ANGER!!!" Ravin summoned the power of the Red Dragon. He could hear the shrill roar of the Red Dragon, as a rain of fireballs poured upon the battlefield, harming, the Hippocampus, but not the jungle. "Whoa...!" he breathed.
"Thank goodness that it did not catch the Blue Dragon Jungle searing." Diana sighed, casting her Stepping Thunder spell. The Hippocampus slapped its tail in the lake and sprayed needles of water into Ravin's chest, causing extreme damage. Joon used an Herb on him and it helped a little. Ravin, thereafter, used Pyro Spheres and Flame Bomb, until the Hippocampus disappeared. And Diana used her thunder spell.
"Mom'll be right inside here." Joon smiled, flying straight through the falls. Ravin and Diana sighed and walked towards each other and looked each other over for wounds.
"You okay?" Ravin asked, putting his forehead to Diana's. She shook her head and sighed with relief, lovingly rubbing his arm.
"Yes, I am," she whispered.
"Hey!" Joon called. "Let's get going! Mom won't wait!" Ravin held on to Diana's hand as they walked inside of Azura's Cave. It was still misty inside of the Lair and Ravin could barely see where he was going. All he could see was that the Lair was bigger than he expected.
"This way, Dragon-ditz." Joon flew ahead. Ravin followed the cat along a slippery rocky path. After walking straight in darkness for ten minutes, they finally made it to the center of the Lair, where it was a bit brighter. The actual Lair looked alot like the bottom of a well, with its walls trickling with water. There were two large boulders, on both sides of the nest, that had water pouring from them. And the nest also had water pouring from it and that's where Azura, the Blue Dragon, was. She was a darker blue than Joon was. She had bat-like wings, with the skin starting out a sea-green, but then gradually colored into yellow, then magenta. She had dark gold horns that rose upwards from behind her finned ears.
"Hiya, Mom!" Joon squeaked.
"Hello, Joon." Azura said in a gentle voice. "Great to see you again, Ravin. I see you are in person now."
"Yep." he smiled.
"My little Ravi's growin' up!" Joon sniffed. "I'm so proud of him, being able to morph into a human form like that. I think I'm getting all misty-eyed on you." Ravin laughed.
"So, what's our Trial, Azura?" he asked.
"You have to find the Blue Dragon Crest." said the Dragon. "It's in this cave."
"Okay. C'mon, Joon." Ravin called her. As he walked back to the entrance of the cave, he looked above the exit and saw the Crest, neatly up against the wall. He let go of Diana's hand and morphed into a winged-cat form, and flew up to the Crest. "Hey, Diana!" Ravin called to her in a high- pitched voice. "Catch!" He flipped it over the edge and she caught it. Ravin flew down from the edge and morphed back into a human. The Blue Dragon Crest shined just like the other two when held in his hands. Just then, the bellow of Azura jolted the cave.
"Mom?!" Joon exclaimed, flying swiftly towards her mother's Lair. The Blue Dragon wasn't there. Only a blonde, long haired woman, wearing a revealing dress, and tattoos all over her body. She, like Royce, had red eyes and bright blue pupils.
"Ravin!" exclaimed Joon. "Cover your eyes and no peeking! She's practically naked! You're not supposed to be exposed to this!"
"Listen to your cat, handsome." said the woman, to Ravin, giving him a sexy look. Diana and Joon sneered.
"I'm NOT a cat, toe-head!" Joon yelled. "And where's my Mom?!"
"Right here." the woman opened her left hand and held out a blue star the size of a marble.
"Who are you?" Diana asked. "Are you--?"
"Yes, I am Xenobia," replied the blonde. "A descendant of the forgotten Vile Tribe. The innocence Althena pushed out beyond the wastelands of the Frontier."
"I think I've heard something like that from somewhere..." Joon muttered.
"And who's your man, here, Diana?"
"That's none of your business!" Joon shouted, sticking her nose in the air. "Ravin's already taken, by Diana. They had their first fight and everything!"
"It wasn't exactly a fight, Joon, it was a misunderstanding." Ravin pointed out.
"Why do you want him, anyway?" Joon made a disgusted face at Xenobia. "For cripes' sake, he has white hair!" Ravin glared at Joon.
"I still have not forgiven Ghaleon for using me like a tool a thousand years ago." Xenobia whispered, her eyes seeming a little distant. "I was a fool for thinking that he actually loved me. NOW, he..."
"Say what?" Joon asked, dully. "That's not what I asked, toe-head." Xenobia shook her head. "Now I have the Black, Blue, and Red Dragons, and all that's left is that little pest Nall, you can do nothing to stop me, Diana. The Death Wraith has created the strongest team to help him destroy your world."
"Wait!" Joon yelled, as Xenobia disappeared with the blue aura that held her mother. "W-What about Mom?" she whimpered.
"Don't worry, Joon. Azura'll be fine." said Ravin. "We can stop them, before they reach my Dad."
* * *
Ravin morphed into his White Dragon form and flew to the island closest to the shipwreck, which was a mile or so from the Blue Dragon Island.
"Do you see them, yet, Ravin?" Diana asked, clenching tighter to his fur.
"Uh..." Ravin looked closer to the island he was flying over. "There's smoke over there. I'm gonna check it out." He glided towards the smoke and when he landed, he transformed back into a human. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?"
"Ravin?" It was the voice of Fional. "Heh. What are da odds o' findin' ya 'ere?"
"At least your okay." smiled Ravin. "Pack your things, we have to find the others."
"Okey, dokey!" Fional poured some of his bottled water over his small fire, grabbed his nap sack, and his bow and arrows, and followed Ravin, Diana, and Joon to the beach. Before Ravin morphed back into a Dragon, he turned to Fional, and gave him the White Dragon Crest.
"Wha...?" Fional breathed. "I dought dat was yers?"
"The White Dragon Protect is in my blood." said Ravin. "This'll help you protect Schorr, when I get you out of this mess."
"Much obliged." said the Beastman, taking the crest.
The Dragon flew over another neighboring island and found Ryan, Liah, and Aimee there. They were also fine and dandy. When Ravin met up with them, he gave Aimee the Blue Dragon Crest.
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, slowly taking it out of Ravin's hands. "Aren't you supposed to have these?"
"I think you should have it." Ravin smirked. "It'll grant you the Blue Dragon Healing. And it might help you, since your a Healer and all."
"Wow," she breathed. "Do you think this'll help me heal everyone in Zulan? And cure the illness?"
"Maybe." said Liah, smiling.
"And this is for you." Ravin handed Ryan the Red Dragon Crest.
"Ravin...I-I don't want this." Ryan gave it back.
"You don't have to WANT it, Ryan." Ravin told him. "You might NEED it...later."
"I'll hold on to it," Ryan said, putting the crest inside of his nap sack. "But I STILL don't want it."
* * *
Since there was no other option for transportation, Ravin decided to take a risk and fly over the Katerina Continent in Dragon form.
"This is bad. Very, VERY bad, Ravin." said Joon, nervously. "What if those guys see you flying all over the place?"
"They won't. They're human, they don't know squat." Ravin smirked. "No offense, you four."
"None taken." Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all said simutaneously.
"Where are we going next, Ravi?" Joon asked. "Nero's?" She swooned and sighed.
"Yep." Ravin replied. Joon swooned and sighed again. "Hey, if you don't stop that, Joon, I'll make sure Nero hears what you think of him, then get you embarrassed."
"He already knows." Joon told Ravin, quickly and nervously.
"Yeah. Sure. Okay. Fine. Whatever." Ravin scanned the area he was flying over, noticed that he was over the Starlight Forest, and cleared his throat. "We are here. See that tower? That is the Star Dragon Tower. The Star Dragon himself doesn't exist anymore for he was defeated by Hiro." Ravin saw Diana grin at the memory of her father. He went back to talking.
"Nero's Cave is those woods down there." And Ravin started to land. Once landed, he morphed back into a human and they all carried on in the Starlight Forest. Monsters were scattered everywhere, out of Goblins to Hummingbyrds. They came across a black stone cave with lit torches leading down.
This place was also littered with monsters, but nothing they couldn't handle. When they came to the entrance to Nero's Lair, they noticed that there wasn't a huge boss monster waiting for them.
"Well, that's a relief." Ravin smirked, leading everyone into Nero's Lair. The Lair didn't look very different from the rest of the cave, besides the bottomless pit. The nest was a few 10 feet away from the ledge that Ravin and the others were standing on.
" 'Ow are we gonna get o'er dere?" Fional asked.
"I don't know," Ravin whispered stepping forward. When he went as far as he could go, it started to move. "Whoa! Hey, everyone, jump over here!" And they did, and the piece of rock was floating slowly to the Black Dragon's nest. In the nest, there was a black cat with wings, like Joon.
"YOUR the Black Dragon?!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Yes, you dipstick!" the black cat cried. "Well, I will be in a second." And the cat started to morph into the Black Dragon. He had long, bony horns that spiraled outward at the top. He had long slender ears with a couple strings of fur popping out at the tips. He had long shaggy wirehair, except for over his long face. His wings blended from black, to green, to a creamy color. And on the tip of his tail it looked like wheat seeds.
"Hey, Nero." greeted Joon, dreamily.
"Hey, Joon." said Nero, smiling. "What are you doing here, Ravin?"
"We need to pass your Trial to get the Black Dragon Crest." said Ravin.
"Oh! I still need more time to think about it!" Nero complained. "Ah! Umm... Find the...Black Dragon Amulet and then I'll give you it."
"Let's go." Ravin and the others walked back onto the ledge and it moved back to where it was. They all looked everywhere in the black cave, for a half hour at least, until they came to a silver chest. Ravin opened it and found a black, green, and gold beaded necklace, with a Dragon bead, that looked alot like the Black Dragon's head.
"This was the Plains Tribe magic amulet." Ravin breathed. "That Tribe died out hundreds of years ago. They worshiped the Black Earth Dragon for all that they had: the trees, the flowers, the animals, the mountains, and life."
"I can't believe Nero has it from the last Black Dragon." said Joon.
They went back to Nero's Lair and gave him the amulet.
"I almost forgot about this thing." said Nero. "And here's your Dragon Crest." The Black Dragon Crest appeared, just like the others, and it floated to Ravin. He handed it to Liah.
"Here." Ravin said. "You should...have it, Liah. It might help you out with Lady Miaka Ausa and you could use it for the Magic Guild."
"T...Thank you, Ravin." said Liah. "I don't know why your giving everyone your well-deserved crests."
"Well, I can't have Black or Blue Dragon magic, since I'm half White Dragon and half Red Dragon." Ravin smirked. "And since I am, I have the White Dragon Protect and the Red Dragon Anger. Besides, I wanted to help you guys out."
"We appreiciate it, Ravin." said Fional. Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all agreed in their own speeches. Diana clenched her Pendant tightly and remembered how her father met her mother, and Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Leo.
"We should get going." Diana smiled to her friends.
"Awe! Leaving so soon, Diana?" said a sinister voice, that sounded like three others were speaking along with it. Nero stood in a crouch now and slowly looked up the wall in his Lair, growling at the voice.
"No!" Nero whispered. "I can't, anymore! I'll die because of it!"
"D...Die b-b-because of w-what?" Joon asked, stammering. "What's going on?"
"It is the Death Wraith." Diana whispered.
"Nero, you will listen to me! I own you now!" the Wraith howled. Nero started to roar in pain. He fell to the ground, shaking the cave, and making some rocks fall.
"Rrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" Nero roared triumphantly, standing. Instead of gold, his eyes were red with a blue pupil, like Royce's and Xenobia's.
"Nero..." Joon whimpered. "What's wrong with you?" Nero started to glow purple and after a few minutes the violet aura shot around the room and into the cave, where a hissing monster awaited.
"Now, Nero, you will go find Nall, the White Dragon, and capture him."
"Grrr...!" Nero replied, flying out of his Lair.
"Nero!" Ravin yelled, as the top of the cave closed. He shrugged. "We have no choice but to go out that way."
"Can'tcha use da White Dragon Wings?" Fional asked. "I mean, dat's what dose are for!"
"I can't use them now!" Ravin exclaimed. "Evil still lingers here."
"Sheesh!" Fional growled. "I 'ate monsters."
The monster looked like a giant black praying mantis and its claws were glowing purple. The aura shot from its claws and wrapped around Diana's waist, like a corset, nearly crushing her ribs.
"Ahh!" she screamed, the corset was still wrapped around her. "It will not come off!" she yelled.
"That's it!" Ravin growled at the Mantis. "You're gonna get it! FLAMING ICE!!!" The battlefield was then showered with cold fire, barely damaging the Mantis at all. "Wha...?" Ravin made a confused face.
"It's immune to magic, Ravin!" Liah called to him. "Attack it next time." Liah couldn't use her magic either, she decided to not waste her Magic Points, so she just used her wand's magic on the monster and used Items, when neccessary.
"FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional shot an arrow at the Mantis, damaging it more than the magic did. He used that on every turn.
"POWER SLASH!!!" Ryan dished out one massive hack to the monster, damaging it alot. He used that on every turn. During the battle, Diana was freed from the magic corset and used Napalm Shot on the Mantis. The monster kept on using dark magic, taking away MP, but mostly capturing group members in a corset, wrapping them in a sticky string, like beef in a burrito(heh) or wacking them in the head with metal sickles.
"FLASH BLADE!!!" Ryan swung his sword in a stunning series of sword- strikes against the Mantis, and the monster disappeared. "Quick! Let's get outta here!"
* * *
"Everyone, stay here by the Star Dragon Tower!" Ravin ordered his friends. "I'll be back! I've just gotta follow Nero and see where he's going." He turned to Diana. "Diana, can you keep Joon from following me?" She nodded. Ravin transformed into a Dragon and flew at breakneck speed to where he figured Nero was heading. I CAN'T let Nero reach my dad! Ravin thought. Something weird keeps happening to me everyday, now. But since I'm a Dragon, I never lived a normal human life before.
By nightfall, Ravin found Nero. He and Nall were having a scrimage and the White Dragon seemed to be losing.
"Dad!" Ravin called.
"Ravin?" Nall looked at his son. "Ravin, get out of here! Nero's--" Before Nall could finish what he was saying, Nero fired a blast of purple energy at him, consealing him inside a small crystal. The Black Dragon's mouth was curved into a sinister smile, bearing his teeth. Then the white crystal Nall was in, shrunk to the size of a marble, and it shot up into the sky.
"Unh!" Ravin's mouth dropped open. He turned to Nero with a sneer.
"Come and get me, Ravin." Nero taunted.
"Oh, you scum!" Ravin swiftly flew towards the fleeing Nero. "Come here and face me, coward!" He fired a stream of ice at his foe, but Nero dodged it by a long shot. The Black Dragon posthasted behind Ravin and grazed Ravin's shoulder blade with his claws. Nero did the exact same move again, only that time, Ravin evaded it and pounded Nero in the stomach with his tail. Then he charged at Nero, head first, but Nero grabbed one of his wings in his jaws and swung Ravin away. His wing was losing a few feathers, at first after that attack. Ravin expeled fire from his mouth, singing Nero's wing a bit.
"Rrr!" Nero growled, lunging at Ravin. Nero got Ravin in a head-lock, sped down to the earth, and slammed him into the ground.
"Raa--" Nero bit down on Ravin's neck. "Rrroooaaahh!" Ravin spit fire in Nero's face, making him let go, giving Ravin some time to move. Both Dragons fired ice at each other. Nero side-stepped and stopped firing, sending a trail of ice into the trees behind him. The Black Dragon's neck started to crackle with electricity.
"Huh?" Ravin had no idea what Nero was going to do next, so he stood crouched to the ground, getting ready to jump. Nero extended his wings and the battlefield and everything on it was struck by lightning, even Ravin. As Nero flew away, Ravin collasped.
* * *
"Now, this is pitiful."
Ravin's eyes snapped open. He was human now, with all of his drained power from the battle with Nero. He looked up to see a familiar shadowy figure looking down upon him. Ravin squinted his eyes to see who he was. The man had pale skin and was wearing a long black cloak.
"I...I've seen you once before." Ravin groaned, sitting up. "What do you want?"
"So, you are the son of Nall and Ruby, eh?" the man snickered. "You can't even defeat a younger Dragon. You really have alot to learn, boy."
"State your name." Ravin said, standing.
"My name is..." the man hesitated. "Laike."
"Laike? Hm," Ravin raised an eyebrow. "Then, why are you following me, Laike?"
"I haven't been following you, Ravin." Laike said. "I was kind of sent to help you."
"Sent? What do you mean?"
"That I cannot say." Laike lowered his voice. "It's best not spoken. There are things more important than where I came from. Such as all of the small villages the Neo-Grindery has been blowing up. But there are even greater problems than that. I've come to help you train a little along the way to defeating that Death Wraith. That thing can't be beaten, as long as a part of Zophar still remains."
"A part of Zophar? Like what?"
"His ashes." Laike whispered. Ravin was shocked. What if the word had gotten to Diana and Lucia. That would give them even more to worry about.
"This isn't good."
"No, it's not." said Laike. "That's why I am here to help you. I will explain everything to you and your friends when we find them."
Ravin flew Laike back to the Star Dragon Tower, where the others were waiting.
"Who's this?" Joon asked Ravin.
"This is Laike," said Ravin. "He is here to help us."
"I bet you all don't know why you are doing here." Laike said to them. "You probably just wanted to tag along for someone was going somewhere you were going. But you are here for something bigger, though. Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan, you four got involved for a reason. Each of you has a destiny that sets you all apart, however, you are all traveling on the same trail, going for the same goal: to defeat Zophar. I can help you achieve that goal."
"How?" asked Liah.
"Each of you will attack me," Laike spred his legs apart. "Now show me what you got." They still looked confused.
"One at a time, each of you will fire your magical ability at me." Laike told them. They still were confused. "Sigh. It will not harm me. I am stronger than all of you put together. You," He pointed at Fional. "Attack me."
"Alright," Fional loaded his arrows and aimed one at Laike. The arrow started to catch on fire as Fional summoned a spell. "FLASH ARROW!!!"
The arrow didn't harm Laike, but he could still sense the power of the assult.
"I guess that's not TOO bad." Laike shrugged. "You can get better, still." He pointed at Liah.
"You should be surprised about what a Mage can do!" Liah smiled, summoning her Thunder Thrust spell. "Ha! How's that?"
"Good," Laike called on everybody else. They all did as they were told. Ryan didn't need much assistance since he was already handy with the sword; Aimee already knew how to handle Healing spells; and Diana and Ravin were already good with magic. So far, only Fional needed to get better at his magic, and Ravin need to be of more use with weapons. Ravin used the Long Dagger from now on.
" 'Ow can dis help us defeat Zophar?" Fional asked Laike. Laike explained to them about the power of humanity and how it can defeat Zophar, by just combining strength. Diana and Ravin seemed to have understood it, but the rest of the group was still unsure.
"With me, a Sage, to help you," said Laike. "You can become almost invincable."
"Sa-weet!" Fional grinned.
* * *
"So," said Royce, looking into her crystal ball, upon a sleeping Laike. "He man-aged to get them to trust him." (She couldn't hear what they were saying through the ball, but that she seemed to understand)
"I guess we CAN trust that man into helping us." said Xenobia. "However, I will never forgive him for playing with me."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm just going to play around with Ravin," Xenobia grinned. "Making 'Laike' jealous, then maybe I can get some fun around here."
"How are you going to get Ravin?" asked Royce. "He's in love with Lucia's daughter."
"Then I'll just have to get rid of her." Xenobia looked at Royce's crystal ball. "I'll get inside of his mind."
* * *
Ravin started to toss and turn in his sleep. He groaned as his shaking hand reached for his Dagger, that was in it's sheathe.
"Get up, Ravin." echoed Xenobia's voice inside of Ravin's thoughts. "Pierce the heart of the Princess of the Blue Star." Ravin's eyes snapped open, they were the color of Nero's eyes when he was under the same spell; they started to glow. He stood up, clench-ing the dagger in his right hand, blade down. He started to silently walk over to where Diana was sleeping. She rolled over onto her back and moaned for she was starting to wake up. She sleepily scratched her head and yawned, opening her eyes. Diana shaded her eyes with her arm, from the red light that was beaming down upon her.
"Huh...?" Diana looked up in the red and blue glowing eyes of an obscure sil-houette of a young man holding a dagger standing over her. He raised the dagger to strike her. "Ahh--!" Diana swung her hands in front of her face and shot a tiny bolt of lightning at him.
"Aaahhhhh!!" screamed Xenobia's voice. "Too...powerful!" And she left Ravin's mind. A woman-looking puff of purple smoke poured out of Ravin's eyes, draining the red and blue color from them.
"Gah...!" Ravin put his hand on his forehead and fell to his knees. Diana stared at the smoke that was floating out of the campsite.
"Hm," Then Diana looked at the kneeling man. "Gasp! R-Ravin?" He didn't answer; he just growled through his gritted teeth, trying to bear a pain of somekind in his head. "What were you--?" Ravin, looked at his right hand. He gasped quietly, and surprizingly, and looked up at Diana. She looked into his eyes, which were framed with red; his pupils were outlined with light blue.
"What happened...?" Ravin asked.
"Sigh...you were under a spell." Diana replied.
"Am I going to be alright?"
"I hope so,"
* * *
The next day.
Ravin couldn't stop thinking about the incident last night. He didn't even know he was under a spell. He thought he was still asleep. Diana was also puzzled. She thought that she had sensed an evil aura in the smoke that exited Ravin's eyes, but she couldn't tell from whom.
"What's wrong, Ravi?" Joon asked, sitting on his shoulder. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah, your eyes look so distant," said Aimee.
"It's nothing," he responded. "I'm just thinking."
"Okay," Joon lied down on his shoulder, neatly curling her tail around her legs.
"I'm going to leave for a while," said Laike. "I've business to attend to."
"Where ya goin'?" Fional asked the Sage. Laike had already disappeared into thin air. "Huh. Dat was rude."
"Let's just get going." said Ravin.
"Where to?" snapped Liah, who was standing awfully close to Ryan. "Do we just go around the world and back until we find some vile god's reeking pile of cremation?"
"If that's what it takes to save Lunar." Ravin retorted. He turned to Diana. "Where was Zophar defeated? Maybe that's where his ashes'll be."
"The Minea Sea," Diana replied. "We will go there, next."
* * *
It took them all day to egress the Salyan Desert. By evening, they had to stop and rest at an old water ruin for the night.
"The Water Ruins?" Ravin exclaimed.
"They have to be!" Diana breathed. "This is how my Father described them. I didn't know they were on Lunar; I thought they were on the Blue Star!" She turned to her friends. "He said that he had to find the Sapphire Eye of the Dragon in order to open the gates to the Star Dragon Tower. He said that something else happened here that involved my Mother, but he never told me what."
"I've got an idea!" Liah exclaimed. She ran over to the water and stroked the surface with her palm. She sighed. "Why don't we go for a swim?"
"What for?" Aimee asked.
"It'll be fun! For once we can think about something else than Zo- fart."
"That'll be nice." Ravin sighed. "I think it's a great idea. After we swim, we can build a fire and warm up."
"Oh, yeah, sure," mocked Joon. "What are you gonna do, skinny-dip?"
"I agree with Joon." said Ravin. "We don't have any swim suits."
"What's the matter, Ravin?" asked Ryan. "Afraid we'll laugh at your...equipment?"
"No," Ravin said, defensively. "It's becau--"
"Of course not!" Liah laughed at Joon. "I've got a couple of my bathing suits in my nap sack." She pulled out four pairs of bathing suits. One was a one-piece that had cute little bows holding the sides together, leaving openings in between each one. Another was a blue bikini with lemons on it. The third one was also a bikini, but the bottom half was shorts; it had blue, turquoise, and lime-green stripes. And the fourth one was like the third one, only the bottom wasn't shorts and the top had short sleeves, and it had bright red and silver marks.
"Since when did you bring bathing suits?" Aimee asked. "Isn't that a bit...unusual?"
"I only meant to bring one, but I couldn't decide." Liah objected. "I pick the one with the lemons." She exclaimed, greedily snatching it from the small pile.
"Then, I'll get the one-piece with the cute little bows." Aimee said.
"Pick one or the other, Diana!" Joon exclaimed.
"Both are very nice, however, I cannot decide." Diana said slightly blushing.
"Then I'LL pick!" Joon spun around in a circle and dizzily picked the red and silver striped bikini. "Here ya go!" Joon gave it to Diana.
"Now what about the guys?" Aimee asked Liah.
"Guess they'll have to go in boxers!" the red-head giggled.
After everyone got changed, they quickly jumped into the frore water. Even though it was cold, they eventually got used to it's temperature and learned to enjoy it.
Fional was standing on a pillar sticking out of the water, in his shorts. He was holding a struggling Joon in his right hand. Joon was biting his thumb, but Fional didn't even wince. The Beastman howled with joy and jumped into the water, dragging Joon under with him. The cat jumped out of the water, gasping for air. When Fional came up to the surface, laughing, Joon started to chase after him.
Liah was swimming with Aimee and she constantly talked about how hot Ryan looked without a shirt, making Aimee a little annoyed at how her best friend wouldn't talk about anything else.
Ryan kept on trying to do hold his breath underwater for over two minutes and spend that time gazing at Liah's legs without her knowing.
Diana would just swim by herself, gawking at the blue and purple sky.
Ravin would torture Joon along with Fional. But every once in a while, he'd glance over at Diana swimming alone.
He wanted to keep her company, so he went beneath the surface and swam away from Fional and Joon's area without them getting any ideas about him, to where Diana was swimming. Ravin grinned to himself while swimming under the water. He popped his head out next to Diana's head. She looked up at him; he looked down upon her. They both smiled. Ravin leaned down to kiss Diana. She seemed to get the idea of what he wanted, so she puckered her lips, a little, and closed her eyes. She thought that she was going to feel the soft pressure of lips on her own, but she felt firm hands on her back. Ravin put both of his hands under her back, picked her up in the air, and tossed her back in the water. Diana shrieked as she landed. She came up out of the water, and soon smiled at Ravin. He smirked back.
"That...was fun." Diana giggled, plopping backwards.
"That was the idea," Ravin sank down until only his head and shoulders were sticking out of the surface. "I wish it would stay like this forever."
"So do I." Diana said. She swam over to the arching rock that was behind Ravin and she sat down on a rock that was buried in the mud beneath the water. "It really has been amazing, so far, with you, Ravin." He swam closer to her, wanting to talk more about what they want on this journey. "And...I do not mean to embarrass you, but...I've noticed that you have done everything you could to take care of me."
"I don't want to see you get hurt." Ravin was now nose to nose with Diana. "I would never, ever hurt you."
"And I, you," Diana closed her eyes to kiss Ravin. No, Diana! Stop! said a voice in her head. She opened her eyes and quietly gasped. "I...I am sorry," Diana whispered. She looked back and saw the others out of the water, getting the fire ready. "Let us go." She grabbed Ravin's hand from underwater and pulled him along with her. They all sat around the fire trying to dry off. Each of them would tell hilarious stories of themselves when they were kids.
"An' me Pop put 'is fingers 'round me nose an' gently pulled an' made a fist like dis," Fional made a fist and put his thumb in between his middle and index fingers. "An' he said, 'I gotcha nose!' an' den 'e acted like 'e put me nose in 'is mouth. I started ta cry about me nose an' yelled, 'Gimme back me nose!' An' Pops would tell me ta ask politly, an' I would." Fional laughed along with everyone else. "Ah, I was a stupid lil' kid den, eh?" They all agreed with him. Then Liah started telling them a story when she was a child. Afterwards, everyone got back in their regular clothes, and went to sleep.
The next morning.
Thirty minutes after the party woke up, they reached the Minea Sea. It was much bigger now, then it was one hundred years ago. A couple of years previously, the sea swallowed up Azado along with it's peninsula.
Ravin scavenged around over the Minea Sea, looking for something out of place. Eventually, he saw a two towers sticking up out of the water.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Let's go check it out." Ryan suggested. The white Dragon flew down to the castle.
"Where can I land?" Ravin asked himself aloud, looking at the second tower that was much taller than the other one.
"There!" Joon pointed at a ledge on the lower tower, where Ravin soon landed. He morphed into a human form.
"There's something evil in there," Ravin said to the others as he looked at the huge, locked, iron doors.
"How will we get in?" Aimee asked.
"Like this," Ravin wrapped his hands around the lock on the entryway. His hands started to catch on fire; they melted the iron lock. He kicked it off and opened the entrance. They all started to walk inside of the villa. They've encountered strong monsters while going deeper into the chateau, such as Steel Soldiers, Bomb Angels, Bronze Creeps, and Dark Eyes.
After one story, they reached the second one down. The floors were glass. Ravin looked beneath the glass and saw a familiar white claw, that was in chains. He looked forward and seen the Dragon head of Nall.
"Dad!" Ravin exclaimed, running over to the White Dragon. Nall's mouth was full of tubes going in and out of his lips. His eyes were closed and had cycles under them; they opened a minute later.
"Ravin...?" Nall said, weakly.
"W-What's wrong? What's happening?" Ravin asked his father.
"The Neo-Grindery is...sucking the life out of me..." Nall whispered. "And also the others."
"Wha...?!" Ravin shook his head. "Even Nero?" Nall nodded a bit. "What of the Death Wraith and the Sorceress's?"
"The Wraith...is using our power to make the reviving Zophar much...stronger than before." Nall closed his eyes. "Soon...he will come."
"Let's get moving." Ravin said, stomping forward.
* * *
"They are coming!" yelled the Death Wraith to Xenobia, Royce, Taben, and a young sixteen year old boy with raven-black hair and eyes. He turned to the boy. "Take care of the rest of the Dragons."
"Yes, Master," he bowed and walked off.
"Taben,"
"M'Lord?" Taben raised his head.
"Raise the Neo-Grindery." the Wraith told him. "Zophar's revival is very soon."
* * *
The room started to shake. Everybody fell over onto the floor, even the monsters they were up against.
"W-W-Wha-a-a-at's h-h-ha-ap-p-pening?" Joon stuttered, rolling on the floor.
"I-I don't know," Fional growled, gripping his hands into the floor.
The rumbling stopped.
"What was THAT?" Ryan exclaimed, holding onto Liah.
Ravin frowned. "I think it--"
"RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Wha...?" Joon flew into the air. "That sounded like Mom!" She started to fly to where she'd heard the roar. Everyone followed her. In the next room, Joon was flying in the air, her mouth wide open. She had witnessed her mother being destroyed. "Mom...?" Now all that she seen was a dark-haired boy, surrounded by a shattered blue crystal.
"Who are you, kid?" Ravin exclaimed.
"You should know who I am, Ravin." the boy said, lowering his head. Ravin thought about it for a while. The boy's aura was awfully familiar. Then it hit him.
"Nero?!" Ravin yelled.
"Nero??!" Joon gasped, after him. Nero nodded. "Why have you killed my Mom?!"
"I was simply following orders." he replied. Joon frowned, almost about to cry.
"Joon," Diana whispered. "It is not really Nero; he is under a spell." Nero disappeared.
"No!" Ravin howled. "Where'd he go?" There was another ear-piercing roar. "Dad!" He ran to the room he was in last. Nall was gone, only shattered white crystal was lying on the floor. "He's going for Mom, next!" He ran until he entered the room where his mother was. She was still there and Nero was standing in front of her, his arm extended. Ravin tackled Nero and punched his jaw. The boy shook his head.
"Huh...?" Nero looked around, his eyes were now a dark green. "Where am--? Ravin, what are you doing on me?" He got off. Nero stood up. "No...It happened, didn't it?"
"What? You got casted under this spell more than once?" Ravin asked.
"Yes...but me finding out was an accident." Nero's face grew more serious. "You have to do something, Ravin."
"Like what?"
"You have to kill Zophar and the others." Nero explained. "If you don't, this'll happen again and it'll mean death for us all."
"Don't worry, Nero, we will." Ravin looked at his friends and nodded at them. They started to follow him, even though he wasn't expecting them to.
"Wait, Ravin!" said an exhausted Ruby from behind. "I would...like to tell you something. Now that Nall is gone...you are the White Dragon." Ravin looked at Ruby, who's dark eyes were welling with tears.
"Me...?"
"Yes. It is your duty, now, to protect Lunar."
"I won't fail Lunar, Mom."
"It's time." whispered Royce and Taben.
"Now we wait for Ravin others to come." said Xenobia.
Ravin and the others finally reached the tallest tower of the Neo- Grindery. They had to go all of the way to the bottom of the Neo-Grindery and up again in order to get to it. Royce, Xenobia, and Taben were there, and were staring at them. Behind them was a large, chunky, black, four- headed monster. Coming out of the spiky, tortoise-like shell were two muscular arms with only three fingers on each hand. Each of the heads were a different, pale, color, and each one had six red and blue eyes. One head was a light gray, another was ash-black, the head sticking out of the right of the higher and lower heads was a grayish-red, and the left head was a grayish-blue.
"What da bloody 'ell is dat?!" howled Fional.
"It...is the Death Wraith!" Diana whispered.
"Rrrrr...!" the Wraith growled, raising his clutched claw. It opened it's hand and in it lain a navy blue crystal full of gray and tan ashes. Red mist surrounded it.
"No...!" Diana gasped. "They have found the ashes!" The Death Wraith held the crystal like a dagger and stabbed itself with it. The stone broke and the ashes poured onto the skin of the Wraith. It's body lit up and started to mutate. Everyone watched. The party's mouths and eyes were open wide. The form of the Wraith now was of a hideous monster. Jagged "wings" were pointing out of the body, leading up. It sort of had the head of a man with lavender skin and an enormous head-piece with two large black and yellow shells, pointing outward like the "wings". It's feet were wrapped in what appeared to be long, green leaves. It's outstretched hands were spread out and had extensive nails.
"Master Zophar!" Royce, Xenobia, and Taben exclaimed, kneeling.
"Yes! I am Zophar! Master of darkness!" he yelled. "Ah...now then." Zophar turned to Diana. "You. You are the one I am looking for. You are the one I must stop now until I continue my glorious plans."
"You do not scare me!" Diana shouted. "I will destroy you and halt your 'glorious plans'!"
"Heh, heh, heh." Zophar chortled. "What makes you so sure that you can stop me? Now that I have absorbed the power of Althena's Dragons, I am unstoppable. You are wasting your breath, my sweet."
"Oh, am I?" Diana's hand started to glow. "I know I will be victorious, Zophar. That is because I have the aspect of Althena in my blood, the magic of the Four Dragons, humanity on my side," She glanced back at Ravin. "And the power of love."
"The power of love?!" Zophar laughed. "You are delirious, child! Do you possibly think that that boy you see is your loved one?! You are even more mixed up than I thought. You have the stupidity of both your mother and your mortal father."
"I do think that Ravin is. And I think Ravin feels the same way." She turned to Ravin. She gave him a look that read "you love me, don't you?". He smiled and nodded. Diana smiled back and turned back to Zophar, who was laughing to himself.
"As I said before, you are delirious." Zophar smirked. "Ravin never loved you."
Diana frowned. "What...?"
"That's right. He never loved you. He was just playing with your mind this entire time, after he found out you were from the Blue Star. All of those compliments, loving moments, all of it were lies!"
"I would NEVER do that!" Ravin objected.
"How would SHE know that?" Zophar argued.
"Rrr! I've had ENOUGH OF YOU!!!" Ravin transformed into the White Dragon and attacked Zophar. Zophar used a dark energy and nearly destroyed Ravin. Ravin lied on the floor, motionless.
"Ravin, NO!" Diana cried. She gave Zophar a nasty look and got her hand ready to cast an earth-shattering kaboom of an attack. Before she could act, Zophar threw a purple dagger and it went right through Diana like a knife. She fell to her knees, her breath labored. She looked at the fallen Ravin, who's head is now up with a shocked look on his dragon face. Diana's vision blured. She gritted her teeth and whispered, "I-I kill you..." She fell to the floor and fainted. Blood slowly flowed outward from her stomach.
"RRAAAAHHH!!" Ravin howled. Ravin's eyes grew angry with rage and he slowly got up. Ravin shot fire at Zophar and the monster blocked it and disappeared. The party watched, feeling helpless.
"What are you going to do, Ravin? Sit there and enjoy the death of your 'one true love'? Ha ha ha ha ha! Aha ha ha ha ha ha! AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Zophar's voice paused. "Xenobia! Royce! Take care of them! I havn't time to deal with mere mortals."
"Yes, Master!" the sisters answered, as Taben disappeared to elsewhere.
"You can do what you want with the others, Royce." said Xenobia. "But I want Ravin alive." Royce sneered at her sister, as she raised her staff into the air. Lightning struck everyone accept Ravin and Joon.
"No!" Ravin ran over to Diana.
"Let's go, Ravin." said Xenobia in a seductive voice. She snapped her fingers and she and Ravin disappeared. Royce disappeared afterwards.
"Ravin!" Joon cried. "Diana! You HAVE to go after Ravin, NOW!" Joon started to glow blue. "Huh?!"
The Hispaniola was sailing very slowly, the day after Ruby's abduction, because the winds were barely blowing.
"What's that?" Joon asked Ravin, pointing her blue paw at a tower that seemed to be moving from behind some small hills. Ravin watched and listened for a minute, something looked very familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After a while it occured to him that that was no ordinary tower.
"Oh, my god! Joon! That's the Neo-Grindery!" Ravin swiftly turned around towards the steering wheel of the Hispaniola, where Fional would be. Joon was hanging on to Ravin's shoulder with her claws. "Fional! Fional!!"
"G'day, Ravin!" Fional greeted him, cheerily. "I 'aven't seen ya at all dis mornin'! I figured ya and Diana were goin' at it--"
"Fional," Ravin was nearly out of breath. "look over...there!" Ravin pointed behind the hills where he'd seen the Neo-Grindery. "I think...that's the Neo-Grindery."
"Oh...crap," Fional cursed. "We gotta get dis thin' movin'! Oh, cripes!"
"Ravi, it's turning!" exclaimed Joon. "I don't know if it's going away or what..."
"It's coming towards shore!" Ravin shouted.
"Ravin, take da wheel! I've gotta wake dose bastards up downstairs." Fional jumped off of the deck and ran downstair after his sailors.
"Okay," Ravin tripped over the stair he was standing on trying to get control of the ship. "Oof!"
"C'mon, Dragon-ditz! Get up!" Joon shouted in Ravin's face. But just as soon as Ravin grabbed the wheel, there was a loud explosion that was over-heard by the Neo-Grindery's moving gears.
"Eeek!!" Joon screamed flying away from the exploding ship. After a few minutes of flying out of control, Joon found out that she wasn't in the ocean and stayed hovering above the smoke from the fire that was burning the Hispaniola. "Ravin!" she called. "Diana! Fional! Liah! Aimee! Ryan!" The cat looked towards the shore, that seemed to be even farther away, and saw the tower roll in the opposite direction. She turned back to the incident and flew down to the sinking ship. She could hear men screaming from being trapped inside of locked rooms inside of the ship.
"Oh, no..." Joon whispered.
* * *
Ravin found himself lying down on his back in blue sand. He felt sore and cold all through his body. He had a healing scar from a recent battle above his right temple and blood trickling from his wrist. He slowly brought his wrist in front of his face and blew air on the wound, making the sting feel a little better. Ravin turned his head and looked to his right and saw Diana sitting in the sand, her arms wrapped around her knees, her face buried in them. Her back was rapidly moving up and down as if she was sobbing. Joon was lying on her stomach on Diana's head of blue hair, also crying.
"Don't cry." whispered Ravin to his female friends. Diana gasped and looked up, swinging Joon off of her head.
"Ravin!" Diana cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "Your alive! I am so glad your alright." She kissed his cheek.
"Of, course I'm alive," Ravin laughed. "I'm not that easy to get rid of."
"Ravi!" Joon exclaimed, flying in his face, wrapping her arms around his head. "You big jerk! Don't you EVER scare me like that again!" She buried her face in his fore-head. "Gah! I'm so happy!"
"Oh, Joon," Ravin smiled, still hanging on to Diana, "Where is everyone?"
"I guess they're on the other islands." Joon said, releasing Ravin's face. "Unless they're..."
"Do not think that, Joon. They will be okay." Diana looked out at the neighboring islands. "We will search for them tomorrow, when it is light out."
* * *
Diana woke up during the night. Only this time she wasn't awakened by a dream. The noises of the monsters in the jungle woke her up. She sat next to Ravin, who was lying down in the sand on his back, and Joon, who was curled up in a tiny blue ball. Diana wouldn't have been able to see Joon, if it wasn't for her white markings around her legs. Diana looked at Ravin. His eyes were opened and he was smiling.
"Oh, you are awake?" Diana asked him.
"Yep. I've been awake." he answered. He sat up and went right back to gazing up at the stars.
"It's awfully dark without the Blue Star." Diana shivered.
"I know, but at least we got other stars." Ravin looked at Diana. "What woke you up?"
"Oh, it is nothing," she said, as Ravin scooted closer to her. "What do you see in these stars, Ravin?"
"I see...pictures." he pointed his finger at one twinkling star. "See that one? If you look at the star right underneath it and bring it up and around like that and include the three larger stars in the middle, you can see Joon's head."
"Hey, I see it." Diana breathed. "Hmm...those group of stars right there next to Joon's head looks like two people standing back to back and if you look down it looks like they are holding hands."
"I see that one's shorter than the other," he smiled.
"Yes," Diana looked down at her hands and smiled to herself. She kind of laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing at all, really." she blushed. "It is just that I have never been so close to anyone like this before. It...makes me happy. I am glad we are going on this journey together, Ravin. I have met many good friends."
"I don't know what to say, Diana." Ravin said, sheepishly scratching his head.
"That is alright." she said, as Ravin scooted even closer to her. A roar from a monster made both of them jump and look behind themselves. They both sighed and stopped to look at each other when turning around, they were nose to nose. They looked down and bumped foreheads.
"Oof!" Ravin said looking down, noticing his hand was on Diana's. "I'm Sorry..." he apologized, moving his hand from hers, back onto the sand.
"It is okay." Diana whispered, taking his hands back and squeezing them.
"Y-Your hands are very soft." Ravin whispered, blushing. "You must use lotion or something." Diana simpered and rested her head on his shoulder. Ravin lied his head gently on hers. After a while Ravin spoke. "We should get some sleep, Diana. We have--" He noticed that she was already asleep. He whispered, "Good night."
* * *
Joon stretched, similar to how a regular cat stretches. "Meooowwwww!" she yawned, wiping tears from her eyes. "Morning, you two." Joon grinned, getting face to face with Ravin and Diana, who were still sleeping sitting up next to each other. "Wake up!"
"Aah," Ravin groaned. "Joon, you stupid cat. What did you do that for?"
"Oh, no reason." Joon said innocently. "Morning, Diana...!"
"Good morning." Diana put her hand over her mouth and yawned. She looked at Ravin, for she wanted to talk to him. "Ahem," He faced her and Diana signaled to get rid of Joon. He nodded.
"Look, Joon! A fish! Go catch it!" Ravin lied, pointing in a direction.
"Boom! Chicka, chicka! Ooooh, YEAH!!" Joon flew as fast as she could into the water to find the fish Ravin was talking about. When Joon was out of sight, Diana spoke.
"Ravin, thank you for...letting me sleep on your shoulder." she fiddled with her fingers. "I was not planning on doing that."
"No, don't worry about it." Ravin said, standing up. He reached out his hand to help Diana stand. "I didn't mind it."
"Ravi!" Joon called from the water. "There was NO fish!" Ravin and Diana laughed.
"We should go find Azura before Royce does." Ravin suggusted.
"Yes," Diana agreed.
* * *
Ravin, Diana, and Joon ran into a few monsters in the jungle while on their way to Azura's cave. The cave was more like a shrine or a fountain with the huge waterfall. At the waterfall, where Joon said was the center of the island and where her mom would be, there was a light blue, half horse, half fish monster sitting in the middle of the small lake. It's front half was the horse, whose mane was a fin, and it's back half was a large, finned fluke.
"That looks alot like the one monster that almost seemed invincible that we kept on battling in the jungle, only...bigger." said Ravin. "What were those called? Hippocampus?"
"Or something like that." whispered Joon. The Hippocampus stood on it's tail and reared up, pawing at the air. It's whinny sounded much like a zebra's. When it landed, it launched its first attack. The water surrounding it rushed towards Ravin, Diana, and Joon, the white water swiftly formed into the shape of stampeding horses.
"Ahh!" Everyone got flung backwards, nearly downing in the magic rapids.
"Ugh! RED DRAGON ANGER!!!" Ravin summoned the power of the Red Dragon. He could hear the shrill roar of the Red Dragon, as a rain of fireballs poured upon the battlefield, harming, the Hippocampus, but not the jungle. "Whoa...!" he breathed.
"Thank goodness that it did not catch the Blue Dragon Jungle searing." Diana sighed, casting her Stepping Thunder spell. The Hippocampus slapped its tail in the lake and sprayed needles of water into Ravin's chest, causing extreme damage. Joon used an Herb on him and it helped a little. Ravin, thereafter, used Pyro Spheres and Flame Bomb, until the Hippocampus disappeared. And Diana used her thunder spell.
"Mom'll be right inside here." Joon smiled, flying straight through the falls. Ravin and Diana sighed and walked towards each other and looked each other over for wounds.
"You okay?" Ravin asked, putting his forehead to Diana's. She shook her head and sighed with relief, lovingly rubbing his arm.
"Yes, I am," she whispered.
"Hey!" Joon called. "Let's get going! Mom won't wait!" Ravin held on to Diana's hand as they walked inside of Azura's Cave. It was still misty inside of the Lair and Ravin could barely see where he was going. All he could see was that the Lair was bigger than he expected.
"This way, Dragon-ditz." Joon flew ahead. Ravin followed the cat along a slippery rocky path. After walking straight in darkness for ten minutes, they finally made it to the center of the Lair, where it was a bit brighter. The actual Lair looked alot like the bottom of a well, with its walls trickling with water. There were two large boulders, on both sides of the nest, that had water pouring from them. And the nest also had water pouring from it and that's where Azura, the Blue Dragon, was. She was a darker blue than Joon was. She had bat-like wings, with the skin starting out a sea-green, but then gradually colored into yellow, then magenta. She had dark gold horns that rose upwards from behind her finned ears.
"Hiya, Mom!" Joon squeaked.
"Hello, Joon." Azura said in a gentle voice. "Great to see you again, Ravin. I see you are in person now."
"Yep." he smiled.
"My little Ravi's growin' up!" Joon sniffed. "I'm so proud of him, being able to morph into a human form like that. I think I'm getting all misty-eyed on you." Ravin laughed.
"So, what's our Trial, Azura?" he asked.
"You have to find the Blue Dragon Crest." said the Dragon. "It's in this cave."
"Okay. C'mon, Joon." Ravin called her. As he walked back to the entrance of the cave, he looked above the exit and saw the Crest, neatly up against the wall. He let go of Diana's hand and morphed into a winged-cat form, and flew up to the Crest. "Hey, Diana!" Ravin called to her in a high- pitched voice. "Catch!" He flipped it over the edge and she caught it. Ravin flew down from the edge and morphed back into a human. The Blue Dragon Crest shined just like the other two when held in his hands. Just then, the bellow of Azura jolted the cave.
"Mom?!" Joon exclaimed, flying swiftly towards her mother's Lair. The Blue Dragon wasn't there. Only a blonde, long haired woman, wearing a revealing dress, and tattoos all over her body. She, like Royce, had red eyes and bright blue pupils.
"Ravin!" exclaimed Joon. "Cover your eyes and no peeking! She's practically naked! You're not supposed to be exposed to this!"
"Listen to your cat, handsome." said the woman, to Ravin, giving him a sexy look. Diana and Joon sneered.
"I'm NOT a cat, toe-head!" Joon yelled. "And where's my Mom?!"
"Right here." the woman opened her left hand and held out a blue star the size of a marble.
"Who are you?" Diana asked. "Are you--?"
"Yes, I am Xenobia," replied the blonde. "A descendant of the forgotten Vile Tribe. The innocence Althena pushed out beyond the wastelands of the Frontier."
"I think I've heard something like that from somewhere..." Joon muttered.
"And who's your man, here, Diana?"
"That's none of your business!" Joon shouted, sticking her nose in the air. "Ravin's already taken, by Diana. They had their first fight and everything!"
"It wasn't exactly a fight, Joon, it was a misunderstanding." Ravin pointed out.
"Why do you want him, anyway?" Joon made a disgusted face at Xenobia. "For cripes' sake, he has white hair!" Ravin glared at Joon.
"I still have not forgiven Ghaleon for using me like a tool a thousand years ago." Xenobia whispered, her eyes seeming a little distant. "I was a fool for thinking that he actually loved me. NOW, he..."
"Say what?" Joon asked, dully. "That's not what I asked, toe-head." Xenobia shook her head. "Now I have the Black, Blue, and Red Dragons, and all that's left is that little pest Nall, you can do nothing to stop me, Diana. The Death Wraith has created the strongest team to help him destroy your world."
"Wait!" Joon yelled, as Xenobia disappeared with the blue aura that held her mother. "W-What about Mom?" she whimpered.
"Don't worry, Joon. Azura'll be fine." said Ravin. "We can stop them, before they reach my Dad."
* * *
Ravin morphed into his White Dragon form and flew to the island closest to the shipwreck, which was a mile or so from the Blue Dragon Island.
"Do you see them, yet, Ravin?" Diana asked, clenching tighter to his fur.
"Uh..." Ravin looked closer to the island he was flying over. "There's smoke over there. I'm gonna check it out." He glided towards the smoke and when he landed, he transformed back into a human. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?"
"Ravin?" It was the voice of Fional. "Heh. What are da odds o' findin' ya 'ere?"
"At least your okay." smiled Ravin. "Pack your things, we have to find the others."
"Okey, dokey!" Fional poured some of his bottled water over his small fire, grabbed his nap sack, and his bow and arrows, and followed Ravin, Diana, and Joon to the beach. Before Ravin morphed back into a Dragon, he turned to Fional, and gave him the White Dragon Crest.
"Wha...?" Fional breathed. "I dought dat was yers?"
"The White Dragon Protect is in my blood." said Ravin. "This'll help you protect Schorr, when I get you out of this mess."
"Much obliged." said the Beastman, taking the crest.
The Dragon flew over another neighboring island and found Ryan, Liah, and Aimee there. They were also fine and dandy. When Ravin met up with them, he gave Aimee the Blue Dragon Crest.
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, slowly taking it out of Ravin's hands. "Aren't you supposed to have these?"
"I think you should have it." Ravin smirked. "It'll grant you the Blue Dragon Healing. And it might help you, since your a Healer and all."
"Wow," she breathed. "Do you think this'll help me heal everyone in Zulan? And cure the illness?"
"Maybe." said Liah, smiling.
"And this is for you." Ravin handed Ryan the Red Dragon Crest.
"Ravin...I-I don't want this." Ryan gave it back.
"You don't have to WANT it, Ryan." Ravin told him. "You might NEED it...later."
"I'll hold on to it," Ryan said, putting the crest inside of his nap sack. "But I STILL don't want it."
* * *
Since there was no other option for transportation, Ravin decided to take a risk and fly over the Katerina Continent in Dragon form.
"This is bad. Very, VERY bad, Ravin." said Joon, nervously. "What if those guys see you flying all over the place?"
"They won't. They're human, they don't know squat." Ravin smirked. "No offense, you four."
"None taken." Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all said simutaneously.
"Where are we going next, Ravi?" Joon asked. "Nero's?" She swooned and sighed.
"Yep." Ravin replied. Joon swooned and sighed again. "Hey, if you don't stop that, Joon, I'll make sure Nero hears what you think of him, then get you embarrassed."
"He already knows." Joon told Ravin, quickly and nervously.
"Yeah. Sure. Okay. Fine. Whatever." Ravin scanned the area he was flying over, noticed that he was over the Starlight Forest, and cleared his throat. "We are here. See that tower? That is the Star Dragon Tower. The Star Dragon himself doesn't exist anymore for he was defeated by Hiro." Ravin saw Diana grin at the memory of her father. He went back to talking.
"Nero's Cave is those woods down there." And Ravin started to land. Once landed, he morphed back into a human and they all carried on in the Starlight Forest. Monsters were scattered everywhere, out of Goblins to Hummingbyrds. They came across a black stone cave with lit torches leading down.
This place was also littered with monsters, but nothing they couldn't handle. When they came to the entrance to Nero's Lair, they noticed that there wasn't a huge boss monster waiting for them.
"Well, that's a relief." Ravin smirked, leading everyone into Nero's Lair. The Lair didn't look very different from the rest of the cave, besides the bottomless pit. The nest was a few 10 feet away from the ledge that Ravin and the others were standing on.
" 'Ow are we gonna get o'er dere?" Fional asked.
"I don't know," Ravin whispered stepping forward. When he went as far as he could go, it started to move. "Whoa! Hey, everyone, jump over here!" And they did, and the piece of rock was floating slowly to the Black Dragon's nest. In the nest, there was a black cat with wings, like Joon.
"YOUR the Black Dragon?!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Yes, you dipstick!" the black cat cried. "Well, I will be in a second." And the cat started to morph into the Black Dragon. He had long, bony horns that spiraled outward at the top. He had long slender ears with a couple strings of fur popping out at the tips. He had long shaggy wirehair, except for over his long face. His wings blended from black, to green, to a creamy color. And on the tip of his tail it looked like wheat seeds.
"Hey, Nero." greeted Joon, dreamily.
"Hey, Joon." said Nero, smiling. "What are you doing here, Ravin?"
"We need to pass your Trial to get the Black Dragon Crest." said Ravin.
"Oh! I still need more time to think about it!" Nero complained. "Ah! Umm... Find the...Black Dragon Amulet and then I'll give you it."
"Let's go." Ravin and the others walked back onto the ledge and it moved back to where it was. They all looked everywhere in the black cave, for a half hour at least, until they came to a silver chest. Ravin opened it and found a black, green, and gold beaded necklace, with a Dragon bead, that looked alot like the Black Dragon's head.
"This was the Plains Tribe magic amulet." Ravin breathed. "That Tribe died out hundreds of years ago. They worshiped the Black Earth Dragon for all that they had: the trees, the flowers, the animals, the mountains, and life."
"I can't believe Nero has it from the last Black Dragon." said Joon.
They went back to Nero's Lair and gave him the amulet.
"I almost forgot about this thing." said Nero. "And here's your Dragon Crest." The Black Dragon Crest appeared, just like the others, and it floated to Ravin. He handed it to Liah.
"Here." Ravin said. "You should...have it, Liah. It might help you out with Lady Miaka Ausa and you could use it for the Magic Guild."
"T...Thank you, Ravin." said Liah. "I don't know why your giving everyone your well-deserved crests."
"Well, I can't have Black or Blue Dragon magic, since I'm half White Dragon and half Red Dragon." Ravin smirked. "And since I am, I have the White Dragon Protect and the Red Dragon Anger. Besides, I wanted to help you guys out."
"We appreiciate it, Ravin." said Fional. Liah, Aimee, and Ryan all agreed in their own speeches. Diana clenched her Pendant tightly and remembered how her father met her mother, and Ronfar, Jean, Lemina, and Leo.
"We should get going." Diana smiled to her friends.
"Awe! Leaving so soon, Diana?" said a sinister voice, that sounded like three others were speaking along with it. Nero stood in a crouch now and slowly looked up the wall in his Lair, growling at the voice.
"No!" Nero whispered. "I can't, anymore! I'll die because of it!"
"D...Die b-b-because of w-what?" Joon asked, stammering. "What's going on?"
"It is the Death Wraith." Diana whispered.
"Nero, you will listen to me! I own you now!" the Wraith howled. Nero started to roar in pain. He fell to the ground, shaking the cave, and making some rocks fall.
"Rrrrraaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!" Nero roared triumphantly, standing. Instead of gold, his eyes were red with a blue pupil, like Royce's and Xenobia's.
"Nero..." Joon whimpered. "What's wrong with you?" Nero started to glow purple and after a few minutes the violet aura shot around the room and into the cave, where a hissing monster awaited.
"Now, Nero, you will go find Nall, the White Dragon, and capture him."
"Grrr...!" Nero replied, flying out of his Lair.
"Nero!" Ravin yelled, as the top of the cave closed. He shrugged. "We have no choice but to go out that way."
"Can'tcha use da White Dragon Wings?" Fional asked. "I mean, dat's what dose are for!"
"I can't use them now!" Ravin exclaimed. "Evil still lingers here."
"Sheesh!" Fional growled. "I 'ate monsters."
The monster looked like a giant black praying mantis and its claws were glowing purple. The aura shot from its claws and wrapped around Diana's waist, like a corset, nearly crushing her ribs.
"Ahh!" she screamed, the corset was still wrapped around her. "It will not come off!" she yelled.
"That's it!" Ravin growled at the Mantis. "You're gonna get it! FLAMING ICE!!!" The battlefield was then showered with cold fire, barely damaging the Mantis at all. "Wha...?" Ravin made a confused face.
"It's immune to magic, Ravin!" Liah called to him. "Attack it next time." Liah couldn't use her magic either, she decided to not waste her Magic Points, so she just used her wand's magic on the monster and used Items, when neccessary.
"FLASH ARROW!!!" Fional shot an arrow at the Mantis, damaging it more than the magic did. He used that on every turn.
"POWER SLASH!!!" Ryan dished out one massive hack to the monster, damaging it alot. He used that on every turn. During the battle, Diana was freed from the magic corset and used Napalm Shot on the Mantis. The monster kept on using dark magic, taking away MP, but mostly capturing group members in a corset, wrapping them in a sticky string, like beef in a burrito(heh) or wacking them in the head with metal sickles.
"FLASH BLADE!!!" Ryan swung his sword in a stunning series of sword- strikes against the Mantis, and the monster disappeared. "Quick! Let's get outta here!"
* * *
"Everyone, stay here by the Star Dragon Tower!" Ravin ordered his friends. "I'll be back! I've just gotta follow Nero and see where he's going." He turned to Diana. "Diana, can you keep Joon from following me?" She nodded. Ravin transformed into a Dragon and flew at breakneck speed to where he figured Nero was heading. I CAN'T let Nero reach my dad! Ravin thought. Something weird keeps happening to me everyday, now. But since I'm a Dragon, I never lived a normal human life before.
By nightfall, Ravin found Nero. He and Nall were having a scrimage and the White Dragon seemed to be losing.
"Dad!" Ravin called.
"Ravin?" Nall looked at his son. "Ravin, get out of here! Nero's--" Before Nall could finish what he was saying, Nero fired a blast of purple energy at him, consealing him inside a small crystal. The Black Dragon's mouth was curved into a sinister smile, bearing his teeth. Then the white crystal Nall was in, shrunk to the size of a marble, and it shot up into the sky.
"Unh!" Ravin's mouth dropped open. He turned to Nero with a sneer.
"Come and get me, Ravin." Nero taunted.
"Oh, you scum!" Ravin swiftly flew towards the fleeing Nero. "Come here and face me, coward!" He fired a stream of ice at his foe, but Nero dodged it by a long shot. The Black Dragon posthasted behind Ravin and grazed Ravin's shoulder blade with his claws. Nero did the exact same move again, only that time, Ravin evaded it and pounded Nero in the stomach with his tail. Then he charged at Nero, head first, but Nero grabbed one of his wings in his jaws and swung Ravin away. His wing was losing a few feathers, at first after that attack. Ravin expeled fire from his mouth, singing Nero's wing a bit.
"Rrr!" Nero growled, lunging at Ravin. Nero got Ravin in a head-lock, sped down to the earth, and slammed him into the ground.
"Raa--" Nero bit down on Ravin's neck. "Rrroooaaahh!" Ravin spit fire in Nero's face, making him let go, giving Ravin some time to move. Both Dragons fired ice at each other. Nero side-stepped and stopped firing, sending a trail of ice into the trees behind him. The Black Dragon's neck started to crackle with electricity.
"Huh?" Ravin had no idea what Nero was going to do next, so he stood crouched to the ground, getting ready to jump. Nero extended his wings and the battlefield and everything on it was struck by lightning, even Ravin. As Nero flew away, Ravin collasped.
* * *
"Now, this is pitiful."
Ravin's eyes snapped open. He was human now, with all of his drained power from the battle with Nero. He looked up to see a familiar shadowy figure looking down upon him. Ravin squinted his eyes to see who he was. The man had pale skin and was wearing a long black cloak.
"I...I've seen you once before." Ravin groaned, sitting up. "What do you want?"
"So, you are the son of Nall and Ruby, eh?" the man snickered. "You can't even defeat a younger Dragon. You really have alot to learn, boy."
"State your name." Ravin said, standing.
"My name is..." the man hesitated. "Laike."
"Laike? Hm," Ravin raised an eyebrow. "Then, why are you following me, Laike?"
"I haven't been following you, Ravin." Laike said. "I was kind of sent to help you."
"Sent? What do you mean?"
"That I cannot say." Laike lowered his voice. "It's best not spoken. There are things more important than where I came from. Such as all of the small villages the Neo-Grindery has been blowing up. But there are even greater problems than that. I've come to help you train a little along the way to defeating that Death Wraith. That thing can't be beaten, as long as a part of Zophar still remains."
"A part of Zophar? Like what?"
"His ashes." Laike whispered. Ravin was shocked. What if the word had gotten to Diana and Lucia. That would give them even more to worry about.
"This isn't good."
"No, it's not." said Laike. "That's why I am here to help you. I will explain everything to you and your friends when we find them."
Ravin flew Laike back to the Star Dragon Tower, where the others were waiting.
"Who's this?" Joon asked Ravin.
"This is Laike," said Ravin. "He is here to help us."
"I bet you all don't know why you are doing here." Laike said to them. "You probably just wanted to tag along for someone was going somewhere you were going. But you are here for something bigger, though. Fional, Liah, Aimee, and Ryan, you four got involved for a reason. Each of you has a destiny that sets you all apart, however, you are all traveling on the same trail, going for the same goal: to defeat Zophar. I can help you achieve that goal."
"How?" asked Liah.
"Each of you will attack me," Laike spred his legs apart. "Now show me what you got." They still looked confused.
"One at a time, each of you will fire your magical ability at me." Laike told them. They still were confused. "Sigh. It will not harm me. I am stronger than all of you put together. You," He pointed at Fional. "Attack me."
"Alright," Fional loaded his arrows and aimed one at Laike. The arrow started to catch on fire as Fional summoned a spell. "FLASH ARROW!!!"
The arrow didn't harm Laike, but he could still sense the power of the assult.
"I guess that's not TOO bad." Laike shrugged. "You can get better, still." He pointed at Liah.
"You should be surprised about what a Mage can do!" Liah smiled, summoning her Thunder Thrust spell. "Ha! How's that?"
"Good," Laike called on everybody else. They all did as they were told. Ryan didn't need much assistance since he was already handy with the sword; Aimee already knew how to handle Healing spells; and Diana and Ravin were already good with magic. So far, only Fional needed to get better at his magic, and Ravin need to be of more use with weapons. Ravin used the Long Dagger from now on.
" 'Ow can dis help us defeat Zophar?" Fional asked Laike. Laike explained to them about the power of humanity and how it can defeat Zophar, by just combining strength. Diana and Ravin seemed to have understood it, but the rest of the group was still unsure.
"With me, a Sage, to help you," said Laike. "You can become almost invincable."
"Sa-weet!" Fional grinned.
* * *
"So," said Royce, looking into her crystal ball, upon a sleeping Laike. "He man-aged to get them to trust him." (She couldn't hear what they were saying through the ball, but that she seemed to understand)
"I guess we CAN trust that man into helping us." said Xenobia. "However, I will never forgive him for playing with me."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm just going to play around with Ravin," Xenobia grinned. "Making 'Laike' jealous, then maybe I can get some fun around here."
"How are you going to get Ravin?" asked Royce. "He's in love with Lucia's daughter."
"Then I'll just have to get rid of her." Xenobia looked at Royce's crystal ball. "I'll get inside of his mind."
* * *
Ravin started to toss and turn in his sleep. He groaned as his shaking hand reached for his Dagger, that was in it's sheathe.
"Get up, Ravin." echoed Xenobia's voice inside of Ravin's thoughts. "Pierce the heart of the Princess of the Blue Star." Ravin's eyes snapped open, they were the color of Nero's eyes when he was under the same spell; they started to glow. He stood up, clench-ing the dagger in his right hand, blade down. He started to silently walk over to where Diana was sleeping. She rolled over onto her back and moaned for she was starting to wake up. She sleepily scratched her head and yawned, opening her eyes. Diana shaded her eyes with her arm, from the red light that was beaming down upon her.
"Huh...?" Diana looked up in the red and blue glowing eyes of an obscure sil-houette of a young man holding a dagger standing over her. He raised the dagger to strike her. "Ahh--!" Diana swung her hands in front of her face and shot a tiny bolt of lightning at him.
"Aaahhhhh!!" screamed Xenobia's voice. "Too...powerful!" And she left Ravin's mind. A woman-looking puff of purple smoke poured out of Ravin's eyes, draining the red and blue color from them.
"Gah...!" Ravin put his hand on his forehead and fell to his knees. Diana stared at the smoke that was floating out of the campsite.
"Hm," Then Diana looked at the kneeling man. "Gasp! R-Ravin?" He didn't answer; he just growled through his gritted teeth, trying to bear a pain of somekind in his head. "What were you--?" Ravin, looked at his right hand. He gasped quietly, and surprizingly, and looked up at Diana. She looked into his eyes, which were framed with red; his pupils were outlined with light blue.
"What happened...?" Ravin asked.
"Sigh...you were under a spell." Diana replied.
"Am I going to be alright?"
"I hope so,"
* * *
The next day.
Ravin couldn't stop thinking about the incident last night. He didn't even know he was under a spell. He thought he was still asleep. Diana was also puzzled. She thought that she had sensed an evil aura in the smoke that exited Ravin's eyes, but she couldn't tell from whom.
"What's wrong, Ravi?" Joon asked, sitting on his shoulder. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah, your eyes look so distant," said Aimee.
"It's nothing," he responded. "I'm just thinking."
"Okay," Joon lied down on his shoulder, neatly curling her tail around her legs.
"I'm going to leave for a while," said Laike. "I've business to attend to."
"Where ya goin'?" Fional asked the Sage. Laike had already disappeared into thin air. "Huh. Dat was rude."
"Let's just get going." said Ravin.
"Where to?" snapped Liah, who was standing awfully close to Ryan. "Do we just go around the world and back until we find some vile god's reeking pile of cremation?"
"If that's what it takes to save Lunar." Ravin retorted. He turned to Diana. "Where was Zophar defeated? Maybe that's where his ashes'll be."
"The Minea Sea," Diana replied. "We will go there, next."
* * *
It took them all day to egress the Salyan Desert. By evening, they had to stop and rest at an old water ruin for the night.
"The Water Ruins?" Ravin exclaimed.
"They have to be!" Diana breathed. "This is how my Father described them. I didn't know they were on Lunar; I thought they were on the Blue Star!" She turned to her friends. "He said that he had to find the Sapphire Eye of the Dragon in order to open the gates to the Star Dragon Tower. He said that something else happened here that involved my Mother, but he never told me what."
"I've got an idea!" Liah exclaimed. She ran over to the water and stroked the surface with her palm. She sighed. "Why don't we go for a swim?"
"What for?" Aimee asked.
"It'll be fun! For once we can think about something else than Zo- fart."
"That'll be nice." Ravin sighed. "I think it's a great idea. After we swim, we can build a fire and warm up."
"Oh, yeah, sure," mocked Joon. "What are you gonna do, skinny-dip?"
"I agree with Joon." said Ravin. "We don't have any swim suits."
"What's the matter, Ravin?" asked Ryan. "Afraid we'll laugh at your...equipment?"
"No," Ravin said, defensively. "It's becau--"
"Of course not!" Liah laughed at Joon. "I've got a couple of my bathing suits in my nap sack." She pulled out four pairs of bathing suits. One was a one-piece that had cute little bows holding the sides together, leaving openings in between each one. Another was a blue bikini with lemons on it. The third one was also a bikini, but the bottom half was shorts; it had blue, turquoise, and lime-green stripes. And the fourth one was like the third one, only the bottom wasn't shorts and the top had short sleeves, and it had bright red and silver marks.
"Since when did you bring bathing suits?" Aimee asked. "Isn't that a bit...unusual?"
"I only meant to bring one, but I couldn't decide." Liah objected. "I pick the one with the lemons." She exclaimed, greedily snatching it from the small pile.
"Then, I'll get the one-piece with the cute little bows." Aimee said.
"Pick one or the other, Diana!" Joon exclaimed.
"Both are very nice, however, I cannot decide." Diana said slightly blushing.
"Then I'LL pick!" Joon spun around in a circle and dizzily picked the red and silver striped bikini. "Here ya go!" Joon gave it to Diana.
"Now what about the guys?" Aimee asked Liah.
"Guess they'll have to go in boxers!" the red-head giggled.
After everyone got changed, they quickly jumped into the frore water. Even though it was cold, they eventually got used to it's temperature and learned to enjoy it.
Fional was standing on a pillar sticking out of the water, in his shorts. He was holding a struggling Joon in his right hand. Joon was biting his thumb, but Fional didn't even wince. The Beastman howled with joy and jumped into the water, dragging Joon under with him. The cat jumped out of the water, gasping for air. When Fional came up to the surface, laughing, Joon started to chase after him.
Liah was swimming with Aimee and she constantly talked about how hot Ryan looked without a shirt, making Aimee a little annoyed at how her best friend wouldn't talk about anything else.
Ryan kept on trying to do hold his breath underwater for over two minutes and spend that time gazing at Liah's legs without her knowing.
Diana would just swim by herself, gawking at the blue and purple sky.
Ravin would torture Joon along with Fional. But every once in a while, he'd glance over at Diana swimming alone.
He wanted to keep her company, so he went beneath the surface and swam away from Fional and Joon's area without them getting any ideas about him, to where Diana was swimming. Ravin grinned to himself while swimming under the water. He popped his head out next to Diana's head. She looked up at him; he looked down upon her. They both smiled. Ravin leaned down to kiss Diana. She seemed to get the idea of what he wanted, so she puckered her lips, a little, and closed her eyes. She thought that she was going to feel the soft pressure of lips on her own, but she felt firm hands on her back. Ravin put both of his hands under her back, picked her up in the air, and tossed her back in the water. Diana shrieked as she landed. She came up out of the water, and soon smiled at Ravin. He smirked back.
"That...was fun." Diana giggled, plopping backwards.
"That was the idea," Ravin sank down until only his head and shoulders were sticking out of the surface. "I wish it would stay like this forever."
"So do I." Diana said. She swam over to the arching rock that was behind Ravin and she sat down on a rock that was buried in the mud beneath the water. "It really has been amazing, so far, with you, Ravin." He swam closer to her, wanting to talk more about what they want on this journey. "And...I do not mean to embarrass you, but...I've noticed that you have done everything you could to take care of me."
"I don't want to see you get hurt." Ravin was now nose to nose with Diana. "I would never, ever hurt you."
"And I, you," Diana closed her eyes to kiss Ravin. No, Diana! Stop! said a voice in her head. She opened her eyes and quietly gasped. "I...I am sorry," Diana whispered. She looked back and saw the others out of the water, getting the fire ready. "Let us go." She grabbed Ravin's hand from underwater and pulled him along with her. They all sat around the fire trying to dry off. Each of them would tell hilarious stories of themselves when they were kids.
"An' me Pop put 'is fingers 'round me nose an' gently pulled an' made a fist like dis," Fional made a fist and put his thumb in between his middle and index fingers. "An' he said, 'I gotcha nose!' an' den 'e acted like 'e put me nose in 'is mouth. I started ta cry about me nose an' yelled, 'Gimme back me nose!' An' Pops would tell me ta ask politly, an' I would." Fional laughed along with everyone else. "Ah, I was a stupid lil' kid den, eh?" They all agreed with him. Then Liah started telling them a story when she was a child. Afterwards, everyone got back in their regular clothes, and went to sleep.
The next morning.
Thirty minutes after the party woke up, they reached the Minea Sea. It was much bigger now, then it was one hundred years ago. A couple of years previously, the sea swallowed up Azado along with it's peninsula.
Ravin scavenged around over the Minea Sea, looking for something out of place. Eventually, he saw a two towers sticking up out of the water.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Let's go check it out." Ryan suggested. The white Dragon flew down to the castle.
"Where can I land?" Ravin asked himself aloud, looking at the second tower that was much taller than the other one.
"There!" Joon pointed at a ledge on the lower tower, where Ravin soon landed. He morphed into a human form.
"There's something evil in there," Ravin said to the others as he looked at the huge, locked, iron doors.
"How will we get in?" Aimee asked.
"Like this," Ravin wrapped his hands around the lock on the entryway. His hands started to catch on fire; they melted the iron lock. He kicked it off and opened the entrance. They all started to walk inside of the villa. They've encountered strong monsters while going deeper into the chateau, such as Steel Soldiers, Bomb Angels, Bronze Creeps, and Dark Eyes.
After one story, they reached the second one down. The floors were glass. Ravin looked beneath the glass and saw a familiar white claw, that was in chains. He looked forward and seen the Dragon head of Nall.
"Dad!" Ravin exclaimed, running over to the White Dragon. Nall's mouth was full of tubes going in and out of his lips. His eyes were closed and had cycles under them; they opened a minute later.
"Ravin...?" Nall said, weakly.
"W-What's wrong? What's happening?" Ravin asked his father.
"The Neo-Grindery is...sucking the life out of me..." Nall whispered. "And also the others."
"Wha...?!" Ravin shook his head. "Even Nero?" Nall nodded a bit. "What of the Death Wraith and the Sorceress's?"
"The Wraith...is using our power to make the reviving Zophar much...stronger than before." Nall closed his eyes. "Soon...he will come."
"Let's get moving." Ravin said, stomping forward.
* * *
"They are coming!" yelled the Death Wraith to Xenobia, Royce, Taben, and a young sixteen year old boy with raven-black hair and eyes. He turned to the boy. "Take care of the rest of the Dragons."
"Yes, Master," he bowed and walked off.
"Taben,"
"M'Lord?" Taben raised his head.
"Raise the Neo-Grindery." the Wraith told him. "Zophar's revival is very soon."
* * *
The room started to shake. Everybody fell over onto the floor, even the monsters they were up against.
"W-W-Wha-a-a-at's h-h-ha-ap-p-pening?" Joon stuttered, rolling on the floor.
"I-I don't know," Fional growled, gripping his hands into the floor.
The rumbling stopped.
"What was THAT?" Ryan exclaimed, holding onto Liah.
Ravin frowned. "I think it--"
"RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Wha...?" Joon flew into the air. "That sounded like Mom!" She started to fly to where she'd heard the roar. Everyone followed her. In the next room, Joon was flying in the air, her mouth wide open. She had witnessed her mother being destroyed. "Mom...?" Now all that she seen was a dark-haired boy, surrounded by a shattered blue crystal.
"Who are you, kid?" Ravin exclaimed.
"You should know who I am, Ravin." the boy said, lowering his head. Ravin thought about it for a while. The boy's aura was awfully familiar. Then it hit him.
"Nero?!" Ravin yelled.
"Nero??!" Joon gasped, after him. Nero nodded. "Why have you killed my Mom?!"
"I was simply following orders." he replied. Joon frowned, almost about to cry.
"Joon," Diana whispered. "It is not really Nero; he is under a spell." Nero disappeared.
"No!" Ravin howled. "Where'd he go?" There was another ear-piercing roar. "Dad!" He ran to the room he was in last. Nall was gone, only shattered white crystal was lying on the floor. "He's going for Mom, next!" He ran until he entered the room where his mother was. She was still there and Nero was standing in front of her, his arm extended. Ravin tackled Nero and punched his jaw. The boy shook his head.
"Huh...?" Nero looked around, his eyes were now a dark green. "Where am--? Ravin, what are you doing on me?" He got off. Nero stood up. "No...It happened, didn't it?"
"What? You got casted under this spell more than once?" Ravin asked.
"Yes...but me finding out was an accident." Nero's face grew more serious. "You have to do something, Ravin."
"Like what?"
"You have to kill Zophar and the others." Nero explained. "If you don't, this'll happen again and it'll mean death for us all."
"Don't worry, Nero, we will." Ravin looked at his friends and nodded at them. They started to follow him, even though he wasn't expecting them to.
"Wait, Ravin!" said an exhausted Ruby from behind. "I would...like to tell you something. Now that Nall is gone...you are the White Dragon." Ravin looked at Ruby, who's dark eyes were welling with tears.
"Me...?"
"Yes. It is your duty, now, to protect Lunar."
"I won't fail Lunar, Mom."
"It's time." whispered Royce and Taben.
"Now we wait for Ravin others to come." said Xenobia.
Ravin and the others finally reached the tallest tower of the Neo- Grindery. They had to go all of the way to the bottom of the Neo-Grindery and up again in order to get to it. Royce, Xenobia, and Taben were there, and were staring at them. Behind them was a large, chunky, black, four- headed monster. Coming out of the spiky, tortoise-like shell were two muscular arms with only three fingers on each hand. Each of the heads were a different, pale, color, and each one had six red and blue eyes. One head was a light gray, another was ash-black, the head sticking out of the right of the higher and lower heads was a grayish-red, and the left head was a grayish-blue.
"What da bloody 'ell is dat?!" howled Fional.
"It...is the Death Wraith!" Diana whispered.
"Rrrrr...!" the Wraith growled, raising his clutched claw. It opened it's hand and in it lain a navy blue crystal full of gray and tan ashes. Red mist surrounded it.
"No...!" Diana gasped. "They have found the ashes!" The Death Wraith held the crystal like a dagger and stabbed itself with it. The stone broke and the ashes poured onto the skin of the Wraith. It's body lit up and started to mutate. Everyone watched. The party's mouths and eyes were open wide. The form of the Wraith now was of a hideous monster. Jagged "wings" were pointing out of the body, leading up. It sort of had the head of a man with lavender skin and an enormous head-piece with two large black and yellow shells, pointing outward like the "wings". It's feet were wrapped in what appeared to be long, green leaves. It's outstretched hands were spread out and had extensive nails.
"Master Zophar!" Royce, Xenobia, and Taben exclaimed, kneeling.
"Yes! I am Zophar! Master of darkness!" he yelled. "Ah...now then." Zophar turned to Diana. "You. You are the one I am looking for. You are the one I must stop now until I continue my glorious plans."
"You do not scare me!" Diana shouted. "I will destroy you and halt your 'glorious plans'!"
"Heh, heh, heh." Zophar chortled. "What makes you so sure that you can stop me? Now that I have absorbed the power of Althena's Dragons, I am unstoppable. You are wasting your breath, my sweet."
"Oh, am I?" Diana's hand started to glow. "I know I will be victorious, Zophar. That is because I have the aspect of Althena in my blood, the magic of the Four Dragons, humanity on my side," She glanced back at Ravin. "And the power of love."
"The power of love?!" Zophar laughed. "You are delirious, child! Do you possibly think that that boy you see is your loved one?! You are even more mixed up than I thought. You have the stupidity of both your mother and your mortal father."
"I do think that Ravin is. And I think Ravin feels the same way." She turned to Ravin. She gave him a look that read "you love me, don't you?". He smiled and nodded. Diana smiled back and turned back to Zophar, who was laughing to himself.
"As I said before, you are delirious." Zophar smirked. "Ravin never loved you."
Diana frowned. "What...?"
"That's right. He never loved you. He was just playing with your mind this entire time, after he found out you were from the Blue Star. All of those compliments, loving moments, all of it were lies!"
"I would NEVER do that!" Ravin objected.
"How would SHE know that?" Zophar argued.
"Rrr! I've had ENOUGH OF YOU!!!" Ravin transformed into the White Dragon and attacked Zophar. Zophar used a dark energy and nearly destroyed Ravin. Ravin lied on the floor, motionless.
"Ravin, NO!" Diana cried. She gave Zophar a nasty look and got her hand ready to cast an earth-shattering kaboom of an attack. Before she could act, Zophar threw a purple dagger and it went right through Diana like a knife. She fell to her knees, her breath labored. She looked at the fallen Ravin, who's head is now up with a shocked look on his dragon face. Diana's vision blured. She gritted her teeth and whispered, "I-I kill you..." She fell to the floor and fainted. Blood slowly flowed outward from her stomach.
"RRAAAAHHH!!" Ravin howled. Ravin's eyes grew angry with rage and he slowly got up. Ravin shot fire at Zophar and the monster blocked it and disappeared. The party watched, feeling helpless.
"What are you going to do, Ravin? Sit there and enjoy the death of your 'one true love'? Ha ha ha ha ha! Aha ha ha ha ha ha! AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" Zophar's voice paused. "Xenobia! Royce! Take care of them! I havn't time to deal with mere mortals."
"Yes, Master!" the sisters answered, as Taben disappeared to elsewhere.
"You can do what you want with the others, Royce." said Xenobia. "But I want Ravin alive." Royce sneered at her sister, as she raised her staff into the air. Lightning struck everyone accept Ravin and Joon.
"No!" Ravin ran over to Diana.
"Let's go, Ravin." said Xenobia in a seductive voice. She snapped her fingers and she and Ravin disappeared. Royce disappeared afterwards.
"Ravin!" Joon cried. "Diana! You HAVE to go after Ravin, NOW!" Joon started to glow blue. "Huh?!"