The Hunters are mine, the rest is Sony's.

Once we had finished our business in Vellweb, we began the long trek through the Death Frontier. Having grown accustomed to Mille Seseau's cold climate, the endless sands of the Death Frontier came as an unpleasant surprise. Add the presence of some very annoying monsters, and this leg of the trip was as miserable as you could imagine.

"Don't we ever get a break from these creatures?" Lavitz groaned, impaling a sandworm.

I chopped a dragonfly in half, then tossed a throwing knife into a scorpion. "It beats fighting Virages, doesn't it?" I replied, retrieving the knife. "Would one of you Wind Dragoons take care of those blasted beetles?"

"I'm on it." Syuveil morphed and took to the air. "Wing Blaster!"

After a long day of walking and fighting, we made camp at an oasis. The presence of water was a welcome change, especially for Meru and Damia, who hated deserts.

"We'll need a fire," Rose said. "It can get quite cold here at night."

Dart started a campfire, and we all gathered around. I didn't need to get very close, given my background. I sat by myself against a rock, absorbed in my thoughts. We've come a long way.

"Are they going to talk all night!?" came a young voice.

I looked up. "Damia? What are you talking about?"

"Them." She gestured to where Albert and Syuveil were engaged in a deep conversation. "It's like they don't know that the rest of us are here."

I chuckled. "They probably will talk all night. Albert will talk your ears off for days on end, and Syuveil likely wants someone to talk to after eleven thousand years."

Damia laughed and plopped down next to me. "That's Syuveil." She paused. "What's your world like?"

I gazed sightlessly into the distance. "It's more advanced technologically than this one, and there's more people. However, Humans are the only intelligent species there. That doesn't mean that we don't have war, though. People are people, regardless of species." I was silent for a moment. "It's not really 'my' world anymore. My parents have moved to Bale, so I don't really have any reason to go anywhere else." I hesitated. "You're obviously not entirely human. May I ask what your other half is?"

"Mermaid."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's a new one. Not that there's anything wrong with it, of course."

She smiled. "Thanks. See you in the morning."

The next day found us at a rocky outcropping. Aside from that, the landscape was as featureless as ever. I couldn't figure out what was so special about the area.

Rose removed a piece of jewelry. "Time was stopped for me eleven thousand years ago, by the spell of this choker," she said. "And this is the only way to see Ulara, the Spring Breath Town." She held up the choker, revealing Ulara with its magic. "Let's go."

We stepped onto a nearby warp plate and found ourselves in an entirely different place. Ulara contrasted breathtakingly with the surrounding desert. While the Death Frontier was barren, aside from the occasional oasis, there was water everywhere in this town. I assumed that it was made by magic, given the terrain.

Our first stop was the house of Charle Frahma, sister of the infamous Wingly dictator. While I had heard that she led the Dragoons' Wingly allies during the Dragon Campaign, I have to say that she didn't look the part. Far from appearing as some charismatic leader, Charle looked like a classic little old lady, minus the wrinkles.

Charle greeted Rose in a manner that made the Dark Dragoon look like she wanted to put a fist through the wall. She then wanted to be introduced to Zieg's son.

Rose waved a hand at our leader. "This is Dart."

Charle peered at him. "You have the same eyes as our Zieggy."

Zieggy?

I stepped forward. "Let's get to the point. What are these Divine Moon Objects for?"

Charle sighed. "I didn't want to make them, but Melbu insisted. He wanted to break the seal on the moon any time he wanted to."

"So the Signets are the seal for the moon?" I pressed, and got a confirming nod. "Where are they?"

"There were originally five, one for each of the great cities," Charle said. "There are only three left now. The one in Kadessa was destroyed in the war, and the one in the Crystal Palace was destroyed when the Divine Dragon assaulted Deningrad. The remaining Signets are in the Magical City Aglis, Law City Zenebatos, and Death City Mayfil."

"Where should we go, now?" Dart asked.

"Go to Rouge," Charle replied. "You can make the journey from there."

"Rouge?" repeated Haschel. "That's my home village!"

The Wingly smiled. "See, your way is already open."

I headed out on my own to explore the city, as usual. It was the first time in quite a while that I could wander without fear of being attacked by some ugly creature with a really stupid name, so I intended to relax while I had the chance. I morphed and flew to the top of a building. I decided it was the perfect place for stargazing.

What a night, I thought. It makes me realize just how fragile the world can be. We can't let Zieg have his way.

"There you are."

I turned, fluttering my wings. "Damia? Have you been shadowing me?"

She shook her head. "I asked Krista where to look."

I raised my eyebrows. "You've been talking to my sister?"

Damia chuckled. "Yeah. She's told me a lot about you. Like that party in Fletz."

I snorted. "You mean the one where I spent most of the night standing against a wall looking morose? Great. You're crazier than Meru, and that takes talent." I sighed. "Oh, well. She's been badgering me about having fun for years. It figures that she'd enlist the aid of someone like you."

She smiled. "Krista didn't ask me for help. I did this on my own. You really should have a little fun with life."

"Oh, please. I enjoy my life. I just don't like to be undignified. Besides, we have a job to do."

"What if you get yourself killed!?"

"What do you care?"

"Kyle, I love you!"

I almost fell off the roof in surprise. I was only able to maintain my balance by flapping my wings. "You…you…what did you just say!?"

Damia grinned. "Do I have to repeat myself?" She stepped closer.

We kissed, then I shook my head. "I can hardly wait for Haschel to hear about this," I moaned.

She looked puzzled. "What's wrong with that?"

"He's the king of rude questions. He'll never let me hear the end of it. And Meru's going to be even worse. She spies on people." I then felt eyes on my back.

I spun around. "Meru!? You insane little Wingly! Flameshot!!!" The fireball chased Meru down the street.

I groaned. "Great. Just great. So much for my image."

"What do you mean?"

"Rose is the only Dragoon who's more cold-blooded than I am. And now Meru's gonna tell everyone that I've fallen for a hyperactive teenager! At least we're close in age, discounting the eleven millennia you spent in a tower." Another thought struck me. "And, of course, Krista will twit me about this for the rest of my life."

The fallout wasn't as bad as I feared. Haschel was rude, as usual, but Rose shut him up quickly enough. Meru was more difficult. She kept pestering me until I screamed at her to shut up.

"Look, people change, okay!?" I finally burst out. That took care of that.

We made our way to the teleporter and found it surrounded by Winglies.

Dart was puzzled. "Charle, what is this?"

She laughed. "Oh, naïve boy, it's a sendoff. You folks are going to save the world." Charle looked at each of us in turn. "Everyone must survive, okay?" We nodded.

The teleporter was activated, sending us to the Home of Gigantos. The place hadn't changed since our last visit, save for the absence of bandits. It had a much more wholesome feel.

We sped through the Valley of Corrupted Gravity in record time, then did the same in the Barrens. We traveled in Dragoon form to save time, as we had to reach the Signets before Zieg did. If we failed, the world was doomed.

After exchanging a few words with King Zior in Fletz, we embarked on the Queen Fury for the trip to Rouge. Haschel grew more and more excited as we neared the shore.

"I haven't been home in twenty years," he explained.

The villagers were ecstatic to see Haschel again. What struck me as odd was that none of them wore armor. I questioned on of them about it.

"We don't need armor," he replied. "We don't have monsters here."

Dart spoke to the village leader. "Have you seen anything unusual here? Anything that Humans couldn't have built?"

"A structure of the ancient Winglies," Rose added.

The mayor looked at is blankly. "Hold on, you've lost me here. What's a Wingly?"

I jerked my thumb at Meru and Lloyd. "They're Winglies."

Haschel gave a more detailed explanation, then the local martial arts teacher spoke up. "How about that stick in the ocean? Humans couldn't have built that."

We rushed to the shore and saw what looked like a large building, only much more ornate.

"That wasn't here twenty years ago," Haschel murmured.

Rose frowned. "It must be Aglis. Zieg will probably come here first."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. At the same time, a whirlpool that had surrounded Aglis disappeared. The sea split into a corridor leading to the Wingly city.

Krista pointed at the new path. "This should get us to Aglis."

Inside the city was dripping wet. Everything seemed to have the same bluish color. There was a feeling of watchfulness.

Damia shivered. I glanced at her. "Are you all right?"

"I remember fighting here. My magic didn't do much good because all my opponents had my element. I almost died."

I squeezed her shoulder. "It shouldn't be so nasty, this time." The city shook. "What was that?"

Kongol looked back. "The sea closed. We can't go back."

"Someone's playing hardball," Rose muttered.

We soon encountered a small creature. "I'm Ruff, ruff. Ruff doesn't want to be here, but he has a message, ruff. 'Welcome to the heroes fated to be here. Welcome to Rose, who…" Ruff spun once. "I forgot the rest."

Predictably, Miranda got very angry. "Are you on Zieg's side!? Tell me, or I'll mess you up!"

"'Mess you up'? Ruff hasn't seen it and doesn't know, ruff. Show it to Ruff, ruff. It sounds like some rough stuff, ruff."

I shook my head. "You're wasting your time, Miranda. This magic thing can't say much." She looked on the verge of apoplexy, but Shana calmed her.

Ruff turned around. "That's all I have to say, ruff. All is for the sake of the Psychedelic Bomb and Moot, ruff. Ruff is going, ruff. It's rough, ruff."

We moved deeper into the city, killed every monster unfortunate enough to run into us, got a message from a Wingly named Savan, and finally came to a strange chamber.

Savan appeared out of nowhere. Tall, brown skinned, and bald, he had an air of decay around him, as though he was already dead but hadn't noticed yet. He asked for our courage to power a magic weapon, the Psychedelic Bomb. To that end, he gave us each a challenge; mine was too pointless to record, suffice it to say I passed it.

We caught up with him and received a more powerful weapon than expected: the Psychedelic Bomb X.

Moot proved to be a new Signet, which would permanently seal the Moon That Never Sets. Unfortunately, the Last Kraken, which guarded it, went berserk, thanks to Zieg. It took hours, but we were finally able to destroy it.

Savan teleported us out, but died soon after. We proceeded to a warp plate, and teleported to the Law City Zenebatos.

I viewed the Law City as just another ruin, but Albert seemed fascinated.

"I would like to know how the Winglies governed," he said. "But it seems that Zenebatos is malfunctioning."

His words were confirmed when a heartless magic drone appeared, spouted some gibberish, and left.

Despite the presence of Meru and Lloyd, we couldn't get to the Signet Sphere right away. First, we had to go to the Legislation Center and revise the law, then take it back to the drone that was blocking our way, then we could finally get where we needed to go.

We arrived at the Great Court, only to find that Zieg had already tampered with the city. The judge sentenced us to death, but our Light Dragoons made short work of the three executioners. We got to the chamber, but were too late. Zieg appeared, berated us for a few minutes, and vanished.

We used the entrance teleporter to get to the Death City Mayfil.

I am not exaggerating when I say that Mayfil was the creepiest place I have had the dubious pleasure of visiting. Everything was dark and dreary, covered in shadow. The city had an aura of despair, as if the very souls were crying out. Rose had bad memories of the place.

"This was the last Wingly city we destroyed prior to Kadessa," she said. "We wanted to stop them from playing with souls."

No monsters that I had encountered previously made my skin crawl like the undead. It was like fighting cadavers; they just kept coming. It took hours to kill them all.

Deep inside, we found souls of Rose's many victims. They recognized her instantly, but were driven off when her Dragoon Spirit started to glow.

"I cannot die now," she whispered.

In the next room, we found the soul of Dart's mother. She seemed to react to him, revitalizing us.

I shook my head in disbelief. "This place makes the Phantom Ship look cheerful. I will be very glad to leave."

We took a warp plate on the far side of the room, and came face to face with a demon, no doubt it was he who was causing this madness.

"Who are you!?" Dart demanded.

"My name is Zackwell," came the reply. "I rule here now, and you won't get to the Signet Sphere."

"We'll see about that!" Shirley retorted. "White Silver Dragon!!"

Dart and I leaped into the air, using the same spell. "Final Burst!" The demon was incinerated.

Rose said, "We have no time to celebrate! We have to get to the Signet!"

We got there and found the room deserted. Are we in time?

Dart clenched his fist. "Let's finish it here!"

"I agree." Zieg's voice. "I'll finish the world here."

Dart transformed. "I won't let you!" He charged, but was knocked back.

"Don't come near me," Zieg growled.

He hurled the Moon gem into the Signet, causing a huge explosion. When it faded, Zieg had left and the Moon was falling.

"Is it over!?" Rose asked in despair.

"No." Dart stood up. "The Signet has been destroyed, but we are still here! We will change fate!!"

A flying creature swooped in: Coolon, the wings of Savan. We hopped on, and were swiftly born to the Divine Tree, where the Moon awaited.

Author's note: Sorry for the lack of detail in the Wingly cities. The word processor insisted on crashing while I was writing that section, and I wasn't in the mood to rewrite it. D.S.