As they walked along, Albert mentioned to Dart, "I had such a strange dream last night. In fact, it's been a recurring dream."
"You too?" Dart asked. Albert looked at him with a questioning look. "I don't know if it's the same dream, but I"ve been having a recurring dream too."
Shana, who had been walking hand-in-hand with Dart piped up. "Me too."
Dart's head snapped around. "What? You have? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it didn't bother me." Shana replied.
Dart looked back over at Albert. "What was yours about?"
"I can't remember all the details, but..." Albert said. "I'm standing in a dark place. The wind is howling, but I can't feel it. Then, suddenly, a young woman appears in front of me. She is dressed in a white dress and has blonde hair. She turns around, but I can't see her face. Well, at least her eyes. I can't see her eyes. She smiles, and says, 'Albert'. Then, the wind blows again, this time, harder than ever, and she blown away like sand. The wind stops suddenly, and it is dead silent. Then, a voice breaks the silence by saying, 'someone who is now dear to your memory will soon return to you.'"
"That's the same dream that I've been having! But, just a bit different," Dart said.
"Me too," Shana said.
"Really?" Dart asked.
Shana nodded.
"Who is the girl in the dream?" Albert wondered.
"I know," Shana said.
"Huh?" Dart said. "She never said who she was."
Shana looked up at him with an "I know something that you don't know" look. "There is more to the dream that I've been having than to yours."
"Really? What?" Albert asked.
"The part when she turns around and smiles," Shana began.
"Yeah," Dart said.
"Well, she says, 'Shana, I am the Divine Daughter, and...' that's when she blown away. Then she says, 'someone who is now dear to your memory will soon return to you.'" Shana said.
"Weird..." Dart said.
"The Divine Daughter...?" Albert asked. "Who's that?"
Shana shrugged. "Someone during the Dragon Campaign?" She suggested.
"Who knows?" Albert said.
The sun was setting by the time they returned to Bale. They ate dinner, and Dart and Albert went into the King's study to attempt to look up things.
"Okay, let's get down to business," Albert said. He searched the shelves. "I don't know where to start."
"First, let's look up the Divine Daughter," Dart said.
"Good idea," Albert agreed.
Two hours later.
"Hey I found something," Dart said. Albert put down the book he was looking through and rounded the table to look over Dart's shoulder.
"What have you found?" Albert asked.
"Look." Dart pointed to a section in the book he had labeled The Divine Blessings. "'The Divine Blessings' or also known as the blessings from Soa or his 'Divine' creations, i.e. The Divine Tree and The Divine Dragon. But, in this case, the Divine Blessings come from one of the Divine creations. It says here that long ago, not too long before the Dragon Campaign, the Divine Dragon had twin offspring. One representing life, the Divine White Crystal Dragon; one representign death, the Divine Black Crystal Dragon. In the time of about a year, the twin dragons were killed of by the Winglies so that the 'Dragoon' conspiracy would not be as harsh as anyone would expect."
"I didn't realize the Dragon Campaign was a conspiracy beforehand..." Albert said quietly.
"I guess," Dart said before he continued. "Two Winglies who stood against the Wingly beliefs at the time received the twin Dragoon Spirits. One, a Wingly thief, and a nuisance to society. Very weak in the magic department, but very powerful physically. He received the Divine Black Crystal Dragon Dragoon Spirit. The other one, a Wingly princess, the youngest of the last known Wingly royal family, was physically weak, but had the strongest magical power in the known Wingly world at the time. She received the Divine White Crystal Dragon Dragoon Spirit along with a crystal-bladed sword, named the Crystal Blade, but was later nicknamed the Virage Buster. These two, were separately named the Divine Son and Daughter, but were collectively known as the Divine Children. Before the slightest whim of an idea of the Dragon Campaign, a strong magical Wingly royal family ruled. When the Wingly dictator Melbu Frahma rose to power, the King became just a mere figurehead. It was said that the Divine Children were awfully young to be warriors. It was said that the Divine Son was only 15 years of age, and that the Divine Daughter was only 14. As a note, there was an offspring of the White Crystal Dragon. A vassal dragon that was named the "White Dragon". The Divine Daughter had complete control over the White Dragon. It was said that they perished at the final battle of the Dragon Campaign, along with the Dragoons."
"Is that it?" Albert asked.
"Yep." Dart shut the book.
"It's late. Let's retire for the night." Albert said.
Dart went downstairs into the bedroom. Haschel sat on the tird bed down, Kongol sat against the far wall, obviously too big for a bed, and Meru and Claira sat on the far bed playing a game of cards. There was no sign of Erisi. Shana had apparently grabbed the first bed, for she sat up, partly covered by a blanket, engrossed in a novel.
Dart sat down heavily on the bed. "You still up?"
Shana glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "It's just a bit past ten."
"Really?" Dart turned around and stared at the clock for a while. "Well, I'm still tired." He pulled his red armor off and placed it by the bed. He plopped down on the bed.
Shana giggled. "Comfy, dear?"
Dart looked up at her. "As near as it's gonna get." He sat up and pounded on his pillow a bit, to soften it up. He lay back down. "Better."
Shana shook her head. Suddenly, she dropped her book and her hand came up to her stomach.
Dart looked up at her. "What?"
"The baby's kicking," Shana said.
Dart bolted up. "Let me feel!"
Shana placed his hand on her stomach.
A few moments passed and the kicking ceased.
"Frisky little guy," Dart commented.
"'Little guy'?" Shana asked.
"Well, 'it' jsut doesn't sound quite right," Dart said, leaning over her.
"I quite agree," Shana said.
Dart leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
Haschel cleared his throat. "I'll just ignore you two."
Dart looked up. "What?"
Haschel had shifted and was now looking the other direction.
"Kongol sees nothing wrong with showing affection," Kongol called from across the room.
"I agree with Kongol," Dart said.
Shana stuck her tongue out at Haschel. She grabbed Dart by the face and kissed him back.
Erisi stood outside the castle, letting the cool Serdian night air blow around her face. She closed her eyes and the air buffeted her platinum blonde hair around.
She gazed up at the clear, star-filled sky. How many years has it been now that I have seen the moons? Many more than the others inside the castle. The Moon That Never Sets...it finally set two years back, never to rise again.
Erisi rolled a small, marble-like stone in the palm of her hand. It reflected the light from the stars, and it glowed iridescently as a result.
Is this my destiny? Hmm, only the unseen force called fate that writes my destiny knows it. Erisi thought. Why am I here? What made me follow these people? Oh, I have so many questions that I cannot answer.
She placed a hand on her forehead, and ran her fingers over the intricate design on her silver tiara. A clear, diamond-like stone was set in the downward point of the tiara.
A stray dog ran around, barking up a storm. It ran up to Erisi, snarling. Erisi crouched down and gently touched the stray dog on the head. The rabid dog suddenly calmed down and wimpered.
"There's a good boy," Erisi whispered. She scratched the dog under the chin.
Two figures stole out of the castle. Meru and Claira. Erisi smiled and stood as the dog ran off. The duo froze when they saw her.
"Erisi," Meru said. "Why are you out so late?"
"I'm not tired," Erisi answered.
"Neither are we!" Claira took off down the stone steps. Meru followed her.
"Don't go waking up the entire city, you two!" Erisi called in a loud whisper.
"We won't!" Meru called back quietly.