Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lunar games, characters, or places.

Chapter 1

Body Wise, Mindless Mayhem

Taben's Peak

Nall's Chamber's

Nall felt a slight weight across his body, his bare feet covered with his sheets. he had recalled pulling them up to his waist last night, just below Ruby's paws. It wasn't as if he was ever truly bothered by the cold, he was the White Dragon after all, his natural elements were the ice and the winds that carried the chill through winter. But the weight across his body was new, a bit heavier than Ruby had been last night. His hands gave off a soft twitch, the one upon Ruby's stomach confuse him. He didn't feel her fur, he felt smooth taut skin. His heart pumped a bit faster, wondering if one of the kids had snuck in and cuddled up in bed with them, but as he slid his hand up, his fingers bumped into something soft, like a woman's chest. His cheeks burned. Ruby would kill him if one of the older girls had snuck in to 'cuddle' Nall before she had to leave. He didn't think any of the teens would do such a thing, but a few, in several eras, had developed feelings for him, one even tried to kiss him some odd 300 years before Ruby flapped into his life.

Nall had refused every single one, for a few reasons. One, they were mortal girls, and he'd have to say good-bye to them, unable to follow, two, he lacked the same feelings of love they had for him, and the third reason tied in with the second, they were like daughters to him, not girlfriends. He never saw any of his girls as objects of romantic love. 'But you having your hand against a breast isn't going to make her think that, and Ruby won't like seeing this...but where is Ruby?' he thought.

With a groan, he darted his hand back to the stomach, forcing his tired eyes open. He'd have to scold the girl for stealing into his bedroom naked and embarrassing the both of them. As his amber eyes slid open, he beheld colors, two in particular. Pink and a light chocolate brown. It was spilled across his chest, long hair that possibly went a bit past her waist, making him half happy and half disappointed he was wearing his purple shirt still. If the woman shifted, she'd find out how very ticklish he was. Still, it was good he was dressed, so if the girl got angry at him, she couldn't say they had done anything with his clothes on. But the colors were bugging him, pink and brown, pink and brown...and then his eyes saw it, a sunshine yellow bow atop her head.

'Pink...and brown and a yellow BOW!? Oh my goddess! Ruby?? Oh..oh..'he thought, his mind flooding with thoughts that made him blush worse. He already cared a lot for Ruby, but her naked on top of him was not making his shyness against her heart any weaker. Nall didn't want to think, especially after his hand's slight adventure, which was still gripping her slim waist. Why now? She never once showed her she'd made progress with human form. Last night's events weren't enough to bring it about either. It bothered him greatly, and she was also still asleep. No way she could do that in her sleep, dreams couldn't be that inspiring.

He felt an ache in his stomach, his mind unable to break from imagining how Ruby looked face to face...'With clothes on..with clothes on!! Ahh, I have to get out of here before one of the kids sees us like this...or she sees this! I'm going to get roasted where it really hurts...wait, I didn't do anything...that she's aware of. She'd never know i bumped her chest. Never! I have it, pretend I'm still asleep, she can't possibly clobber me when she thinks i didn't wake up yet. Brilliant' he thought feverishly, reddening worse when her body shifted on him. 'Don't think, fake sleeeeep!' his mind screamed, his eyes forcing shut.

The young woman stretched along his body, so he bit the side of his mouth to keep himself from making any noise. A soft yawn followed, and he felt her slim fingers itch at her stomach, right by his. They stopped after a few seconds, tapping at her stomach, then his fingers, then back to her stomach. She was quiet for a while then, lifting her hand away. He waited, breathing softly in false slumber, but still nothing, not even a scream or a movement.

Curiosity got the best of him, and he let his eyes lid. She was looking at her hand, just looking at it, not scratching him or cooking him, just looking at her lovely slim hand. He did want to know what expression she was wearing, was she scared, amazed, startled? 'Will she get dressed maybe and get naked butt out of my lap...cause this is unbelievably cruel.' he thought, watching her angle her hand a bit.

"Wow...I did it in my sleep this time? Least Nall's still asleep...hehe, he'd die." she chuckled softly.

"THIS TIME!? RUBY!!" he screeched. She'd become human before, she'd just admitted it!! How dare she hide this from him, all those pep talks and training, and she didn't even bother telling him she had achieved human form!? She had some nerve.

Nall started to sit up, hissing, when he recalled he was supposed to be sleeping. His anger had exposed him by her own innocent design. The flames rushing at his face were proof of that. "Ahhh!!" he yelled, slamming his head back in the pillows. He coughed as the rest of the flames went over his head, just biting at his nose. "Dammit, Ruby! You're going to set the bed on fire!" he yelped.

She stopped blowing them, a look of rage on her face as she glared at him. Nall looked equally angry until he remembered how nude Ruby was, his eyes almost dropping below her neckline. He shut them tightly, his eyes moving under the lids. "Clothes! Now, before someone really sees you!" He heard her gasp a little, then the weight on his lap was gone, the sound of drawers being opened and closed.

'Before I see much more than I should! Oh Goddess, she's so adorable, so pretty, even mad...such a cherry.' he thought, feeling his cheeks burn again. She was so cute, a heart shaped face, lovely tomboyish bangs and sweeping long pink hair. It had been so silky when he'd touched it before, warm to his fingers. He couldn't quite scent it, but her face was utterly distracting, a fiery young beauty with great strength and spirit in her eyes.

The weight returned, as well as hands around his neck. "Gkk, Ruby! I didn't do anything, you big fibber! -gag- How dare you keep this a secret from me... What the heck was a wasting time teaching you how to do this when you already found out how? Gkk, stop it." he hissed, yanking her hands off his throat. They were both dragons, but he was still older by a good millennium, and he had more training on him than she did. "How dare you, Nall, putting your cootie fingers on me! And trying to fake being asleep so you could sneak a peek, you big pervert!" she yelled.

"Pervert!? I did not, I didn't want to get fried again, but that didn't exactly pan out. You're too pissy to think straight!" he retorted, the reddening of her face making him worry about another flaming," And don't you dare torch me. I can still pin you or sit on your pink head. Why did you hide it from me, Ruby? We could have been doing less boring things than talk about attaining a human form."

She huffed at him, that fire sparkling in her red eyes. "I don't have to tell you everything, Nall. I'm my own self, I can do as I like, you're not the boss of me!" she snapped.

His face faulted a bit, a small groan rumbling in his throat. "In other words, you're too embarrassed to tell me and... or you're being a brat again." he grumbled.

She grumbled back, glaring harshly at him. He met her gaze evenly, though having a hold of her was kind of nice in itself. He's always wanted to see her in this form, since he really preferred his human form to his others. The others couldn't walk among the humans without being poked and prodded or stared at. He felt normal this way, and it wasn't a strain on his body either.

A soft creak sounded by his door, a small gasp perking his ears. He turned his head slowly towards it, and groaned. One of the Dragon Kids, Elora, was standing there, staring at them with pink cheeks, hugging her little fairy doll. He flushed a bit, how this looked to a child wasn't setting well with him, especially if it was scaring her. She was still only a child, not yet given the talk about the birds and the bees, like most her age. This had to be making her curious and worried, her expression said that, mostly curiosity.

"Are you telling that lady secrets, Uncle Nall?" she asked softly, hugging her doll tighter. 'One of the older kids must have blurted that secrets crap out. This is already going downhill fast...' Nall thought, and shook his head slowly.

"No, Elora, I'm not. This is Aunt Ruby, see, she found out how to become human and... was showing me what a good," he grated out as nicely as possible, feeling Ruby dig her nails into his wrists," Isn't she pretty?"

The pressure on his wrists subsided a moment, Elora's soft nod furthering the reprieve. "Nall and Ruby have to get ready to teach class soon, so you all eat your breakfast, and wait at your tables for us, ok?"

She smiled, and scurried out, leaving the door slightly ajar. Nall breathed out, a slight pinching on his wrists returning. He let go of Ruby then and sat up, bumping her off his lap. She landed neatly on her behind on his bed, still glaring at him. "This issue isn't over, once I get back in my adorable form, I'm scratching your eyes out for everything you view, you dragon perv..." she growled.

Nall waved her off. "I didn't see anything but your hand and your face...I'm not Ky...le..hmm you didn't know him, I'm not Ronfar. I don't peep... I'll fight right back, you pimple. You just wish I looked...feh." he replied, hopping off the bed and tugging off his shirt.

"Oh, you perv, I'm still in the room!" she shouted.

"Its a shirt, you've seen me do this for 2,000 years, and my back is still facing you...grow up. By the Blue Star, you're blowing this way out of proportion. I didn't do a thing to you. I woke up, you were on me...naked, I tried to salvage your dignity, but you go an ruin it and near bite my head off for ....blah, things I didn't do. Get over it and go hide back in you little form. You're good at keeping secrets." Nall snapped, tugging a clean purple shirt on. He didn't feel good about yelling at her, but she was being unreasonable as usual. Assuming the worst of him simply because things weren't going the way she wanted them to. Hiding things from him, when all he ever tried to do was be there for her, take care of her and be her friend, maybe more with time if she even saw him that way. But oh no, not Ruby, she'd sooner bite the head off of Althena herself than listen to reason.

'Part of why I'm crazy about her...she's so much like I am. Sarcastic, brave, a born fighter, and so compassionate about the lives of others... I guess that's why they say opposites attract, similarities cause explosions and damage.' His mind swam with those thoughts as he tugged on the rest of his attire, his favorite black neck piece, those wonderful gloves he'd had fashioned by tailors to look like the ones Luna had sew him. The sash around his waist, how he loved that too. Luna had sewn them for Alex when they were still a young married couple, but time always made things fade, even her wonderful clothing and gifts. He'd salvaged the pattern and went as far as to carn it into wood, then stone to retain it, so part of them would still be there. The sword of Althena and the White Dragon Wings were two things he knew he'd eventually have to give up to Hiro, and he had. They were invaluable to humans and he really didn't need them due to his own powers, but the Wings were given back to him, as Hiro would no longer need them on the Blue Star. Perhaps another hero would, but Nall hoped against the need to protect Lunar from evil. He had to suppose that through life and death, you couldn't take everything with you, except your memories and learn from them.

"Oh, what gives!! Nnnnghh!" Ruby was whining. He looked back, and took a moment to look her over. She was wearing his clothes as he was at this moment, minus the gloves and she had the lovely sash tied in a bow at the back of her waist to keep the pants from dropping, perhaps. She looked so innocent in them, just they weren't quite her. They were his style anyway, but she was still cute. "What's wrong?"

She was turning purple in the face from holding her breath, shaking her fists around. "I'm broken...I can't change back...!" she yelped.

"Huh? Sure you can, you said you've become human before, fibber, stop teasing and change. You're getting pink hair all over my shirt." He chuckled. Her angry expression startled him slightly. Ruby stood up and hopped around, but stayed human. "I said I can't, I'm not fibbing about this! I can't change back...!" she shouted in his face. He blinked softly, rubbing his chin.

"Only one way to find out..."he said quietly, and thought about his small baby dragon form. It always triggered it, just think it and it takes over, human, baby, mature, it was easy as thinking about an adding problem in your head. He felt nothing though, he wasn't changing at all. he tried again but he remained in his human form. "Ok...getting bothered now..."he said, fidgeting, and began hopping around angrily to try and force it, but still nothing happened.

"Told you, dummy." she sniffed. He gave her an annoyed look and grabbed up his coat. "This never happened before...this can't be...we...we have to test some things. I'll cancel classes for the day... just wait for me in the playground after I get them back to their rooms. ....This may take a while." he said softly, then ran out of the room, hopping around as he tugged on his boots.

Author Note: --I have to put these up since the symbols to separate chapters I normally use don't seem to want to show up at all. So -ahem--

-Hours Later-

Ruby went down the slide a few times a few hours later. Nall had been able to cancel classes easily, but getting them to go to their rooms instead of playing on the playground stuff was harder. She'd had to help him round them up and get them to stop trying to sneak in. The older children had to help, but some weren't so focused on that and more so on teasing Nall about Ruby being in his arms in his bed. She'd scold Elora later for tattling. For now, she would wait for Nall, still wearing his clothes as well. She liked the sash only, the rest of it just was not her idea of ladylike fashion. Its not like she wanted a dress or anything, but the clothes were baggy, the pants and shirt were a bit bigger than Nall himself. Maybe it gave him the illusion of being taller, not that she was any taller than he was. Her hair had kept getting in her way, this and the times before she'd assumed her human form, so she'd wasted little time out here getting it into a nice long braid, using some yellow ribbon to tie the end in a bow. It'd helped when she'd changed before this, keeping her hair out of her eyes when she trained or explored nearby areas. He'd taught her enough about being a dragon to know they could control their own bodies as they saw fit. If that was the case, this form was just fine for now. She gathered Nall was very happy with how he looked, like a 15 year old boy. Who would suspect such that fat-headed brat of a boy was the White Dragon of Althena anyway, let alone a beautiful and innocent looking beauty such as herself being the Red Dragon of said long passed goddess.

She'd have to get some proper clothes for later. If she knew Nall, he'd probably want her in human form more often. He sure had squirmed a lot about her in this state, it was good to see him backed in a corner. It made her feel stronger than that hot-headed jerk. And almost cute, maybe even a little rakish and vulnerable. He'd tried his hardest to deny he saw nothing, but his blushing face made her believe he might have and was too embarrassed to admit it. Not that she had admitted to him why she never showed him this form, a form she'd achieved years ago, decades even. She really wasn't sure, truly, so she couldn't answer him, not at all.

The crunch of grass sounded as she slid down again, Nall's sweating form running towards her. "Finally, i thought they were holding you hostage or something." she piped, hopping to her feet.

He panted a bit, bending over with his hands to his legs. "I doubt they'd try it again. Their last attempt got them extra math homework. Trying to tie me up isn't exactly smart. I know plenty of ways to get out that don't involve shrinking, but that's part of why we're here. Let's try to turn into our mature dragon forms or use some of our high level abilities, you know like my teleportation and your dragon rage, ok?" he heaved out.

She nodded, an image of him all tied up in a closet coming to mind. With a quick pinking, she thought about her full form, her great deep reddish pink fur, her wonderfully lovely wings, her graceful great body....and...nothing. She was still human. Nall seemed t be busting a vein in his skull trying to do the same thing, but he stayed human. "Damn...'he swore, and then put his hands together, how he began his teleporting, but he remained in place," Dammit, this is crazy, my powers...its like they've been utterly wiped out. Even when my aura was gone I could still teleport. This doesn't make a bit of sense. I know I had them last night..." He looked so hurt and angry, tears were even forming in the corners of his eyes.

Ruby felt bad for him, Nall's powers had been stolen before, but not to this degree, and his own father lost his life and powers to Ghaleon and the Vile Tribe. To have it happen to himself once more had to be devastating. She'd been too young to remember losing her aura...or even her mother, never knowing the pain of being mentally raped as Nall did. No one had attacked them or cast a spell while they were awake, and that was crossing the line. Attacking their powers in their sleep was downright disgusting and cowardly. She didn't really understand why. Zophar was gone, Ghaleon had redeemed himself and no longer had the will to challenge Lunar any longer. 'So it has to be someone new, but why our powers? Zophar can't be brought back after the beating Hiro and Lucia gave him...and he had to have waited a lot longer than 2,000 years the last time he returned to be strong enough to be such a big butt pain.' she wondered, her thoughts a whirl with empty theories.

Nall was thinking himself, the pacing he was annoying her with was proving it. A person could think sitting the heck still, but Nall always had to be doing something, usually some silly and bothersome habit like clicking his tongue, hmming a lot, pacing, or tossing something up and down and up and down in his hand. She opened her mouth to tell him to stop when he did, smacking his fist into his palm. 'Great, the log has begun to burn...' she thought, sniffing with a faltering expression.

"That cold light last night...remember it Ruby?? Right before bed we both felt it, there was something wrong about it. We could have lost our powers at that moment...or whatever took them was looking for us...."he began.

"And stole them while we slept...??!!" she finished. he nodded sharply. "If that's the case, this is new to me. Zophar would send a lackey or something, but there was never a more powerful lap dog than Ghaleon,"he growled, his hatred of that mage still fresh," So someone who knows we still exist tracked us down somehow...with some new magic, and plucked our powers from our bodies...It has to be the only way. Magic is the only way..."

Ruby nodded, balling her fists up. "Then we're after a mage...for sure. Why that total creep, taking advantage of us! Ooo, I'll roast him....or her, them! Ooo!"

"Probably, yeah, a powerful one, maybe even more than Ghaleon to get past us without even alerting our senses, but why...? Zophar's gone, there's nothing else Luna told me to worry about except Zophar's revival, and that's all over. My magic's based on protection...and ice mostly, gah, what if I can't even do that anymore??"

Ruby thought about that, itching her neck. Nall seemed to watch her, his eyes a little wide and curious. She paid it little mind, then snapped her fingers and smiled. "You probably can, if I was able to flambe your head, you probably still have some magic left. So we can't be utterly powerless, just the big stuff is missing...Oh, Oh, Oh no....if they found us this easy when we're actually trying to stay out of the limelight, what about Blue and Black??? Everyone knows where they are already...Oh!" she yelped.

Nall's eyes widened with fear. "You're right, they'd be at almost the same strength level as us, and trapped in their caves. They might starve or worse, the monsters might try and get in and kill them if they're in human form. We have to get to them now." he squawked. Ruby nodded. "But...at our current strength, even together we'd have problems. We'll have to beef ourselves up just to get to and through the caves. Not to mention food and money for the trip, we can't just teleport to them lickety fish." she countered, and was glad to see him nod, and not take offense.

"You're right, but we'll have to leave today, and get to Vane immedietly, and Meribia too." Nall stated, starting for the door.

She jogged after him. "And get some decent clothes on the way, people will think things...eh why Vane?"

He looked back at her, frowning. "Our powers are at stake and you're worried about fashion??"

"No...not fashion...your clothes are practically falling off of me. I feel naked!" she blushed, glaring.

Nall reddened, then shook his head. "Ok, when we get to Vane, we'll get you some...fitting attire." he said quickly, turning around to walk right into the door hard. She winced as he hit, watching him slide down the door. "Ok....but again, why Vane?"

Nall pushed himself back up, rubbing his nose as he opened the door, walking through. "We may need the aid of the Ausa family, Mia aided my friends and Lemina...more or less lent a hand to yours, ehehe. That, and your friends gave her all the crests, including the Dragon Crests, for her museum. Any criminal would have to be crazy to steal from her family and she promised she and her descendents would always protect what we gave her...she'd a lost too much money if just one had been snatched." Nall deadpanned, still red.

Ruby chuckled a bit. Lemina had loved money till the day she died, a mother of 4 girls too. Money mattered a lot to Lemina, not as much as her Ramsus, but it was mostly her top priority to restore the Magic City of Vane to its former, floating glory. 'Thank Althena the kids took after their mother's looks. Too many Ramsus kids would be freaky.' she thought with a shiver. Nall had known the first one, and not much seemed to have changed in his opinion. Nall hadn't gone to Vane since Hiro and his friends returned from destroying Zophar. Ruby knew he was too reclusive to bother, and he really didn't know anyone there anymore. He was so very shy and scared of leaving Taben's Peak, getting him to leave to Meribia took a lot of prodding when she wanted to go to the beach. The word "fish" worked best on him, but he used it against her in the same manner. Their greatest weakness was good encouragement for most everything, except a truce. The last time she'd gone there before Hiro left was when he decided to find a way to Blue Star, and she aided him. After that, she'd visited Lemina and her kids, watching her try to aid Vane in every way possible. It hadn't been achieved since the last time she'd been there, roughly 1,900 years ago, after Lemina died. 'Calling the kettle black, I'm almost as bad as cream puff is.' she thought sourly.

"Good point, funny how much it takes to get you to come out of your hiding places. If only you were this motivated for a swim at the beach." Ruby snickered. His neck turned red, and she giggled. "ANYWAY....," he blurted, forcing the redness down," We better pack and get weapons in case that Cave of Trial is active again. What a nightmare that was...I can get the older kids to stay longer and keep up the lessons, cause this may take a while. Our only possible clue was that cold light...and that's not much at all." he replied, pushing his door open. Ruby just nodded softly and stayed outside the room. "Well I won't be wearing any of your clothes once we get to Vane, I'll go tell the older kids what to do while we're gone and get my weapons. Don't fall into your bag, cream fluff, you might die from the dirty laundry stink" she giggled, and ran off.

"I'll have you know I'm very sanitary, you pimple!" he shouted at her. Ruby scowled. "What nerve...hmmpphh!" She went on running for the elder kids' rooms, mostly hoping that Taben's Peak wouldn't be a pile of ash when she and Nall returned, whenever that time would come.

-Saber Forest-

The kids had said their tearful good-byes to their teachers and caretakers, Nall's worries only slight at the few that were grinning as he did whenever he was planning something. He prayed that all would be well till they returned. So much had changed on Lunar after his friends had died off. Burg and Saith, where they set off with ole Nash were gone, lost in the cold that only once surrounded Alex's sleepy home land. Lann, where Jessica had been trying to do some good, the Nanza Barrier where they met Kyle, and even Pao was gone, the tribes had to have moved on elsewhere, perhaps. Tempest's people had been to amusing for them to fade with time. Of all the places, Vane an Meribia survived all these centuries, two places he could count on, Merbia mostly. It had easier access to fish, so much access, they would never miss a few if he had an urge to satisfy his cravings. He could trust the kids there, anyone and everyone had to pass through Meribia sooner or later, keeping Nall up to date on who was around without having to leave the solace of Taben's Peak. 'I'd rename it Nall's Peak, but then everyone would bother me and Ruby's think its a macho thing. Oh well, best place to hide is among your enemies, or in my case, the enemy's old toy.' he thought, trudging into the forest.

It was dark inside, reminding him a bit of the Weird Woods back near Burg. Misty, dark, and complete with the eerie sounds of birds and beasts. 'Joy, and all I have is a short sword and some old chest armor, but I still have some abilities...and my strength. It'll hold out. Its sad I can't use my own Dragon Wing staff, only works for regular people...what a stupid loophole.' his mind groaned, his amber eyes scanning the misty forest. Ruby was beside him, some leather whips on her hips. He never figured her the type to go for such a difficult weapon choice, he figured her more for a mace wielding type, but she'd insisted on whips and chains. Nall'd held back a comment about her dominating personality, more concerned with what she'd do with the whips if the mood struck her to strike him. After years of training, whip scars, healing nuts, and near strangulations, Ruby became very graceful with them, as if they were a part of her body, moving with her every motion. It reminded him of Jean a little, that lovely dancer. He'd watched the green haired woman entertaining the kids a few times with her act. Amazing how the martial arts could tone a person for other great things, peaceful things. Ruby was almost dancing at times when she wielded her weapons, sparring with him and practice dummies. They were teachers and guardians to the Dragon Kids, sure, but they still had to protect them and Lunar by staying in shape and skilled.

"Well, the Transmission Springs should be just beyond this forest. Really something though, stuff just appears after 2,000 years or so, but I never figured it'd be so foreboding." Nall chuckled, taking out his sword.

Ruby rolled her eyes at him. "It didn't just appear, cream fluff, since you really never go towards Vane at all. I knew it was here, this was a good place to train and try and check on Vane. Maybe you wouldn't be so surprised so often if you'd just get out there and see stuff."

Nall gave her a look. "Well I can't go off adventuring and shirking my responsibilities to the Peak to train or have fun...and I have a telescope. Anyway," he huffed," Is this mist normal for this place, since you love to ditch the Peak so often...?"

She shook her head, scowling at him. He was glad, maybe she'd finally feel a little guilty about leaving him to fend for himself against the kids when he needed her help. "You're so clueless and rude...And no, there was never any mist here, monsters were here though. And I can do as I like, Nall!" she grumbled, getting in his face. He let out a little hiss. "Fine, ok, let's stop arguing about your little irresponsible adventures and get on with our life or death adventure to regain our powers!" Nall snapped back.

Ruby fumed. "IRRESPONSIBLE?! Like you'd know anything about living a little, your reclusive little cream puff! maybe you wouldn't be such a creep and a brooder if you'd get off your skinny butt and go outside the peak for just a day, and not to Meribia for fish for less than an hour. You are such a pig-headed nerd. You have no manners, you can't even treat me with any respect like a lady deserves, and further more..."

Nall growled. "Now wait just a damn minute? I'm a pig-headed nerd?? I have plenty of manners, I never laid a hand on you. Why do you have to be so pissed my hand was on your stomach?? And this isn't the time to talk about my damn manners, not that you're the Queen of Etiquette, you self-centered, bossy little pimple! How about me? You're always hollering at me, setting me on fire whenever I make a point about your lousy 'tude, and you never ever listen to reason. Its always 'Ruby, Ruby, Ruby! Ruby is right!' and 'Nall's a big fat jerky pig!' I mean seriously, why are you even picking at me so much, we've got stuff to do, not this!" he yelled, getting shoved at in the chest by her. She was almost to the point steam was going to come out of her ears.

"Bossy!! I am so not, cause I said so! You are always making fun of me, you're such a stick in the mud when you could be enjoying yourself. Everytime I get happy and psyched about something that's lovely or cute sounding, you start chewing away at it and being all macho. You are a big fat jerky sexist pig, giving people lucky pictures of girls, letting all those older girls make googley, kissy-face eyes at you, leading them on like you're Althena's gift to women!" Ruby growled out, shoving him again. His back bumped into a tree, but his face remained stern.

"KYLE was the sexist! Damn funny one too, but he always got trounced for it. One thing I am not is Kyle, and Ronfar used to a be old flirt before he regained Mauri, but I sure as heck do not flirt with the students or encourage it. I've never once reacted to their advances except to tell them I'm not flippin' interested! Do you even bother to help me stop them for bothering me with their crushes? No, you just watch and assume tha...."he ranted, but a bit of movement behind her made him trail off.

Ruby poked him in the chest. "Assume that what?? Spill!" she muttered.

Nall looked over her head and started to point. "Can we finish this later...?"

Ruby blinked. "Trying to worm out of it cause you know I'm right...?"

Nall shook his head. "No...you're wrong, but... oh say, there are about five reasons behind you that aren't about to let us go on making all this noise all day."

Ruby whirled around, pulling out her whips. A quartet of goblins were surrounding them, a large club wielding Behemoth stomping behind them. "Tsk, typical, monsters have even less manners than you do, Nall."

Nall ignored her comment and got beside her, his blade before him. "Enough talk and let's fight, the whole forest probably heard us."

"Yeah...that'll just make it more interesting. Come on boys, Ruby needs a new wardrobe!" she cackled, and leapt at them.

The sickly green creatures grunted a bit, then a few moved in close to clobber her. Nall tightened his grip and charged after her, slashing at the closest creature. Its arm came off with a spray of black, dressing Nall's front in the dark life. Its remaining arm swung madly and crashed into Nall's side. He felt it hit, the pain in his ribs shooting in him like a thousand needles. Ruby's whips came around and struck its neck twice, more blackness leaking down its body. The first of five fell, the rest bringing their clubs at Ruby and Nall.

Nall was able to dodge a few, but more connected with his body than he might have liked. Ruby had bruises forming on her arms and cheeks. He was glad these monsters weren't terribly strong, but defeating them would improve their chances with the next groups, as well as the caves of the dragons and whatever was on the way.

It took several minutes to get through the goblins, and an all out assault on their leader paid off in the end. The gold in their pockets and an herb to heal their wounds. They had taken quite a few already, one more was just one better. Nall just chewed the purple thing down, Ruby eating her own as well, before he brushed off, smearing his fingers with some black blood. "Ok, so maybe...training out here was a good idea, but we can't discuss it. We have a long ways to go... alone. We just need to stay close and not take any stupid risks with our health..." Nall stated, starting off again into the mist. Ruby hurried up beside him. "And get a healer, since neither of us does that too well."

Nall nodded. "And our magic is limited now, just like regular humans, so we best not push what little we have left."

"Agreed...now enough talk, more walk, cream fluff." she crowed, grabbing his wrist and tugging him into the mist. "Gah, Ruby! What are you doing? We need to take it slow or we'll get lost!" he yelped, but she went charging on. "Duh, I said i trained here before, I know my way around in most areas, so just be quiet and drag."

Nall groaned, but let her pull him along. He had to admire her sudden determination after all that bellyaching. 'We're kind'a like Jessica and Kyle, 'cept I'm not a sexist joker. Ah Kyle, you big bully...I miss him. If only they could see me now, going on my own adventure with someone I care about, but does she care about me too? Nall, be quiet, your powers matter more than your crush on Ruby...It doesn't matter...she'd never like me that way...Gah, shut up, the quest, think about the quest!' his mind screamed. Still, as her long pink braid swayed behind her, distracting his thoughts, and eyes. He felt his eyes keep lowering down her back, thankful his clothes were already baggy. It wouldn't help his mind come up with very many ideas as this morning's antics did, but it made him picture her in other clothes, like Luna's clothes, Jessica's robes, even Fresca came to mind. None seemed to suit Ruby's adorable beauty except her bows.

His own attire he loved, namely the sash on his waist and the head scarf Luna had worn. True, they were remakes of the long withered originals, but they were every bit as special to him as his memories of her. He'd almost offered Ruby it, but he liked the soft spiked bangs that cradled her face oh so angelically. Like some kind of naughty angel, some resting just above her eyes, those beautiful ruby red eyes. It wasn't calming him down to think about her looks, but a nice distraction from what was going on. It was enough to live for, to fight not just for himself, but for Ruby.

'I want to say other things to her, but we end up fighting. I say one thing, but I wish it was something else...Kyle would still tease me about my problem with females, even if Ruby's pretty much the only one I never saw as a sister or ...like Luna..a mother. Vane can't be reached any sooner...I can just hope our fights with the creatures of the forest keep my mind off what I'll never be good enough to receive...' he thought, the next group of goblins trudging in their path, seeming to bleed from the mist itself.

He smirked at the release of pressure on his wrist, then lifted his blade. What a long trek this would be, but worth it to regain their powers to protect Lunar.

-Transmission Spring -

"Ok, so where's the ferryman?" Ruby quipped, the darkened area alive with the sound of crickets. She expected some fireflies, but there didn't seem to be any, even a moth would have been nice. That's how it was normally anyway, the Transmission springs of Vane tended to give off enough light after the sun went down to attract a swarm. Maybe Vane was getting tired of them being there and getting in the faces of some of their more promising mages, and a lot of the snooty ones whose tuitions paid the bills. She shrugged it off. Bugs were bugs, so why worry?

"The caretaker, and he probably went to bed by now, its probably really late. We were in that forest most of the day...how badly we stink is proof of that." He replied walking over to the springs. It looked the same as the last time she had come here, clean, pristine and sparkling blue, like a lovely jewel. It was probably the easiest to maintain, and maybe the cheapest. "I guess, we're practically dyed black and blue with monster guts...I hope they have rooms available at their inn...or maybe the Ausa's will let us borrow a room."

Nall nodded slightly. "Yeah...so we best get there, and pray the gate won't take us to the Cave of Trial. Alex and our group barely made it through without the healer at the front entrance...let alone that gross giant mushroom freak at the end giving us grief. I'd rather get a dose of healing from the Althena statue and a good night's rest so we can tackle this problem in the library..."

Ruby shrugged. "If its even an existing problem, humans find ways to make more dangerous weapons and spells every century. Ghaleon was proof of that...but the proof can wait till morning, let's get to Vane before we fall asleep here."

With a quick grin, Nall looked back at her at the edge of the stone star platform. The Blue Star's light made his hair shimmer a bit, outlining his profile. She smiled a bit, suppressing a blush. Nall could be rather dashing....when his mouth was shut, mostly. 'Not that I'll give him a reason to grin. Better when he doesn't know...then he can't tell I'm enjoying myself.' she thought and stood beside him. With a light shrug, he took a step and she followed, their boots settling on the star platform fully, then the grove of trees was gone, and they stood looking at Vane itself, as it floated high in the sky among the clouds. Nall had told her stories about it floating when he was with Alex, how it was an utterly marvelous sight, not as creepy as Neo-Vane had been for her. The story of its sacrifice had been at the Mystic Ruins, but to hear about it from someone who was inside Vane at the time it fell was better. To hear of Mia Ausa's determination to lead Vane against the Grindery, how she did it, and the emotions of those by her side as Vane crashed made it a far richer experience.

Vane, the Magic Guild's city, was healed at long last. Lemina's dream had finally come true, long after her death, but with her efforts, and those of her children's children and so forth, it was back to tis former glory, rich with beauty and culture. All that Ghaleon had robbed Mia, Nash and her mother of was back, new and glorious to train the newest generations of magic users.

There was also no sign of life, at this time of night, it wasn't much of a shock. It gave Ruby time to admire it without people getting in the way of the view of the landscape. Especially the Ausa Mansion, the pride and glory of Vane restored with the rest of Vane. It'd been worth the wait, and all of Lemina's money schemes. They'd been for a good cause at least, no matter how scary the girl was when she set her sights on the payload.

Nall grumbled slightly. Her eyes moved towards him, then along the path of his gaze. He was looking at the inn and the swinging sign of "No Vacancy" flapping in the breeze, shoving some unwanted irony in their faces. "Great, now we have to pray the Ausa's still remember us."

"We're kind of hard to forget, even if our portraits aren't in the museum. Isn't animosity wonderful...ahh..feh. We best get this over with before someone mistakes us for goblins from the stink." he sighed, and started for the mansion. Ruby followed, not eager to wake the whole mansion up because of their problems, but it was the inn's fault for getting stuff with people, not theirs. As much as she wished to see this generation of Ausa bloodline, it had been a long time. Legends had to have been passed down to the Ausa's offspring ever since Nall met Mia, but legends tended to be become hard to swallow after a while. Lemina didn't seem to know a lot about Nall, at least according to him. 'We're going to be doing an awful lot of praying on this journey...please be nice...please have a spare set of rooms and a nice big tub. Yeah...' she thought, then saw how far ahead Nall was. She'd been so lost in thought, she'd stopped walking after him. With a slight squeak, she jogged towards him. Getting closer, she noticed his head wasn't looking at it, rather the building beside it, the museum Lemina had put a lot of money into to raise funds for Vane's revival.

Nothing registered for a moment, then Ruby looked at the building a bit closer with a few long strides. The door was partially open, softly and soundlessly shifting with the wind. Nall was already by it before Ruby could take another step. "The lock was frozen off...its still cool...brittle. The thief must still be inside..."he whispered.

Ruby got near and peered at it, the frost on the door was fresh indeed, but it should have melted by now. They would have heard a spell being cast if it was only performed moments before, so why was the spell still fresh?

"We better go in and stop them, they might be going for our crests...I'll show them what we do to power thieves." she hissed quietly. Nall narrowed his eyes and slipped inside. Ruby didn't miss a beat, following in suit.

The museum was very dark, but the light of the Blue Star trickled enough through the high windows to reflect off some of the glass cases. Nall stayed ahead of her, his sword poised to strike, his feet moving without sound, almost with cat-like grace. She kept following, looking from side to side for anything and everything; a shadow, movement, even the glint of a weapon would do, but so far there was nothing but her reflection in each case she passed.

Nall stopped as they neared the crest chamber doorway, holding up his free hand to halt her, but it slapped into her cheek. She bit her tongue to keep from growling at him, but then came sounds. The tink of glass being shuffled through, the crunch of it breaking under someone's boots, then a slight vocal tone, a mumble or some kind of thoughtful sound. The thief was in the crest chamber, still there and hadn't realized they were so close. Nall looked back at her, sliding his hand off her cheek softly. He gestured with his head at the doorway, nodding. She nodded in return, readying her whips.

He crouched, then darted in swiftly. "HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" he shouted, presenting his blade. Ruby was right with him, and cracked her whips. "Hands in the air, thief, and you won't get too badly trashed! Hiss!!" she growled.

The thief had his back to them and was not standing in the light. He was tall and had long hair, maybe down a bit past his waist, He had on a cloak, his head turning a bit at their shouts. "Don't make any sudden moves, just come into the light slowly. You're on Ausa property, scum bag!" Nall growled out," You so much as raise your hands to even send a sparkle at us, you'll be cut down for you crime..."

The man tilted his head a bit, and turned. He stood tall in the shadows for a moment, facing them, then began walking towards them. Ruby waited, the light of the Blue Star licking across his skin. "Now you've got some ex...plaining...to...to..."she began, but the words died in her throat as the light caught his features. White hair, a slender, enchanting face and trim form, a form that had belts wrapped about his arms, his body decked in black, the white cloak falling over his left shoulder. The shadows hid his eyes from sight, his movement stopping all together. He stood in place, but all Ruby could do was stare.

Ruby's arms felt heavy, her lip quivering with disbelief. It just wasn't possible. "It can't be...you're dead! You can't be alive...you died, you died!" she gasped.

The man looked at them, tilting his head softly, his long white bang shifting softly.

Nall stayed in poise, snarling viciously.

"Ghaleon..."

To Be Continued...

Next- Chapter 2: Believing in the Past of Present Pain

Nall and Ruby get imprisoned and accused of stealing the Dragon Crests, labeled as spies for the rival guild of Zabach. Their only hope is the young man from the museum, but is he even on their side? Meet Trina Ausa, the Premier of the Magic Guild, is she willing to help, or is it a mere front to make money and gain more power...wonders never cease in Vane, nor are surprises in short supply.