A/N: Sorry for the running dialogue here, but I was having trouble with the description. It gets cleaned up somewhere near the middle of the chapter, so it should be okay. I hope this chapter isn't too terrible.

And the Minor Characters Run Wild Behind Our Backs

"We have received word form the Priest of Light, Sire."

"Old Nicolai? What does he say?"

"According to the scroll, the Heroes are on their way here as we speak, and should arrive before sundown."

"Excellent news. Have quarters arranged for them, will you Jem? The West Wing should have four free, that group of weavers finally left…"

A light cough interrupted the King of Forcena, and he frowned. Jem did not generally interrupt.

"My pardons, Sire, but the scroll also tells us that the heroes chosen by the Goddess now number six, including the Priest's own granddaughter, Charlotte."

"I see. And the other?"

"A half-breed, from Beast Kingdom."

The young secretary's lips curled with some distaste, and Richard let his frown grow deeper.

"Surely those were not the words Nicolai used?"

"Ah…no, Sire. But it was clear form the message…"

Richard sighed.

"Jem, I have told you time and time again that your prejudice clouds your judgment. The Goddess loves all creatures, and so should we. No, do not speak. I have been too soft-handed with you, it seems. You will return to your room immediately, and next week you will attend extra classes with the good brothers. Speak with Honored Arnolde, I will arrange for a special session. You are dismissed."

Blushing furiously, Jem deposited the scroll from Wendel in the hands of another attendant. He bowed deeply, then escaped through the ornate double doors of the Throne Room at a pace that could only be described as a scurry. The guards parted to let him pass, surely grinning behind their face guards. Honored Arnolde was the most boring, long-winded priest on the teaching staff of the capital's school for gifted scholars; extra lessons with the man were a common punishment for young nobles who were too sensitive for the rod. Richard gestured for the scroll, and its holder scrambled to present it, bowed, then scrambled back to his position before Richard could even thank him. The king gave a small shake of his head and turned his attention to the letter.

So, young Charlotte has joined this mad quest. I feared this. When I heard she disappeared…Ah, well, she should be safe enough. I've never seen anything like those young people. He laughed ruefully, startling his courtiers. I wonder if Father felt this way whenever Loki and I hared off on one of our capers.

He winced at the thought of his old friend.

Even now, after all these years, it still hurts. I can only be glad that I have no family to share the pain with, no one deserves this.

:Oh, but you do have family, Majesty.:

A presence he had not felt for many years touched his mind.

:Get rid of the kiddies, will you? Old man like me is too cranky to cope with the young 'uns anymore.:

Richard nodded, gaping as if someone had just poleaxed him. He motioned for everyone in the room to leave.

You're alone?

:Of course.:

"Robert, Antony, you leave as well."

The two Knights of Gold looked as if they might protest for a few moments, but Richard gave them a stormy look, and they nodded. As they exited, they dragged the last of the lingering courtiers with them.

All clear. :Very good.:

A shiver of water Mana blurred the air before him, and a man appeared in its place moments later. Said man was very old, and leaned heavily on an ebony walking stick. His face was even more wrinkled than Richard remembered, but there was no doubt as to his identity.

"It's been a long time, Jose." He said, rising from his throne to embrace the old man. Chuckling, Jose patted the younger man's shoulder until they parted.

"Sixteen years, two months, and thirteen days, to be precise. If you keep track of such things, of course."

Jose winked, and Richard laughed, the wizened mage was as sharp as he'd ever been.

"You came here to tell me something?"

"Clarify would be rather the better term, Richie. You've not been entirely honest with yourself, nor a certain other, who happened to be placed in my care sixteen years, two months, and thirteen days ago."

Richard probed his memory. His eyes widened.

"The bastard, Angela? What exactly do you want to clarify about that nasty piece of business?"

Jose closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly. His big, bushy eyebrows (the only hair remaining on his head) knit themselves together.

"A bastard she is, my friend, but not as you perceive her to be."

Richard's expression grew cold.

"Of course she is "as I perceive her to be". You were there, we found her in bed with that fiend, Alberto. It was pretty unmistakable then." Richard snarled at the memory.

"Yes, I was there. I saw, and I was as offended as you. Perhaps more so."

"Oh, offended is a great word for it."

"Nevertheless, Valda did not conceive on that night. She was already with child."

"So who was it? Some serving boy? Maybe that pretty one I recall from dinner that evening. Kanta, I believe. He seemed virile enough to me."

Yes, the memory of that evening was sharp in his mind, much to his disgust.

"Richard, such a ridiculous accusation does not become you."

"Then who was it, old man? Tell me!"

"You, my dear boy. You."

All six Seeds were seated on the back of a gigantic turtle with a flag implanted on his back and a pair of silly goggles. Carlie was up in the front, bouncing up and down energetically as usual, with Kevin occasionally grabbing her before she flew off the side and into the water. Angela was sunbathing, her form stretched out languidly on the beast's backside. Duran clung to the flagpole for dear life, praying that he wouldn't fall off into the water.

Riesz's eyes were dark and brooding, she had much to think about. She glared at Hawkeye's back, he was seated as far away from her as he could manage on the turtle shell. But the ninja was not the only thing on her mind, she was thinking hard about the man they had met in the cave.

"Ah, so glad to see you've all made it here."

He had shimmered into existence before them just as they reached the bottom of the volcano. He was tall, but obscenely thin, and his skin was a pasty white. Long, wicked-looking fangs made his smile more of a feral grin than anything else, a contrast with the rest of him. He was dressed expensively, if tastelessly, in a large black cowl and shined shoes. His hair sprang up from his head in two tufts that showed more of a sign of the comb than Riesz ever saw in Angela's hair. All and all, he looked like a weakling.

"I am the Jagan, Earl of the Evil Eye to you."

"Somehow, I don't think you're the guardian of Bucca." Angela had said sarcastically. He laughed, a thin hollow laugh that reminded Riesz obscurely of Bigieu.

"Right you are, mageling. I am only a guardian of the Dark Prince, and with the new body we have stolen for him, he shall rise to power once again! Already we have begun the steps to his revival in Navarre, even if that foul brat of a prince does resist our power." A terrible foreboding had run through her body at that moment, and she knew who he spoke of. She lunged at him with her spear, but he only faded away, cackling horribly. Then the island had begun to shake, and the rocks assaulted them from above. It's a good thing the guardian was around to save us. Thought Hawkeye. He patted the backside of the big reptile affectionately, and it hooted with some pleasure. The beast seemed to be very intelligent, though it could not speak into his mind as the faerie could. The faerie. Wait, she hasn't said anything since the turtle picked us up? With that tongue of hers? He made his way over to Angela and tapped her shoulder. "What? You're in my sun, move." She rolled over onto her backside, making shooing motions with a delicate hand. "Is the faerie still around?" "Yes, she's around. Why?" He slumped to the shell so he was lying down as well, not throwing a shadow over the sunning Sorceress. "I guess I was just worried. It doesn't really matter." Angela propped her head up on her arm, elbow pressed against the turtle's shell. "You? Worried? That's a good one. I've never seen you worried before. What's wrong? Girl troubles?" She laughed. "Not that any of us have time for romance." "What does that have to do with the faerie?" He shaded his eyes from the bright sun with his hands and looked up at the sky. "Nothing. But I know men. When you want to talk about something, you never start off with what you're actually worried about, you bring up something else that isn't as important. So spill it. What's really on your mind?" He spluttered. "What? I wasn't thinking about anything else. I was really worried about the faerie. Is it really that hard to believe?" "Of course you were worried. But you're still tense. Even with all that clothing on, I can tell. That means you've still got a rock in your craw over something. Now either tell me, or I go back to working on my tan, and you can wallow in your own stupidity." He rolled over so that he was facing her, then looked down and started tracing a pattern on the turtle shell. "It's the werewolf. I don't trust him any farther than I could kick him, but part of me tells me that I should."

Angela reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him from tracing anymore, then lifted his face so he was looking her in the eye. "More. That's still not all of it."

He sighed and turned his eyes to the valkyrie, still brooding on the far side of the guardian turtle. Angela clapped her hands with delight. "I knew it! I just knew it. Well, I think I might have some answers for you. I asked Wisp to look into Prince Kevin's- yes, he's the Beast King's son- background, and he did. The big kid's a pacifist, he wouldn't fight at all if he had a choice in the matter. He's still grieving over his wolf-pup friend's death, though he was not really responsible." She looked over to the beast prince, and smiled. "He's nothing more than a big child. He still has the ideals of a little boy, but he's big enough that he can effect a change based on them. Maybe the Goddess decided it was time that we listened to the little boy in all of us, I don't know. But he's honest as a dwarf, and he seems to love Carlie dearly, for all that they've only just met recently." She clocked him on the head suddenly, and he reeled, taken by surprise by the action. "He loves you, to, you know. He's a very special sort of person; the kind that gives his trust and his love unconditionally. I don't know how he's managed to come out that way, with all the things that have happened to him, but I can see it in his eyes when he looks at each of us. More than anyone else, he knows what this quest means, and he will always be there to help us when we need it, even if we don't think we want him there."

"Kevin not a thing! He save Hawkie's life!"

"Sea was eating Hawkie, and Kevin dove down to save him! Hawkie should be thankful!"

He was perilously close to tears again.

"As for Riesz, she's like the wind. Sometimes she's warm and soft, and sometimes she will rip you to shreds before you can say "Poto". But I think that if you're up for the ride, it'll be worth it." The sorceress reached out and touched his cheek affectionately. "Now let me get back to my sun." And she fell flat on her back and continued her sunbath as though she had not just solved all of Hawkeye's problems with a few sentences.

Women… he thought.

:We're almost there, everyone. Get ready.:

Richard was slumped in his chair, a tawny owl with a white cap of feathers on his head like a bald spot perched above his head.

I'm exhausted.

"The heroes of Mana, Sire."

The crier screeched out the phrase in a most high-pitched voice, and Richard winced as the doors swung open. In strode six young people, three young men, and three girls. Though their clothes were tattered and ruined, they carried themselves so that every noble they passed bent low to the ground. Richard understood, he recognized the aura from what he remembered of Loki.

Loki walked that way, too.

At the head of the group was Angela, her head held erect on her straight, comely neck, large gold hoop earrings still in her pointed ears. She wore little more than a loincloth and breastband, but she was regal nonetheless, every inch the princess. She gazed straight into Richard's eyes from the moment she entered the room, and did not kneel before him when the party reached the dais where he sat, as her companions did. When she cleared her throat to speak, the room was silent.

"We have found the Elementals of Wind and Darkness, Richard of Forcena. Now, by the love you hold for the Goddess, you will tell us where to find the final four."

He found himself nodding silently, and stopped himself, straining not to give into her aura of greatness.

I haven't felt this way since Father dressed me down in my thirteenth summer! This girl is very strange.

The phrases they spoke with were formal, practiced in the manner that only royalty could speak. As he spoke, he weighed every word carefully, knowing that what he said was living history, not because of his actions, but because of the actions this girl and her companions would take in the future.

"Indeed, I promised you the rest of the song when you had found Jinn and Shade. We are glad to see you back in Grasslands Kingdom, Heroes of Mana."

Angela acknowledged the title for herself and her friends with a curt bob of her head. Technically, it was a rude gesture, Richard was still of higher rank than her. But the average Forcenan didn't appreciate technicality, he appreciated power, and Angela was the embodiment of power. Hardly more than naked, she had marched into the room and taken control with nary a complaint from any soul in the room.

My daughter, I am very proud. He let a little half smile intrude upon his face, and that took her by surprise. He only knew because he was watching her for it, and only because her lips quirked in exactly the same way that Valda's had whenever she had been displeased with him.

"In the lands of flame and fire lies the fire god's unending pyre. Toward the north, the undine stays, and in the ice caves does she pray. Under the blanket of eternal night, the spirit of moon hides the light. Last, in the heart of a wondrous wood, the dryad has ever danced." He ended the song with a heavy sigh, he had not sung for some time. "Salamando, spirit of fire, lies to the southeast, near the Thieves' Guild of Navarre. Undine, spirit of water, keeps the ice caves of Altena frozen. Luna, spirit of the moon, is the nearest, in Beast Kingdom. Finally, Dryad lives in the forest of the elves. I do not know how you will gain entry there, but you must find a way."

Angela turned to look at the smallest member of the group, Charlotte, and made an unexpected move of her own.

"You need not worry, King Richard. I believe we will find a way. Goddess bless and keep you."

She bowed very slightly, then motioned for her companions to stand. Duran looked at Richard from under his lids, but would not meet his eye, and Angela pulled him along with her as she exited the chamber.

She is as formidable as her mother was, maybe more so.

:Scary thought, isn't it?: asked the owl.

Indeed.

A/N: I'm sorry this is so short, and so, well, not moving the plot. I hope to do better next time. Sinnatious, I shall catch up! (Oh, you guys think it's bad now, just wait until we get to the God Beasts. XD)