I do not own Legend of Dragoon or any of the characters.


Fletz

Cade raised an eyebrow as they reached the base of the stairs leading up to Tiberoa's royal family's castle. It had taken almost a week of travel to reach the capitol city of Fletz. And then almost as soon as they'd gotten there, people had begun to panic and flee from the castle, so they'd gone to investigate.

"Shoot!" someone panicked. "Pri-Princess Emille is here!"

"It's too sudden!" someone said.

"I'm scared!" a child cried.

"Gods, please help us through this!" someone prayed.

"Not the reaction I'd expect for a member of the royal family coming down from the castle," Cade said.

Everyone who'd been running around in a panic froze as the princess arrived, everyone going silent. Cade raised an eyebrow. She was beautiful, with blonde hair, fair skin, a dress that was red at the top, pink on her hips, then faded to white by the bottom of the train and which sat low at the top, frilly decorative sleeves looped around her upper arms, and a pair of red cloth sleeves around her wrists and lower forearms. However, everything about her besides her physical appearance screamed of arrogance and selfishness. She had an annoyed, self-dignified expression, she held one hand on her hip impatiently, and her chin was raised so that she had to look down her nose at everyone with a look of disgust in her eyes. Her bearing held everything except what a princess should have.

"I heard somebody say shoot," Emille said, her tone harsh and haughty. "Who said that?" She glared at everyone in turn, everyone she looked at ducking their heads and stepping back. She even glared at a dog as though she thought it might have said it, only for the dog to run away. "Hey, I'm the princess in this country! You have to be nice to me!"

A pregnant woman walked over to her hesitantly, one hand on her enlarged stomach. "Ex-Excuse me, your highness. I would like you to name my soon-to-be born baby."

"I don't think so!" Emille scoffed. "It's a hell on wheels!"

"Oh no!" the woman gasped, beginning to cry.

"Disgusting!" Emille spat. "Stop crying!"

"Since my husband was killed by bandits...this...this baby has been my only hope!" the woman cried.

"Bandits!?" Emille panicked, stepping back before regaining her arrogant composure and turning away. "Phooey! You bore me!"

She turned, storming back up the stairs and the enormous guard that had been blocking the stairs stepped back into place.

Cade let out a long, low whistle. "Some princess."

"Is...Is that person really Princess Emille?" Albert asked. "I heard she was very sweet." He fell to his knees. "Oh no. If this is a dream, please wake me up."

"What's with you?" Cade asked. "You're acting like you're engaged to her or something."

Albert chuckled slightly, standing. "No, not engaged."

Cade shook his head. "Well, anyway, we should probably find someone to ask about Lloyd. Let's try the bar."

"That's usually a good place to start," Dart nodded. "Barkeeps usually know everything."

They all nodded and headed back through town toward where they'd passed a bar in the upper floor of one of the buildings. The only think about the city that actually annoyed Cade was the fact that there was a river running through the middle of it with only two bridges, making going from one side to the other a bit annoying. However, this time they happened to be at a plaza that extended across the river, so he didn't mind this time.

After a few minutes, they reached the bar and the moment they stepped inside, the barmaid, who introduced herself as Kaffi, began to regurgitate word vomit at them. She guessed immediately that they were from a different country, and began to tell them all about Fletz, as well as Tiberoa in general. The people of Tiberoa worshiped the stars, which was why there were star decorations and designs literally everywhere in the city. However, unlike what Cade's mother had taught him about stars being giant balls of burning gasses, the Tiberoans seemed to believe that the stars were either beings carrying lanterns in a partially-visible realm that existed in the sky, or were some form of land mass that had lighthouses so that they didn't get lost in the sky. Cade wasn't really sure what to make of that, but before Kaffi could drown them in random and useless information about the country, the bar's owner told her to get back to work, despite the fact that they were the only ones there. She invited them back to talk more later, then left into the kitchen area of the bar, Cade and the others leaving. They wandered around town for a bit, agreeing to return to the bar in a half hour, and all split off to explore individually, though Shana went with Dart. Cade eventually wound up at a jewelry shop and began to look around, deciding not to buy anything, only to somehow walk out with both four new pieces of stardust that the shop's owner had found and was going to throw away, as well as a silver ring that had sapphire set into it, cut and set just right to make it look like a strip of silver and sapphire had been twisted together, the entire ring, both stone and metal, polished smooth. He slipped the end of his index finger into the ring and spun it around his finger slowly with his thumb, trailing it around the outside, glowing white symbols spreading over the outside and inside of the ring before fading as he finished the spells and slipped the ring into his pocket. Then, he returned the bar, sitting beside Rose as she was enjoying a drink and ordering one for himself.

"Don't start," Rose said, Cade grinning instantly.

"I was just planning on enjoying my drink," Cade said, taking a sip. "With a raven-haired beauty sitting beside me."

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" Rose asked.

"I've told you before," Cade said. "If you want me to stop, you just have to smile and ask nicely."

Rose rolled her eyes. "And I've told you that's never going to happen."

"Which is exactly why I'm never going to stop," Cade smirked.

Rose groaned. After a little while longer, the others all returned and they managed to actually find enough room to speak to ask her about Lloyd. She didn't know anything about him, but she did suggest they speak with a man named Fester, who was apparently studying the Moon That Never Sets in order to find a connection between it and the Black Monster. Cade noticed both Dart and Rose stiffen at its mention. She directed them to the odd-looking house next to the bar, then had to get back to work. As they walked outside, Cade realized it was already dark. It had been late afternoon when they arrived, but he hadn't realized it was getting so dark while they were talking to Kaffi. They headed to Fester's house and Dart rang a bell beside the open door. When he didn't get an answer, Shana slipped around him, ringing a small bell by the door.

"Mr. Festeeeeer!" Shana called into the house. "Are you hooooome?"

"Yes, yes I am!" Fester called back, climbing down a ladder from an upper ladder and walking over in a purple robe. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I was admiring the moon! Come on in! Please, let's talk inside!" He ushered them all inside of the house, which had what looked like a telescope of some kind set up above the upper level he'd been on, then the bottom floor crowded with barrels of something or other.

"We're here to ask you about the Moon That Never Sets," Dart said.

"Oh!" Fester said excitedly. "About the Moon That Never Sets! Wait here for a moment! Let me gather some materials!" He walked away, beginning to gather scrolls and papers. "You are interested in a very weird matter. Of course, I cannot make judgements about people." He held out a book. "Please take a look at this."

Dart accepted the book, opening it as most of the others looked over his shoulders.

"In astronomy, a moon that never sets cannot exist," Fester said.

"It cannot exist?" Dart asked, frowning.

"That's right," Fester nodded. "Stars travel the sky by catching the winds of time."

Cade pursed his lips but remained silent. Let the Tiberoans have their beliefs.

"But this moon isn't affected by time," Fester continued, no one but Rose having noticed Cade's reaction. "It never moves, day or night. That's why it's called the Moon That Never Sets. After counting one hundred and eight years, when the Moon That Never Sets glows red, a Moon Child descends upon the Earth to fill the world with holy bliss. A poem of yore telling a fate given by the moon. however what we really get is the spawning of destruction and fear that is the Black Monster."

Dart gripped the book hard, eyes narrowed in hate. As he did, Cade's eyes flicked to Rose, seeing her gripping her elbows tightly, though her face was an emotionless mask, eyes seeing something a million miles away.

"Why a demon, not a blessing?" Fester continued. "What does it mean? The mystery has yet to be resolved."

"What if the Black Monster is the blessing?" Cade asked.

"I fail to see how the Black Monster could be a blessing," Fester said.

"I dunno," Cade shrugged. "Maybe the Winglies fucked something up while they were ruling the world and the moon decided to change the blessing it was going to give. Or maybe the humans did something during the Dragon Campaign. Or maybe the moon's just confused as to what a blessing is supposed to be."

Fester hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose it is...theoretically possible. There's no proof for any of it, though. At least, not without capturing the Black Monster."

"There's not really a whole lot of proof that it isn't the blessing either, though," Cade pointed out.

"True," Fester nodded.

"I never thought we'd be able to find information on the Black Monster here," Albert said, Dart nodding.

"Did you find that useful?" Fester asked.

"Yes!" Shana beamed. "You think so, too, right Dart?"

Dart nodded again, though he was clearly thinking about the Black Monster still.

"Very good," Fester smiled. "It's a pleasure to be of help to such a beautiful lady."

"You said who is beautiful?" Dart asked, scratching his head an wearing a confused look.

Cade raised an eyebrow. Either Dart was a bigger idiot than he thought, or he was teasing Shana.

"Hey!" Shana pouted.

"I guess there are many ways to see things," Dart shrugged.

"Oh, you're so mean!" Shana said, beating her fists off his armor lightly.

"Hey, stop that!" Dart laughed.

Cade shook his head. It was about time Dart stopped treating her like a little sister. Just then, a bell began to toll and Fester jumped.

"Oh, it's getting late!" fester said. "I have to hurry or I'll make the princess wait!" He began to quickly gather several more papers and scrolls, pushing them into a bag. "It's hard to get by just off of astronomy. I'm acting as tutor of Princess Lisa as well. Oh, if you want to take a good look at the Moon That Never Sets, go upstairs and use the telescope. It's set in the direction of the Moon That Never Sets. Now, I'm heading to the castle."

And with that, he was off, leaving them all alone in his house. Most of the others climbed up to look, only Cade and Rose remaining downstairs.

"What's that light moving on it?" Shana asked.

"That's magic," Cade said. "No idea what generates it, or why it's there, but what you're seeing is an overflow of magic energy from within the moon."

"Could it be the Black Monster's?" Dart asked.

"I doubt it," Cade said. "If the Black Monster had that much power, it would destroy more than just one village at a time. No, my mother had a theory that the magic you can see on the moon is what's keeping it from falling."

"That could be," Albert said.

"So, what now?" Cade asked.

"Let's go find somewhere to spend the night," Dart suggested.

"Can we go talk to that guy that was planting flowers first?" Shana asked. "He said something about trying to turn the barren lands around here into a forest. That sounds really nice."

"I guess we can," Dart said. "Sure."

"Well, stimulating as I'm sure that conversation will be, I'm going to head to the inn," Cade said. "I'll meet you guys at the bar in the morning."

"You act like we won't be to the inn tonight," Dart said.

"It's Shana and someone who wants to plant flowers all over a desert," Cade chuckled. "I'll be impressed if I see you within the next week."

"Hey!" Shana said. "I'm not that bad!"

Cade simply chuckled and raised a hand in farewell, heading to the next building over and renting a bed for the night. Then, barely a few minutes later, he was asleep.


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