The Priestesses' Regeneration Song that Connects the Worlds

by aquagon

Two months later, Inuyasha's group welcomes back Miko and Yasha together with their friends from the alternate Earth. Now, they must fulfill the mission they were given by destiny: become the Seirei to save the world the Dragonia. While many hardships await them, they will also receive the help from a world called Ar Ciel... Sequel to Entwining of Destinies.

7. The Dragons and the Priestesses (1)

Chapter 4:

The Dragons and the Priestesses

As important as your tasks might be,

Remember that rushing them out is pointless.

Prepare yourself the best you can before doing them,

Unless you want them to end up being a mess.

(Opening: Eien no Toshi e – Haruka Shimotsuki)

Having eaten dinner with Fileia and Elaer, the party walked across the Soleila streets once again to get to the nearest monorail station in order to get back to the Seirei Plaza so Henry and the others could check in at the Startlit Inn.

- "It feels so weird to be in another world like this, right?" – said Henry pensively as they continued making their way through the city.

- "Yeah. While it kinda feels like when we went to Europe, and we already experienced living in another world for a time, it still doesn't feel fully normal" – said Gerardo.

- "No wonder. We're supposed to be in an entirely different universe, right?" – said Miguel laughing – "But it still feels great" –

- "And the sun's getting down kinda late, don't you think?" – said Carlos looking at his Dragtemn: the digital clock showed it was 7:30 pm. Looking upwards, they saw the sky had started getting colored orange.

- "Yeah, it must be because of the latitude and altitude we're at. That combined with the seasons changes the time at which the sun sets in regions that are somewhat far away from the equator" – said Gerardo smiling.

- "And considering Venezuela is so close to the equator, that means the time difference for our twilight isn't as large as the one they get here, right?" – asked Kember.

- "Well, yeah. We only get a change of about one or two hours when it comes to the sunrise and the twilight" – said Henry shrugging his shoulders.

- "And that means Soleila is kinda like Japan, right?" – said Kagome – "We get pretty long days in summer and very short ones during winter" –

- "Hey, things are like that too in Spain!" – said Tiffany.

- "And in the rest of the Eurozone!" – said Gabriela laughing.

- "Eurozone?" What's that?" – asked Inuyasha.

- "It's just a region from a continent called Europe in our world, don't mind it much" – said Kagome smiling – "But I guess this is how traveling abroad feels like, right?" –

- "Yeah, pretty much" – nodded Gerardo.

- "Yup! It's very interesting seeing how much stuff changes from a country to another!" – said Gabriela hopping around.

By that time, they had already reached the Tiarrashe Station, so they repeated the whole procedure again of entering the turnstiles and waiting for the monorail to come, the whole time with the glares of the people looking at them.

- "Well, it's great the tickets are multiple-use ones" – said Henry looking at his ticket: a white piece of paper with a wave-shaped barcode printed in it that among other things, it included the default usage number it had and the date it was issue at – "That way we won't have Miko and Yasha paying them for us again" –

- "Ugh… Remind me to ask in the castle for some funds once we get there" – said Gerardo cringing – "Otherwise, I don't know how we're going to cover our traveling expenses" –

- "Well, we could try getting some jobs at the Request Centers in each city" – suggested Yasha.

- "But… There's the problem they're not really familiar with the kinds of jobs here" – said Miko saddened.

- "We've seen at least there are knights, cooks and alchemists here" – said Miguel thinking back on the people they had met during the few hours they had been there – "What else there is?" –

- "Hmm, we've got Adventurers, who go from a town to another carrying out requests to make a living… Warriors, who are like knights but instead of serving as part of the Royal Army act independently… Medics, constructors, musicians and teachers, which do the same stuff they do in our world... Shopkeepers…" – said Miko thinking back on the things they had been taught at school.

- "Ah, and Feltes told me that there are also Researchers and Scholars! The former are practical-focused scientists, while the latter are theoretical ones" – said Gerardo remembering his chats with Feltes.

- "Yup. We've also got Magicians, though they focus more on researching the ways of using magic, while both the Researchers and Scholars focus on the things' more scientific side" – explained Yasha – "That said, it's not weird for them to work together a lot" –

- "And their work together is how Dragonia's gotten so advanced, right?" – asked Gabriela smiling.

- "Yup. Luckily, magic, science and religion don't fight each other here: they actually support each other" – said Miko with a smile – "But only as long as you don't do anything that's considered insulting to the Dragon Gods" –

- "Hmm, like what?" – wondered Henry crossing his arms as he frowned his face.

- "Hmm, from our history lessons, there used to be a way in which people could cast magic without needing approval from the Dragon Gods, but since this allowed them to kill each other and cause all sorts of disasters, it was forbidden by a Priestess of the Dragon that lived long ago" – said Miko with a sad face.

- "So if you try to cast magic but your intentions go against the laws that protect this world, you'll just find it fizzling out" – said Yasha – "That's to prevent it from being misused, and also, to avoid someone casting magic that could destroy this world" –

- "At the least it makes sense. Considering how religion actually kept our world in ignorance and forbid them from making technological advancements for years just to keep their power, they don't sound so bad here" – said Roger with a serious face.

- "Yeah, though we can't really say there's separation of church and state here, right?" – said Gerardo laughing.

- "Yeah, since the Queen used to be the Priestess of the Dragon before Princess Gabriela was born" – said Yasha smiling – "And the Priestess always ends up being the Queen until the next Priestess is born" –

- "But well, back to the topic, I guess I'll have to be making reports and researches if we're gonna ask for work at the Request Centers" – said Gerardo with enthusiasm – "After all, being either a Research or Scholar is what I'd like to do" –

- "And I'd like to be an alchemist specialized in medicine or a cook" – said Miguel with a proud smile – "Hey, since alchemists are also pretty good cooks, I could do both things!" –

- "Hey, that's the same thing I'm gonna do!" – said Roger laughing – "Well, two alchemists in the party wouldn't be a bad idea!" –

- "Heh, and I guess I gotta start planning on how to upgrade our weapons" – said Henry smiling as everyone else looked at him – "Yeah, I'm going to be an alchemist too, but focused on weapon and armor making" -

- "In that case, make sure to find some books and start studying!" – said Gabriela as she jumped at them, making everyone laugh and giggle.

At that moment, the monorail had finally arrived, so they stopped their chatter as they watched the people returning from their jobs disembark to then board it themselves. They secured the seats and holding bars they could, and grabbed tightly as the train departed. They saw Soleila's scenery once again, this time bathed by the light of the setting sun.

- "Ok, this goes perfect for a painting!" – said Kember as he saw the composition formed by the orange and purple colors joined with the setting sun's figure, and the clouds above dyed by the dying light, all of which softly superimposed themselves over the city. The crystal pyramid where the Royal Museum was located shone beautifully under the twilight.

- "Yeah, it's beautiful" – said Gerardo as he put out his Dragtemn, held it as if it were a photographic camera, and snapped a picture with it – "Ok, just made a picture. Maybe we should start making an album as we travel" –

- "Umm, but it seems you got lotsa attention there…" – said Yasha as he signaled toward the people, which were looking at him, Miguel and Gabriela unsettlingly.

- "Err… We better pay no attention to them for now…" – said Gerardo a bit taken aback. He hastily sent a message to everyone through the Dragtemns – "We better refrain from interacting with the people until the King and Queen have made an announcement. I'm afraid things could end up as a disaster if we say anything we shouldn't" –

The others read the message and understood what he meant, so they just kept on watching the twilight-bathed city as it passed before their eyes, until the train entered the tunnels again and stopped.

- "Central Station. Central Station" – said once again the monotone female voice over the speakers.

They left the train as quickly as they could, with Miko and Yasha leading them the way back to the turnstiles.

- "Phew, talking about an awkward situation…" – said Gerardo sighing once they had left the station and were back to the streets – "We shouldn't have agreed to the idea of the masquerade without having the monarchs make an announcement about us being here" –

- "Yeah. That makes things so hard to handle…" – said Gabriela a bit creeped out from how much the people looked at her.

- "You said it. It felt like we were some kinda freaks, ghosts or something" – said Miguel rubbing his head.

- "Well, it's not completely false you're ghosts of sorts, since you look like people that died some time ago, right?" – asked Yasha with his arms behind his head and having a neutral expression on his face.

- "You're one to talk, Yasha" – said Inuyasha annoyed – "As if ya hadn't been a ghost yourself" –

- "Yeah, but now I'm an actual person, right?" – smiled Yasha.

- "And the same goes for me!" – said Miko, who was now taken from Kagome's hand.

- "Hehe, and I like you more like this Miko" – said Kagome smiling, to which Miko responded by giggling happily.

- "Well then, we're just a few more minutes from reaching the inn. But have you got any ideas about how you're gonna greet your kinda-parents once we get back to the castle?" – asked Henry with a doubtful voice as he turned to look at his friends.

- "Somewhat… I just hope we can pull it off as convincingly as possible. After all, the rumors about the Princess and Prince coming back home should have spread all over the city by now between the guards and the people that saw us today" – said Gerardo crestfallen.

- "And we gotta get it right on the first try. The last thing we need is getting singled out as impostors or anything like that" – said Gabriela a bit angry. She looked around to make sure no one heard what she just had said, and luckily, there weren't many people on the streets now that night was beginning to set in and the street lamps were being turned on, emitting a gentle white light.

- "Though I don't think that's gonna happen. You're not as stupid as certain some family members we've got to go around saying that, right?" – asked Miguel amused.

- "Yeah, and the same goes for you" – nodded Gerardo with a smile. By that point, they had already reached the Plaza, which still had a considerable amount of people, and headed straight to one of the buildings in front of it, which had a large dark blue sign decorated with star marks, which had written over it "Astralusyaka Yaipo".

- "Okay, this has to be the place" – said Kember as he pointed out at the sign – "Are we going in?" –

- "Yeah, but we'll wait outside. There's no point in us going in if we're not gonna stay, right?" – asked Gabriela. Gerardo and Miguel nodded in agreement.

- "Yeah… So good luck with getting a room!" – said Miko laughing.

The five had no problems with this, so once they crossed the glass door, they found themselves in a small yet cozy lobby room made from wood and that had the floor covered with a soft green carpet. There was a young woman sitting behind a wooden desk with a small silver bell placed over it, and the woman herself was reading a large notebook she had right before her. She had long black hair, brown eyes, and wore a white and red shouf decorated with triangles.

- "Ah, good evening!" – said the woman greeting the group with a smile – "Will you spend the night with us?" –

- "Good evening. Yes, that's the plan" – said Henry as they got closer to the desk – "How much would it be for five people?" –

- "Hmm, that would be two rooms if you're going to spend the night in double-bed ones, as the young lady can't stay by herself" – said the woman pensively as she eyed Tiffany, who looked back at her embarrassed – "We'll give you an additional bed for her to stay in whichever of these rooms she wishes to. So in total, the fee would be 140 Dracks the night" –

- "Umm, is it okay if we make the payment tomorrow?" – asked Roger a bit appalled at the amount.

- "Oh, I don't mind it. After all, payment is always made at the check-out" – said the woman smiling – "But if you wish to stay longer, please make sure to inform me as soon as possible" –

- "Okay, we'll stay then" – said Henry smiling.

- "Excellent!"- said the woman turning around to grab a couple of keys, which she handed to the five – "Here are your room keys. Allow me to show you the way to your rooms" –

- "Okay, thanks. But first, allow us to bid farewell to our friends" – said Carlos smiling as he took one of the keys and Henry the other. The woman just nodded and waited behind the desk as they went back outside.

- "So, how did it go?" – asked Kagome with interest.

- "All perfect! Though the fees sound kinda steep" – said Henry smiling in a strange way.

- "Huh? How much?" – asked Miko confused.

- "140 Dracks for two rooms, one of them with an additional bed" – said Roger a bit crestfallen.

- "Hmm, that's kinda the standard fare for the hotels and inns here" – said Yasha – "Anyway, we can give you the money for one night, but after that, you'll have to find a way to pay for yourselves" –

- "Yeah… Remember our allowance wasn't really a lot, as we're just kids after all" – said Miko a bit sad – "It was just 15 Dracks per week" –

- "D'oh!" – said Henry embarrassed – "Sorry we're cutting into your savings, guys! We'll try to pay you back as soon as we can!" –

- "Nah, don't worry! We're friends now, and we wanna help you however we can!" – said Yasha as he turned to Miko – "Right, Miko?" –

- "Yeah! That's why we're all here for: to watch each other's backs!" – said Miko smiling.

- "Hehe, I'm glad you turned out to be such a good girl, Miko" – said Kagome rubbing her younger sister's head.

- "Thanks, onee-san!" – said Miko blushing as she covered her mouth with her closed hands.

- "But don't abuse their trust, or else…" – said Inuyasha in a very serious voice.

- "Don't worry, we know who we're dealing with" – said Carlos smiling – "And we promised we'd pay them back the favor they're doing us" –

- "But we'll worry about it tomorrow, as we should be getting ready to sleep" – said Kember yawning and stretching.

- "Yeah, I think tomorrow's gonna be a very busy day" – said Roger yawning as well.

- "But maybe it'd be good if we could go search for a partner dragon or something, right?" – said Henry with a tired face.

- "Hey, that's actually a good idea!" – said Miguel with wide eyes – "Maybe we could ask Fileia and Elaer, or someone else about it?" –

- "Hmm, we really could ask Fileia-san and Elaer-san about it once we get home" – suggested Yasha – "And good thing you came up with that idea now, Henry-nii. If you're gonna make a public appearance, it'd be very weird for the Prince, Princess and Commander to not have their dragons around, don't you think?" –

- "Yeah… We better get going to bed then, so we can rise up early and get ourselves a partner each" – said Gerardo – "Well everyone, are you okay with us meeting here again tomorrow?" –

- "Yeah. It's the best option, as it's such a centric location and since it's so close to the inn and the castle" – said Henry with a smile.

- "And we've just finished registering pointers to it, so we can just teleport here tomorrow" – said Kagome as Miko showed them her Dragtemn.

- "Good thinking!" – said Tiffany.

- "Yeah, we figured it'd be a good idea to just register important places so we can move around faster" – said Kagome smiling.

- "Then, it's decided" – said Gerardo as he began shaking hands with his friends and gave a hug to Tiffany – "See you all tomorrow guys! Have a good night!" –

- "Good night" – said everyone as they entered the inn.

- "And we better get to the castle" – said Inuyasha standing up from the bench they were sitting at. They all nodded and started walking back to the castle.

Once they reached the checkpoint with the two guards, Gerardo, Miguel and Gabriela turned to their four friends.

- "Ok, I think we'll be fine from this point on" – said Gerardo smiling – "Thanks a lot for the tour today, Miko and Yasha" –

- "No prob!" – said Yasha hopping – "We actually wanted to show you the city ever since we got our memories back!" –

- "And we're glad we could! Soleila's so amazing… And I'd like to show you our school and so many other things too!" – said Miko with an earnest smile.

- "Whoa! I wanna see your school! Can we go after we're done with the dragons and the singing I've gotta do, Gerar?" – asked Gabriela.

- "Sure. We'll have some time before we gotta depart for Seleila, so we could check up some things we couldn't today" – said Gerardo, which made the three children jump up ecstatic.

- "Make sure to tell Tiffany-chan about it too" – said Kagome smiling.

- "Yeah, we'll do" – said Miguel – "And we better get in already, as the monarchs must be waiting for us" –

- "Yeah. We'll meet again tomorrow" – said Gerardo smiling as Kagome, Inuyasha, Miko and Yasha began waving at them as they turned around and started walking to the castle.

- "See ya!" – said Gabriela.

- "'Til tomorrow!" – said Miguel.

- "See you next morning!" – said Kagome, Miko and Yasha, while Inuyasha just scoffed. They all used their Dragtemns to teleport back to Fileia and Elaer's house once they reached the Plaza. As for Gerardo, Gabriela and Miguel, the guards opened the gateway as soon as they saw them approach, and after briefly saluting them, they allowed them passage.

They crossed the courtyard, which was now just illuminated by some bright white lights that came from a few lamps that had crystals inside, and opened the double doors leading into the castle, finding themselves into the brightly lit foyer once they crossed them.

- "Ah, Your Highnesses and Sir! Welcome back!" – said a knight that was just at the side of the doors – "Their Majesties are on their way to receive you just as we speak!" –

- "Umm… Very well, thank you very much for your hard work" – said Gerardo trying to sound as formal and dignified as possible – "You may now… umm…" –

- "You are now dismissed. Feel free to go home and rest after such a long day" – said Miguel in a commanding voice.

- "Understood, Sir! Thank you, Sir!" – said the guard as he saluted Miguel: he closed a fist, placed it over his heart, then over his mouth, and leaned his head forward. He then left the castle through the same doors Gerardo, Miguel and Gabriela had used to enter.

- "Well done, Mige!" – said Gabriela clapping.

- "Yeah, that was a good save…" – said Gerardo annoyed at himself for freezing up.

- "Thanks, guys! I think my days as a D&D game master served me wonders for this!" – said Miguel laughing.

- "Yeah, but I should try to act less nervous and to not lose my train of thought as I talk. Everybody's gonna find out about it if I don't improve on that…" – said Gerardo.

- "Yeah. Talking with people's never been your strong suit, right?" – said Gabriela.

- "Well, we can worry about that later. Look who's coming here" – said Miguel pointing to the stairs with his head: both the king and the queen were going down the steps relatively quick and heading to them.

- "Oh, Illyusea…! Thank goodness our children are back sound and safe! Thanks…!"- said the king hugging Gerardo.

- "Umm… salutations, father. It is a great pleasure to have returned home…" – said Gerardo hugging him back.

- "Oh my dear baby! I am so glad that you have returned to us! I was worried so much for you" – said the queen hugging Gabriela.

- "Thank you, mother…. I am glad to be back at our home…" – said Gabriela returning the hug, both feeling horribly awkward about the situation but trying to dissimulate it the best they could.

- "And it is a great pleasure to have you back with us as well, my nephew" – said the king first shaking his hand to then hug him – "Being without you made our days at the castle quite boring, not to mention our troops were quite restless without your presence" –

- "I can imagine it, Your Majesty…" – said Miguel returning the affection displays to then separate and copy the Dragonian salute he saw from the soldier a moment ago – "It is great to have returned, and I hope this also raises the morale of the knights and soldiers…" –

- "Oh, everyone across Soleila has been both happy and surprised to see you again" – said the queen with joy – "You should just listen to the rumors and news that have spread throughout the city just in the span of a few hours" –

- "I can imagine that…" – said Gerardo remembering with sadness the shock and surprise on the people's faces wherever they went – "Many people… have already witnessed us walking through the city" –

- "And there have been… no news about our return on other lands?" - asked Gabriela, who was already feeling pretty weird from having to talk so formally.

- "Not yet. I guess that it is possible some people have relayed these happenings to their friends and relatives from other latitudes, but they have yet to make something grand out of them" – said the king.

- "Well, shall we go up? There are many things we wish to talk about with you in our chambers" – said the queen – "Additionally, we must discuss about your future plans and the ceremony in which our dear Gabriela will be taking part tomorrow at night" –

- "Agreed…. Please, mother, father… lead the way" – said Gerardo smiling, though he felt nervous and annoyed at this – 'Mom and dad would surely kill us for this… Not like dad's opinion really matters at this point though' –

- 'It feels so weird! And having to act like a princess and talk so stuffy is choking!' – thought Gabriela.

- 'Heh, it feels really weird to do this, but I can only imagine how much Gerar and Gaby will be struggling with this whole thing…' – thought Miguel partly amused and partly sad.

- "Very well. Follow us" – said the king as he grabbed his wife's hand and they started walking to the foyer's left wall. Gerardo, Gabriela and Miguel followed them, and once they were close enough, they noticed the wall opened to reveal an elevator. The monarchs ushered them in, and once inside, they saw the queen press a button that would take them to the highest floor of the castle.

Once there, they followed the monarchs through a hall that had its walls painted on white, with several paintings and banners hanging from them, the floor covered in red and golden carpets, and three doors. The monarchs stopped in front of the farthest door, and once there, they opened it and held it for the three to go in. They understood the gesture and went in first. The king was the last one to enter, and he closed the door behind himself. They also heard him lock it afterwards.

- "Very well, before we begin…" - said the king with a serious voice, and he closed his eyes – "Kahial miu jecuse koutial yst neoshu quia omreca xi, soif uknasez arcia lec kelar sossaks…" –

Instantly, they felt as if there was something off with the sight and sound of the room, but the king just smiled amused:

- "It is a spell I developed and placed in secret over this chamber to project false images and sounds, so no one on the outside or using surveillance systems or magic will be able to spy on us" – he explained – "This way, we can talk without our secret being exposed" –

Miguel, Gabriela and Gerardo also sighed in relief from hearing this. The monarchs sat down in two chairs that had green velvet upholstery in front of a small glass table and instructed the three to do so on three chairs that were opposite to them.

- "So well, how was your first day in Soleila?" – asked the queen with interest once they all had sat down.

- "It was very interesting, Your Majesty!" – said Gerardo with excitement – "Possibly you have heard this from the migrants that came before us, but this city is nothing short of wonderful!" –

- "Yeah! Exploring the streets, riding the monorail and even getting invited to eat in someone's house!" – said Gabriela as excited as her brother.

- "Hehe, Fileia and Elaer reported to us already that they invited you for dinner," – said the queen smiling – "That was quite fortunate actually, as we don't know how you would have reacted to the foods in this world if you had first sat to eat with us" –

- "Indeed. It could have blown their cover open had they disliked any of the foods our children used to like" – said the king – "But well, we will discuss that topic at another time. We also heard you took part on the battle that unfolded on the north walls this afternoon. Is that the truth?" –

- "Yes, it is Your Majesty" – said Miguel – "Miko and Yasha wanted to go help Fileia and Elaer, and we couldn't refuse to do so due to how much they have done for them" –

- "Hmm, I bring this up due to how two of the knights noticed you were fighting like people that never had combat training in their lives" – said the king – "I know you had good reasons to do so and I cannot hold them against you, but I would wish to ask you to be more careful about it, at least until you have more experience" –

- "Though in our defense, Your Majesty, we were quite skilled at fighting and using magic some time ago" – said Gerardo trying to explain their position – "It's just… that the Dragon Gods took away all that knowledge from us during our first failed expedition to defeat Tenebross on the world Miko and Yasha came from, and we didn't get it back when we came here" –

- "Wait… You say you have already faced that horrible creature?" – asked the queen shocked.

- "Indeed, we have… But our battle against it was a miserable failure, as we almost got ourselves killed during it, and what's worse, that was the reason why Dragonia was sealed in the first place…" – said Gerardo feeling guilty.

- "I see… But don't be so hard on yourself. Rather, you should be thankful that you managed to escape with your lives" – said the queen.

- "Right. It could have been far worse for everyone involved" – nodded the king in agreement – "But in that case, it explains quite well your course of actions. I just ask that you take more care from now on" –

- "Okay, Your Majesty. We will" – said Miguel – "That said, there was another topic Gerardo wanted to bring up with you, which also concerns with keeping up the secret" –

- "And that would be?" – asked the king raising an eyebrow.

- "It would be about getting ourselves partner dragons, Your Majesty" – said Gerardo with a serious face – "Unless I'm greatly mistaken, our predecessors should have had dragons of their own, and if that is the case, I'm sure it would greatly stand out if we didn't have them too" –

- "Yes, your guess is correct. Them and everyone that accompanied them had a dragon of their own" – said the queen with a sad smile.

- "And that is quite a good point. Given it could be somewhat dangerous, would you mind if we sent Elaer and Fileia with you tomorrow morning to see if you can find your partners?" – asked the king with a smile.

- "Not at all, Your Majesty. Actually, we were thinking of asking Elaer and Fileia ourselves before we came here" – said Gabriela.

- "And… We didn't ask them at the time because we didn't get the idea until a little while ago…" – said Gerardo blaming himself again for his awful memory.

- "Well, it is nothing to mortify yourselves over. Most likely, your friends Miko and Yasha, as well as their older siblings must have told them about it already" – said the queen.

- "Yes, Miko and Yasha actually offered to tell them about the dragons on our behalf when we split up a little ago" – said Miguel smiling.

- "In that case, I see no problems with granting your request" – said the king smiling.

- "On a related topic, Your Majesty, how are the preparations for the ceremony going?" – asked Gerardo with interest.

- "Oh, we have started carrying them out. We have requested our constructors to commence the assembly of the stage where Gabriela will sing, as well as making the PR board prepare the announcements we will broadcast through all the communication media our world employs" – said the king.

- "But… If Princess Gabriela already sang the Song of Proof, wouldn't it be suspicious that our own Gaby sang it?" – asked Miguel confused.

- "Yes, it would be if it was the first time it happened" – nodded the queen – "However, we have already a historical precedent with a Priestess of the Dragon that lived many centuries ago having to sing it again after losing her powers due to a sickness, which she regained once a treatment for it was discovered" -

- "Oh, in that case it is no problem" – nodded Gerardo.

- "Indeed. Well, we have great expectations on seeing the powers that little Gabriela here can manifest, as well as the nature of her songs" – said the king while she looked at the girl with interest.

- "Your Majesty… I don't think I am as special as your daughter was…" – said Gabriela in a humbled voice.

- "But you were the one who sang the song that opened the gateway to this world," – said Miguel to cheer her up – "And not only that: you also sang the song for the Elemental Baptism with Miko" –

- "Given these achievements, it does really seem you have the makings of a true Priestess" – said the queen smiling at her – "My own daughter was also very nervous when it came the time for her to sing it, as also did I when I was about your age, but I can guarantee you everything will be fine" –

- "Indeed. It might be a bit overwhelming to sing in front of so many people, but we trust you will be able to display the powers the Priestess of the Dragon should have, as well as convey your own feelings to our populace" – said the king smiling as well.

- "Thanks, Your Majesties!" – said Gabriela bowing before them while smiling – "I will do my best!" –

– "And well, I am glad that your first day at our world was so pleasant and that you have so much enthusiasm in carrying out your duties as the Seirei, but it is time to be going to bed" – said the king as he looked at his Dragtemn: green and red, to check the hour – "You will need to wake up early, after all" –

- "We know, Your Majesty. Could you direct us to the place where we will be spending the night, please?" – asked Gerardo.

- "These would be the other two rooms in this hall. Both you and Miguel can sleep on my eldest son's room, while Gabriela can sleep on my daughter's room. You should have no problem distinguishing them, as they have their owner's name written on a metal plate on the door" – said the king.

- "So, are you going to rest for tonight?" – asked the queen with a sad smile.

- "Indeed, Your Majesty. We wish you both a good night and thank you for allowing us to stay in your castle" – said Gerardo smiling as he and the other two stood up and made reverences. The monarchs stood up, took each other's hands and opened up the door for them.

- "We wish you sweet dreams" – said the queen smiling with sadness.

- "Make sure to rest as much as you can" – said the king with a similar expression to his wife.

Gerardo and Miguel headed to the door closest to the elevator, which had a plate on the door that read "Gerardo Iadlase Drackma", while Gabriela went to the middle door, which had a plate reading "Gabriela Illyusa Drackma". After bidding good night to each other, they entered their respective rooms.

The room Gerardo and Miguel entered in was slightly smaller than the monarchs' one: it was completely painted in blue, it had the roof decorated with star and galaxy motifs, some blue carpets decorated with ocean motifs, a large window looking at the east mountains covered by sky blue curtains that also had drawings of constellations and stars, another window covered by similar curtains that had before itself a stand with two light rods and what seemed to be a console with a controller, a large curtained bed that also had blue sheets, pillows and covers with water motifs, next to which there was a small exquisitely decorated metal table with a crystal lamp, several bookcases filled to the brim with books, and a few figurines on a small shelf.

It also had a desk filled with papers covered in elegant Dragonian calligraphy, a white quill pen whose shaft was black excepting for a white spot at the top, a square black container with a tube of the same diameter as the pen's shaft, and what seemed to be a computer: it had a screen formed by two rods placed at both sides of a small depression, a transparent keyboard covered in the Dragonian alphabet's glyphs and what seemed to be a small plastic box next to the screen. It also had a small polished wooden box with some beautiful white and blue ornaments next to the papers.

- "Okay, this room is amazing…" – said Gerardo gasping once they entered and turned on the lights.

- "Yeah, I can see how it fits your tastes" – said Miguel giving his cousin a pat on the shoulder – "It looks kinda large and extravagant though" –

- "Well, it used to be the Prince's room. I wouldn't have expected anything less than this" – said Gerardo smiling – "And the stuff on this desk is pretty interesting… it seems he was writing some sort of paper before he left for the last time…" –

- "Lessee… Analysis of the Interdimensional Rifts Caused by Caellicauts and Their Relationship to Dragonia's Current State?" – said Miguel as he read the paper's title – "Yeah, it really sounds like the title for a high school final project" –

- "It actually sounds more like a thesis or dissertation title to me" – said Gerardo as he read the summary section of the paper – "And well, it looks pretty interesting: movement across dimensions being possible at a low energy cost due to poor dimensional integrity, possibility of the areas of Dragonia that disappeared being actually flung out to other worlds… Whoa, he even mentions the possibility of using Infiny's summoning to travel across time and space!" –

- "Infini? Like the Breath of Fire ultimate dragon?" – asked Miguel raising an eyebrow.

- "It's somewhat similar, but in this case it's a legendary creature capable of manipulating time-space born from joining the essences of all the elements with a special catalyst called the Heart of the Dragon" – said Gerardo pointing to a section of the paper – "See here? He explains about Infiny in this part" –

- "Ah, gotcha. Well, it's true it could be possible, but he also says here that the summoning causes uncontrollable movement through time-space. Isn't that the Time Compression you guys went through?" – asked Miguel with interest after he pointed Gerardo to a section of the paper.

- "Yeah. And looks like he came to the conclusion that traveling through time in a controlled manner is impossible at the moment: failing the fusion like we did causes the Time Compression, and it's still unknown if it's possible to move to a specific point in time and space using Infiny's power" – said Gerardo as he pointed out at the paper's section detailing its shortcomings.

- "Hmm, it's really interesting. But well, should we be worried about this now?" – asked Miguel with a puzzled face.

- "I don't think so. I'd also like to check the computer, but I'm pretty sure it'd be protected with a password or something" - said Gerardo as he pointed to the keyboard and rods.

- "And it wouldn't be a good idea to rummage through someone else's PC, right?" – asked Miguel amused.

- "Yeah. But… I think we can check out this box here" – said Gerardo grabbing the wooden box and opening it: it had a mirror in the inner part of the lid and two depressions inside.

- "Hey, isn't that an orgel? - asked Miguel looking at it.

- "Looks like it. What kind of song will it play…?" – muttered Gerardo as he closed it, flipped it, located the small wind-up key in its underside and wound it up a few times. He then left the box over the desk and opened it again.

(BGM: The you and me Song -Orgel-)

- "It's a pretty nice melody" – said Miguel looking at with a smile – "It's kind of simple but…" –

But on the other hand, Gerardo stared at the box and his eyes started filling with tears…

- "Whoa, what happened!?" – asked Miguel worried.

- "S-Sorry… I couldn't help but be moved at the song… and think of Gaby…" – said he as he removed his glasses and covered his eyes with a hand. They let the orgel finish playing its melody.

(End Song)

- "Looks like it hit you pretty hard" – said Miguel after they had closed the orgel.

- "Yeah… I didn't expect for something like this to be here…" – said Gerardo as he wiped his eyes with his shouf's sleeves, wiped his glasses, and put them on again.

- "But looks like it's pretty important too" – said Miguel – "The Prince wouldn't have had it on his desk otherwise, right?" –

- "Yeah, I think so" – said Gerardo, who was now feeling a bit better – "In any case, looks like this is all we're going to get from the room" –

- "So, shouldn't we go to bed?" – asked Miguel.

- "Not yet for me. I'll first send my mom a message to tell her we're all right, work a little more into the reprogramming of the song for Gaby, and go to bed" – said Gerardo prepping his Dragtemn for recording.

- "Yeah, I'll do the same. And good luck with the reprogramming" – said Miguel giving his cousin a thumbs up, to which Gerardo replied by smiling. After they both sent their messages, Gerardo entered the Reprogrammer option in his Dragtemn.

- "Ok, so here's the procedure…" – said Gerardo reading the instructions - "Execute the Download of the Extract you wish to modify using the proper Download Spell, but changing the final line as detailed below. Once you do, you will be able to check and modify the song's code and feelings however you wish. However, some songs have hardware-induced limitations that cannot be altered no matter what you do, so be careful" –

- "In that case, let's start by Downloading the Song" – said Gerardo to then concentrate on his Dragtemn – "cEzYA hymmnos. #5100 -x tArm azit tn='METAFALICA' es tn=0x11001100" -

A group of strange glyphs that Gerardo recognized as the alphabet employed in one of the languages from Ar Ciel: Hymmnos, began flowing out from nowhere and rotated around his Dragtemn before ultimately delving into it. Finally, Gerardo's Dragtemn shone briefly and showed a notification: - "The Hymmnos Extract METHOD_METAFALICA/. has been successfully Downloaded" –

- "Whoa amazing! First time I've ever actually seen a Song Download with my own eyes! And I've also done it without having a Reyvateil present!" – said Gerardo as he showed Miguel the notification on his Dragtemn like an overexcited child with a new toy.

- "Yep, I saw the whole Download sequence too!" – said Miguel very excited – "But that was just the first part, right?" –

- "Yeah. It's time to actually get started…" – said Gerardo as he sat down on the desk. He projected the Dragtemn's display into a holographic screen at his eyes' height and made it display the song's code before him.

- "Let's see… IPD Connection Level Required… Opening of the Boundary Gates and Boundary Keys… Sharing of Symphonic Power… Feelings Transmission… Patching Process for When It's Executed with EXEC_METAFALICA/…" – said Gerardo sifting through the countless Hymmnos lines written in the screen.

- "You better be careful and not get too carried away" – said Miguel amused, who himself had grabbed a book from one of the bookshelves that was titled Basics of the Dragonian Alchemy and was sitting on the bed – "I know you're perfectly capable of staying up the whole night just to finish that" –

- "Ahaha, that's true. But I was thinking it'd be great if I could have this ready, so Gaby can also sing it during the ceremony" – said Gerardo while he still continued checking out the Song's code.

- "That's a good point. It'd really leave a good impression on the people here if she sang both songs" – said Miguel as he read through the introduction and then flipped a bit further inside the book – "Whoa, interesting! So that's what the Seirei Crystals are made from!" –

- "Huh?" – said Gerardo taking off his eyes from the screen for a moment and looking at his cousin.

- "It's a mineral called Seireiterfa" – said Miguel showing him a diagram from the book: it showed a Seirei Crystal and it had parts marked with tags reading Seireiterfa and Dragcyal – "From the looks of it, it's a pretty common mineral in Dragonia's crust which can absorb and emit elemental energies" –

- "In other words, we pretty much owe our powers to mineral energy sponges, right?" – smiled Gerardo – "And that reminds me… Didn't Fileia produce water from the faucet by placing a crystal in a slot?" –

- "Yeah, that must be Seireiterfa containing water-elemental energies" – said Miguel – "I think they do that to not use water from the pipelines unnecessarily" –

- "And what's the Dragcyal?" – asked Gerardo eyeing the other name in the diagram.

- "Ah, from the looks of it, is another mineral," – said Miguel grabbing the book again and searching for the name in the index – "Yeah, it is: it's a less common mineral that can absorb and emit draconic energies, which are pulses hidden in the elemental energies that can't be absorbed by the Seireiterfa" –

- "And that's how we get the power for summoning the armors and the transformations…" – said Gerardo nodding.

- "Yeah. Still, sorry to take up your time," – said Miguel smiling – "It's just I thought you'd find it interesting, since we never heard anything about how the crystals work" –

- "I don't mind it," – said Gerardo closing his eyes pleased – "Anything we may learn about this world is sure to help us in some way" –

He then returned to the holo-screen and focused on studying the Song's code.

Meanwhile, Gabriela was already getting ready to go to bed: the room she was in was painted in white and had several musical note reliefs throughout it. It also had two shelves filled with cute stuffed animals, another filled with coloring books, crayons and notebooks, another with dolls both plastic and stuffed, a desk with a computer similar to that of the prince, a small table with some chairs, a cello and a violin stored inside their cases, and a bed with frilly white curtains, covers and sheets.

Rather than checking out the closet, she used her Dragtemn to change into one of the bed outfits she brought with her: a pink sleeping gown decorated with a stuffed bunny.

- "This room's so pretty…. It's kinda similar to the one I've got at home, but larger and filled with many more things I really like" – she said as she examined the black cello case, which also had a cute purple ribbon tied around one of its handles, and caressed it – "And looks like the princess also liked music a lot, like Fileia told us" –

She felt tempted to open up the case and take the cello out to try playing it.

- "No, I better don't" – she said with a sad smile as she separated her hands from the cello case – "Instruments have souls too, and I don't think this one'd like me playing it when it had an owner already" –

She then spotted what seemed to be a stereo system next to where desk was.

- "Hmm, I wonder what this is for… Could it be like the music players we had back home?" – asked Gabriela. She pressed the button to turn it on, and after a title that read "the song I play with my brother" flashed in a led screen, the music started playing.

(BGM: The you and me song)

- "This song is so pretty… and it uses the harpsichord I love so much too..." – said Gabriela as she closed her eyes and kept listening to the beautiful piece. After it finished, the device flashed a "changing to standby mode" message and it turned off again.

(End BGM)

- "I wonder… did the princess and the prince really play this song together…?" – asked Gabriela to herself – "Well… not like I really have a way to know that now, huh…?" -

She then went to the bed and tucked herself in.

- "Hehe, it's so comfy…!" – said Gabriela as she rolled around inside the sheets, got herself comfortable among the soft pillows and closed the curtains – "I think I'm gonna sleep great here! But before I do… I better send mommy a message to tell her we're okay" –

She sat up on the bed, pulled out her Dragtemn and put it into voice recording mode:

- "Mommy, we're in Dragonia! This place is amazing! Remember the tour through Europe we did a few months ago? Dragonia is like it, but its capital is a large city surrounded by a beautiful lake, and the people here are so warm and nice! Oh, and we met too the king and queen, and you'd be surprised if you met them too! But they've been very sad… as their children got killed some months ago. That's another reason why we wanna help this world, so we're gonna do our best! Tomorrow we'll be searching for dragon partners, and I have to sing an amazing song to help the people too! Wish me good luck! I'll call you tomorrow to tell you how everything went, so please wait for me. And I hope daddy isn't giving you much trouble!" –

Once she finished, she saw how the "message recorded" notification appeared on her Dragtemn, and it then showed a "Please input your delivery conditions".

- "Delivery conditions? Oh!" – said Gabriela realizing what it meant – "Deliver it when mommy's getting home and while's she still on her car so it plays on her cellphone, but while daddy isn't home too!" –

The Dragtemn flashed with a "conditions input" message, and it then showed an animation of an envelope being sent, which once finished it displayed a "message sent!" notification.

- "Great! I hope Gerar and the others have remembered about sending messages too" – said Gabriela smiling and getting ready to sleep again – "And I hope he wasn't boneheaded enough to tell her that… we look like the monarchs' kids… and that they look just like our parents…" –

She put on a somewhat sad expression, turned to the side, and finally having gotten herself comfortable, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning… Gerardo and Miguel ended up sleeping on the same bed, like they used on his house, and once the sun rose, they heard the door being knocked very strongly.

- "Your Highness! Commander, sir!" – said a male voice – "Please wake up! Breakfast has been served, and both Major Fileia and Major Elaer are waiting for you!" –

- "Urmm… Who ate my chip…?" – asked Gerardo idiotically as he groggily woke up.

- "Grr… Wanna mix some more stones into the cauldron…" – said Miguel still more sleep than awake.

- "Please wake up! Their Majesties the Queen and the King are also waiting for you to join them in the breakfast!" – said the voice again. This finally woke both boys up, who jumped from the bed almost instantly and ran to the door.

- "Excuse us for our tardiness! We will be there as soon as we can!" – said Gerardo, who was wearing a sky blue pajama.

- "Yes, Your Highness!" – said the voice. They then heard footsteps going away from the other side of the door.

- "Ok, we better get ready as quickly as we can!" – said Miguel, who himself was wearing blue pants and a gray t-shirt.

- "Yeah" – said Gerardo as he and Miguel used their Dragtemns to change again into their respective shoufs.

- "By the way, what time is it?" – asked Miguel as they affixed their weapons again to their hips.

- "It's… Damn, 6:30 am!?" – said Gerardo shocked upon rechecking his Dragtemn to see the time – "They weren't joking with us having to raise early!" –

- "And since you're not really a morning person…" – said Miguel amused.

- "Don't remind me of that… I'll have to wait until the day ends now to catch some Zs…" – said Gerardo in a mournful voice.

- "At least look at the nice part: we'll get our dragons, and we'll also see Gaby singing!" – said Miguel patting his back.

- "Yeah, thanks for the encouragement… but that still doesn't get rid of the annoyance I get from waking so early in the morning…" – said Gerardo crestfallen. They then opened the door and walked down the hallway, though they were surprised to see Gabriela already wearing her shouf waiting for them in front of the door to the princess' room.

- "It took you two long enough!" – said Gabriela tapping her foot on the floor with an angry face – "I know you hate waking up early, but this is embarrassing!" –

- "You're one to talk, Gaby!" – said Gerardo annoyed – "You're as bad early in the morning as I am!" –

- "Yeah, but at the least I could get ready much faster than you two!" – said her angry.

- "And after I had to stay up until late at night to reprogram the song for you…" – said Gerardo facepalming – "You could at least be a little more grateful about it… "-

- "That's true?" – asked Gabriela with suspicion as she looked at Miguel.

- "Yeah, he did" – said Miguel supporting his cousin – "I know, as I stayed awake for a good part of that reading an alchemy book while he was doing the reprogramming" –

- "Oh, I wanna read it too!" – said Gabriela excited – "But let's continue talking about this later when we're with the others. We gotta go eat breakfast with the monarchs, right?" –

- "Yeah. Let's get going already, as we're gonna have to shift speech patterns once again" – said Gerardo saddened.

They started walking to the elevator and once they got inside, they rode it to the ground floor. They saw one door open across them, so they started walking to it.

- "Ah, good morning, Your Highnesses! Good day, sir!" – said a maid dressed in a beautiful purple and blue shouf that was right beside the door.

- "Good morning!" – said Gabriela cheerfully – "Are our parents inside?" –

- "Hehe, you are as funny as always, Princess!" – said the maid laughing – "Yes, Their Majesties are expecting you inside, as this is the dining room where you always eat together" –

- "Still, thanks for informing us" – said Gerardo smiling, trying to keep his bad mood hidden – "Now if you excuse us, we must make haste" –

The maid nodded as they walked beside her and entered the room: it was a large and beautiful room with a large wooden table covered with a white cloth in its center, which had two large candelabra hanging over it. The floor was checkered with white and black tiles like the foyer, but it was covered by an exquisite blue carpet with golden trimmings and embroidery, and it had two large windows that had large blue and golden curtains at each side, behind which they could see the castle's inner courtyard.

The monarchs were waiting for them at the table when they arrived, and a couple of maids were already serving the breakfast to them.

- "Ah, good morning, my dear children and nephew!" – said the king with a jovial voice when he saw them coming into the room. He and the queen were dressed in outfits similar to the ones they wore the previous day, but they weren't wearing their crowns this time – "Come here, as breakfast is just starting!" –

- "Good morning, dears!" – said the queen in a joyful voice.

- "Good morning, mother, father" – said Gerardo feeling awkward as hell while he, Gabriela and Miguel sat down at the table near the monarchs – "I hope you had a pleasant dream last night" –

- "Oh, we did. And we hope the same was true for you three" – said the queen smiling.

- "Well, Gerardo and Miguel were up until late at night yesterday studying and working in something" – said Gabriela giggling – "But I went to sleep early because I was so tired" –

- "Well, it's no surprise" – said the king amused – "After all, your work in research has been quite important as well, not to mention Miguel's own alchemic studies should prove to be useful during your travels" –

- "Yes, Your Majesty" – said Miguel nodding – "That is the reason why I am trying to be one of the best alchemists in our world" –

- "In any case, let us begin our breakfast. Our food will go cold otherwise" – said the queen as she turned to her plate and the maids served both siblings and Miguel their breakfast.

Once they removed the lid from the silver tray and revealed the plates they contained, they could finally see what they would eat that morning: two eggs with salmon-colored yolks, a few pieces of bread with a yellow spread and a few green herbs over them, some cold meat slices, and a glass filled with something that seemed very similar to orange juice.

- 'Heh, looks like a mix between American and European-styled breakfasts… But can't complain about it, as it could have been far worse for me and my goddamned picky tongue' – thought Gerardo amused as he, Miguel and Gabriela started eating. The monarchs also continued eating, looking at the three with smiles.

After they finished eating, they bid farewell to the monarchs and walked back to the castle gates, greeting everyone they came across. After leaving the castle, they went directly to the Seirei Plaza.

- "Ooph… Talking about a difficult situation, huh?" – sighed Gerardo after they left the guardhouse at the castle's entrance – "Having to feign all the time like this is being such a drain…" –

- "Yeah… But at least we had a nice sleep in these big cozy rooms" - said Gabriela smiling – "And the breakfast was great too!" –

- "Though I felt like I was in a movie or something" – said Miguel bemused – "That kinda breakfast was like the ones they got in the USA movies" –

- "Yeah, and I thought it also had elements of the European continental breakfasts" – said Gerardo laughing.

- "Hihihi, it only needed the hazelnut spreads, butter and such, right?" – laughed Gabriela – "That'd be made it just like the stuff we ate when we were in France and Italy!" –

- "And now I see where you got the idea of combining the chocolate spread with the peanut butter!" – said Miguel winking at his cousin.

- "Hehe, not really. I got the idea out of the blue, as I didn't know at the time the hazelnut spread was a common part of breakfast in Italy" – said Gerardo smiling.

It was then that they noticed they had reached again the plaza and saw Henry and the others waiting for them sitting near the fountain.

- "Ah, there they come!" – said Henry waving his hand to greet them.

- "Hey, guys!" – said Roger at his side.

- "Ah, Gaby!" – said Tiffany overjoyed.

After they met again and finished greeting each other, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miko and Yasha also materialized a few meters away from them.

- "Ah, good morning everyone!" – said Kagome with a cheerful voice.

- "Mornin'" – said Inuyasha with a neutral expression and voice.

- "Hi, guys!" – said Carlos smiling, which the others also echoed in their own way – "Had a nice night over at Fileia's and Elaer's?" –

- "Yup! Miko and Yasha's room there was a bit small, but very comfortable" – said Kagome smiling – "And we were pretty lucky their beds could fit two people" –

- "Though Nii-san didn't really want to sleep on the bed" – said Yasha pouting – "He'd rather stay slumped on the floor or next to a wall" –

- "Come on, Yasha!" – said Inuyasha angry – "You know I can't change my sleeping habits just in one night!" -

- "It's just question of getting used to it" – said Kagome – "By the way, the breakfast they've got here is pretty nice too. Very European!" –

- "Hehe, we were commenting on that as we walked here" – said Gerardo smiling - "We were telling Miguel it reminded us a lot of the times we've traveled to the USA and Europe" –

- "Hehe, we could say we kinda went to Europe then!" – said Henry smiling proudly.

- "Though Gerar and me only went to Europe once" – said Gabriela a bit saddened – "And they didn't have hazelnut spread here…" –

- "It sounds pretty tasty to have that as part of the breakfast…" – said Kagome thoughtfully – "But I fear it could cause me to put on some weight…" –

- "Yeah, that's why I try to not eat it too often" – said Tiffany crossing her arms.

- "Speaking of that, we actually had that spread as one of the options in the hotel's breakfast" – said Kember – "The rest of it were some weirdly-colored eggs, a mound of rizzole, some greens and a sausage" –

- "Hmm, kinda different from the one we had: ours was eggs, something like garlic-spread bread, and some cold meats" – said Miguel – "Maybe you ordered a different breakfast kind from the one we had?" –

- "It's possible" – said Yasha – "The Dragonian breakfast has several varieties to it" –

- "But you ate the same one we did?" – asked Miguel with curiosity.

- "Yup! Though we also asked to add some rizzole to it" – said Miko skipping – "It's because it reminded us of the rice we had at home even while we had our memories sealed" –

- "But it's so weird the monarchs eat the same thing as everyone else…" – said Roger with his hand on his chin.

- "Well, yeah. It's because they're also setting example for all the people being equal here" – said Miko as she started giggling – "That said, I've heard they also get a bit extravagant with the food for the celebrations" -

- "And while Kagome told us about you four," – said Gerardo turning to his friends – "How was your night, guys? Slept well?" –

- "Yeah. The beds were pretty comfortable and the room wasn't bad either" – said Henry nodding – "We could even watch some Dragonian TV before we went to bed!" –

- "And the shows in them are pretty interesting, especially the ones that have researchers from the museum as hosts" – said Roger smiling.

- "But looks like there weren't any movies or comedies when we checked yesterday" – said Carlos sighing saddened.

- "The Dragonians have TVs?" – asked Gabriela raising an eyebrow.

- "Yup, it's the light rod thingies we've seen before!" – said Tiffany – "They show a holographic screen between them when you turn the thing on!" –

- "Heh, looks like most of their projection technologies are made from holograms" – said Miguel smiling – "That makes it pretty interesting" –

- "And Tiff? How you managed to sleep with two other guys in the same room?" – asked Gabriela intrigued.

- "Oh, I just asked them to leave me alone or I'd end up burning the whole room" – said Tiffany giggling, though this made everyone but Henry and Roger put on horrified faces: these two just cringed.

- "Weren't you going a little too far with that?" – said Gerardo to admonish her.

- "Yeah, I know you wanted to feel safe, but that was too much" - said Gabriela looking at her angry.

- "Uh, your angry face doesn't look so threatening now you got kiddier" – said Tiffany laughing.

- "Don't be like that!" – said Gabriela pouting and spreading her arms to her sides.

- "Now now, don't start fighting" – said Gerardo putting himself between both girls – "As for us, we ended up sleeping on the rooms the princess and prince used to have. Very large, beautiful and comfortable rooms actually" –

- "I can imagine. The monarchs would have wanted only the best for their children" – said Kagome.

- "Keh, more like wastin' money in excess things" – said Inuyasha smiling in a mocking way.

- "Can't deny that, but well, at least it was a nice stay" – said Gerardo smiling.

- "Though Gerar didn't really took advantage of the bed: he spent most of the night working on reprogramming the song" – said Miguel smiling.

- "Whoa, really? That's amazing, pal!" – said Henry giving him a pat on the shoulder.

- "You're really a programmer!" – said Carlos overjoyed.

- "Thanks, Gerar!" – said Gabriela.

- "You're great, Gerardo-kun!" – said Kagome – "So that means we can make the connection for Gaby-chan now?" –

- "Thanks for the congratulations, but sadly it's too early to be celebrating" – said Gerardo saddened and moving his head from side to side– "I've tried executing it under simulation mode many times, but I only get the song to cancel itself out with an error whenever I do" –

- "I see… It's too bad" – said Kagome a bit disappointed, which everyone also shared.

- "You gotta stop thinking you can do everything" – said Inuyasha while he eyed him.

- "You said that because you're disappointed too, as you're also curious to seeing that song in action" – said Yasha closing one eye and crossing his arms at Inuyasha's reaction.

- "Damn, Yasha…!" – said Inuyasha angry, which made everyone laugh, though they returned to feeling dejected shortly later.

- "Anyway, at this rate you won't be able to make Gaby sing it after the Song of Proof" – said Miguel crossing his arms.

- "Yeah… If I don't manage to find a solution to this before tonight, we'll have to scrap that idea and let her sing it at another time" – said Gerardo as he looked at his Dragtemn.

- "By the way, are Elaer and Fileia coming?" – asked Miguel with curiosity.

- "They should be coming anytime. They told us to go ahead while they finished getting ready" – explained Kagome.

- "Yeah, I wanna get my dragon as soon as I can!" – said Henry, which also made everyone regain their energies. A few instants later, they saw Fileia and Elaer materialize just to the side of where Kagome and Inuyasha were standing, each having their dragons on small form perched on their shoulders.

- "Ah, good morning, everyone!" – said Elaer in a jovial way as he and Fileia smiled. Their dragons emitted a soft and sweet growl.

- "Aw, so cute!" – said both Gabriela and Tiffany when they saw the dragons growling. They tried patting them, which both Elaer and Fileia allowed. The small creatures closed their eyes pleased when the girls did.

- "Hehe, glad to know our dragons and you have liked each other. And I hope you all had a nice night!" – said Fileia.

- "We did. Thanks a lot for worrying about us" – said Gerardo smiling.

- "Yeah! We slept veeery nicely!" – said Gabriela skipping around them as she and Tiffany left the dragons alone.

- "And the same goes for us!" – said Henry smiling.

- "Glad to know that!" – said Fileia – "Well then, are we ready to depart?" –

- "Yeah. But how are you going to take us wherever we need to go?" – asked Roger intrigued.

Elaer sent them all messages through his Dragtemn in order to avoid drawing even more the attention of the people around them, as the ones around the fountain had started looking at Gerardo, Miguel and Gabriela with surprise.

- "We'll leave through the south gate, and once we have left the city, we'll ask our dragons to help carry some of you to the mountains to the west so you can find your own dragon partners. However, that means the others will need to fly using their armors" – said the message.

- "Very well. Shall we depart now?" – said Gerardo nodding.

- "Yes, Your Highness" – said Elaer in a respectful tone.

- "Indeed. Let us go" – said Fileia in a reverential tone. This made the people that were around them to look at Gerardo, Gabriela and Miguel with even more astonishment, and even start whispering among themselves.

- "It can't be… Are they Prince Gerardo, Princess Gabriela and Commander Drackma!?" – said a woman sitting near the fountain.

- "But they were supposed to be traveling for the last three months!" – said a man near her.

- "Yeah, but I've heard rumors about them having returned yesterday… Maybe…" – said a teenage girl near them. This only made Gerardo's group, Fileia and Elaer leave the scene as fast they could manage without looking suspicious.

Once they reached the south gate, the guards greeted them again:

- "Good morning, Your Royal Highnesses, Sir!" – said a guard wearing a yellow armor.

- "Good morning, noble knight" – said Gerardo while he struggled with what he wanted to say – "We shall… um…" –

- "I'm sure Their Royal Majesties have sent word about the operation Their Highnesses, the Commander and their friends will be conducting, correct? Tellar?" – said Elaer when he noticed how Gerardo was hesitating.

- "Ah, yes, indeed!" – said the guard checking the orders on his Dragtemn, which was now lodged on his breastplate – "Their Majesties sent an order about allowing passage to Their Highnesses and their friends in the event they came here, as they were to carry out an investigation in the mountains at the west" –

- "That's correct, Tellar. Can you now please open the gate?" – asked Fileia in a gentle voice – "We're somewhat pressed for time at the moment, as Their Highnesses will need to take part in an event later today" –

- "Ah, of course! Excuse me for delaying you!" – said the guard visibly embarrassed – "Elter, please come and help me opening the door!" –

- "Ah, coming! I was checking up the orders from Their Majesties!" – said a green-armored guard as he came out from the guardhouse. They both used the unlocking spells Gerardo and the others had seen the previous day to open the grate and gates, and allowed them to go through.

- "Now please, take care out there" – said Tellar with a voice that denoted concern.

- "Indeed. The Shadows have been growing more violent and restless with each day" – said Elter.

- "We are grateful for your concern…" – said Gabriela. She wanted to say more, but she trailed off once she finished her thanks and was unable to come up with another phrase.

- "We will be careful. I would be an embarrassment as a commander if I let anything happen to Their Highnesses, correct?" – asked Miguel in a serious voice.

- "Ah, correct, Sir! We did not mean to be disrespectful or to disparage your abilities! And the same goes for you both, Elaer and Fileia!" – said Tellar as both he and Elter saluted, which Miguel responded back in the same way. Elaer and Fileia also exchanged the salute with them.

- "Well, we'll see you later. Please make sure to protect Soleila on the meantime" – said Elaer smiling.

- "Of course! Leave the city's safety on our hands!" – said the Tellar hitting his breastplate with enthusiasm.

- "We will not fail Soleila or its inhabitants!" – said Elter nodding with energy.

Once they had gotten far enough for the guards to not listen on them…

- "They're really nice guys" – commented Roger as they walked under the warm morning sunlight and a soft breeze blew through the fields – "Pretty dedicated and all" –

- "Yes. There is not a knight among our ranks that doesn't take their responsibilities of protecting our royal capital seriously" – nodded Elaer.

- "But it seems this whole thing is causing Gerar lotsa trouble" – said Henry as he saw how downcast Gerardo was – "Are you okay, pal?" –

- "Yeah, I didn't have much trouble interacting with the knights, but it seems you're finding hard to get used to it" – said Miguel with a hand on his chin.

- "You got me… I normally like a lot getting attention from the works I make, but when it comes to this kind of attention…" – said Gerardo shaking his head side from to side – "I'd rather not get it at all… " –

- "Yeah, you'd always rather lay low rather than hogging the spotlight among the people" – said Carlos – "We've always noticed that from the time we've known you" –

- "Though it didn't seem that way in our world…" – scoffed Inuyasha annoyed.

- "Sorry… It's just that I was so excited to finally have met you guys and have gotten the dragon and Seirei powers… That I just wanted to show 'em off and be as helpful as I could…" – said Gerardo sighing in regret – "I never really wanted to eclipse you or be an annoyance, Inuyasha…" –

- "Whoa, it really hit you bad" – said Inuyasha surprised – "I'd have expected you to retort sarcastically or sumthin'" -

- "You can't blame him, though" – said Kagome saddened – "Considering the role he and Gaby-chan have to play, I can't really say I envy them" –

- "Yeah, gotcha… Having to play the bit of some dead important people mustn't be nice at all unless you're as rotten as Naraku" – said Inuyasha as he pondered a little.

- "And sorry if he's being disrespectful to the actual Prince and Princess…" – said Kagome as she looked at Fileia and Elaer, and lowered her gaze.

- "No, don't worry. And Gerardo's attitude is quite comprehensible" – said Elaer with a sad smile.

- "I really wanna cry…" – said Gabriela with a very sad face, which prompted Gerardo and Tiffany to go comfort her.

- "I'm sorry for involving you in this, Gaby…" – said Gerardo saddened as he hugged his sister – "I had no way of knowing we'd have to face something like this…" –

- "Even after having these nightmares, right?" – asked Yasha saddened.

- "Yeah… Since we didn't know if they actually happened or if they even meant something…" – said Gerardo saddened.

- "By the way, I think this place is perfect" – said Eleaer as he turned around and saw how far they had gotten from Soleila at that point – "We can start flying here to get to the mountains faster" -

- "Yes, this is a good place. Thanks for offering to help, and sorry if we imposed this on you" – said Gerardo smiling, though still sadness was visible on his eyes.

- "Yeah, as we came up with the idea late at night yesterday" – said Gabriela smiling a bit more cheered up.

- "Hehe, Miko and Yasha told us as soon as they returned home yesterday" – said Fileia smiling as both children also smiled next to them, Kagome and Inuyasha.

- "Yup! Remember we said we wanted to help too!" – said Miko smiling.

- "Ok then, let's get ready!" – said Fileia as both she and Elaer looked at their respective dragons. The creatures hopped from their shoulders to the ground a bit away from them, and after shrouding in their elemental auras for a couple seconds, they emerged in their large forms: slightly larger than horses and with a more ferocious appearance. They let out a soft yet intense roar.

- "Whoa, cool!" – said Miguel as he admired the dragons.

- "They're really impressive!" – said Gerardo as he looked at Fileia's dragon.

- "They're amazing, but I liked them more when they were cuter…" – said Gabriela amused and dejected at the same time. The others were also admiring them a lot, but Miko and Yasha just smiled.

- "Hehe, they scared us a lot the first time we saw 'em, but we ended up liking them a lot" – said Miko as she patted Fileia's dragon – "Right, Tisela?" –

Tisela softly growled in satisfaction. Both dragons also seemed very pleased and proud about the attention they were receiving.

- "So getting to the point, how many people can a dragon carry?" – Henry as he eyed both dragons again – "You know, so we know how many of us will have to end up flying" –

- "Unfortunately, a dragon can only carry a max of four people" – said Elaer in an apologetic voice – "So five of you will have to go flying" –

- "Well, it's not much trouble for me and Roger, as we can control the wind" – said Miguel – "But…" –

- "In that case, it'd be better if the kids went first, right?" – asked Carlos. Gabriela, Tiffany, Miko and Yasha looked at each other surprised.

- "Yeah, as they're the ones that could get wounded the easiest if something happened during the flight" – said Gerardo nodding.

- "Yet that still leaves space for two other people" – said Fileia smiling – "So, who among you will ride?" –

- "Hmm, Inuyasha and Kagome would be the best choices in this case" – said Kember – "After all, they're not really good flying either, and Miko and Yasha would be better with them at their side, right?" –

- "Yeah, it sounds like the best choice" – said Henry.

- "Agh, now we're being called useless…" – scoffed Inuyasha.

- "Don't take it that way, Inuyasha" – said Kagome with a serious face – "They just want to help us, and besides, I'd really like to fly with Miko on Fileia's dragon" –

- "Yeah, I know… But I'm kinda worried about how Gerardo and the others will do… You know they flew as badly as we, and with that mood he's in, he's sure to end up plastered against a cliff or sumthin'" – said Inuyasha crossing his arms.

- "Thanks for the worries, but we'll be fine" – said Gerardo with a determined expression – "We'll try just to focus on our flight so nothing happens" –

- "And luckily the dragon nests and grounds aren't at too much of a height in this area" – said Elaer smiling – "So as long as you don't commit any idiocies, you should be okay" –

- "In that case, I'll go with Yasha" – said Inuyasha smiling – "It's gonna be interesting to ride a dragon that doesn't try to kill me!" –

- "Hehe, considering the number of dragon-type youkai in our world, that doesn't come as a surprise" – said Kagome laughing.

- "So now your parties have been decided, should we get going?" – asked Fileia – "Summon your armors while we prepare to take off" –

- "Okay!" – said all the boys while the children, Inuyasha and Kagome mounted the dragons: Tiffany, Yasha and Inuyasha mounted Elaer's dragon, while Gabriela, Kagome and Miko mounted on Fileia's. Once they finished, a small transparent barrier enclosed the four riders on each dragon, surprising everyone that were coming to Dragonia for the first time. On the other hand, all the boys had summoned their armors and were ready to go.

- "Okay, time to take off!" – said Elaer as his dragon and Fileia's own flapped their wings strongly to take flight, while the boys did the same with their armors' wings.

- 'Focus… Concentrate on the wind currents around you and on using them to follow Fileia and Elaer…' – thought Gerardo as he briefly closed his eyes to plant this idea on his own mind. The others also did similar things to focus on reaching their destination. While they weren't still fully stable, at the least they could keep a constant height this time.

- "I see you're all improving on using your wings" – said Elaer smiling – "Well, follow us!" –

- "Be careful to not get lost!" – said Fileia as they both started flying higher to go deeper into the mountains. The boys flew behind them, at times stable, at times struggling to keep themselves on the air, taking care that the spectacular views of the Valley of the Sun from above, the rivers and canyons they crossed, and the beautiful cliffs and waterfalls they passed did not distract them and break their focus. This was particularly hard for Henry, who had never seen such sights on his life before, and on Gerardo due to how much he loved this kind of landscape.

- 'Focus… Don't get distracted… You can check the scenery at a later time… This isn't the moment for that…' – Gerardo kept repeating to himself as they flew over a particularly beautiful canyon that had a crystalline river at its bottom, was covered in lush green grass and had several flower patches around.

- 'Don't look too much… Follow the other guys… Don't start looking at these things yet' – Henry kept repeating himself as he followed the others.

- "I see you're having some difficulties!" – called Elaer's voice from a little ahead of them – "But don't worry, we're almost there!" –