Lina bolted upwards in her bed, awaking quite suddenly. The sound of her heavy breathing echoed in her moonlit bedroom. Lina felt her hands, and noticed that they were ice cold. Thoroughly shaken by the dream she just had, Lina decided to get out of bed and sit at her balcony for awhile. Gazing out at the dark waves of the sea, Lina noticed a certain elegance in the way the moonlight danced across the surface of the black water. The soft sound of the water lapping against the beach calmed her nerves a little.
"What a strange dream that was. Katarasu reached out to me in my dream. That must mean that the Tears of Katarasu truly exist. But what did she mean by, 'the one whom you quest to save is here'? Does that mean that the Vargus' princess is also wandering that same, cold forest?" thought Lina, resting her chin on her delicate right hand.
Lina's thoughts rose and fell like the tides of the sea. Unable to sleep, Lina simply waited for the morning sun to rise, so that she and Gourry could set off on their journey. Lina met Gourry and Vargus at the square a little before the agreed upon time of noon. Lina had quite a few heavy bags filled with her personal items, which she made Gourry pack onto the wagon.
"Do you really need all this stuff Lina?" said Gourry, heaving another hefty burlap sack onto the wagon.
"Now Gourry, you don't want me to head out on a new adventure not looking my best, do you?" said Lina, clenching a fist and pointing it at Gourry.
Gourry laughed nervously and continued packing Lina's stuff. Vargus procured a pocket watch from his robe and looked around, as if searching for someone.
"That's strange, she's supposed to be here by now," said Vargus.
"Who?" asked Lina.
"My guide, the woman I hired to show us the way to the south, was supposed to meet us here as well. She is running a little late," said Vargus.
Just then, Lina heard a piercing wail echo throughout the town. The voice seemed vaguely familiar to Lina.
"Who is that?" said Gourry.
"We'd better go check it out," said Lina.
Lina and Gourry ran away from the square down a few streets, following the sounds of the loud screaming. Just as Lina and Gourry were turning down an alley, a man dressed like a bandit flew by, slamming into a wall behind them. Lina looked down the alley and say a gang of men surrounding a blonde maiden dressed in white priestess robes, a large white hat.
"Filia!" said Lina in total amazement.
"Ms. Lina!" said Filia, also astonished.
"You can't get out of this one girly, now give us all your money or else," said a bandit, brandishing a knife.
Filia let out a wail, pulling up her robe and grabbing a vicious looking spiked mace that was attached to a leather strap on her thigh. Filia hit the bandit standing behind her squarely on the head, sending him careening into the sky.
"Get away! You filthy scum!" cried Filia as she flailed wildly with her mace, squarely hitting any bandit unlucky enough to be caught in her path.
Lina sighed, resting a hand on her forehead. Gourry scratched the back of his head, laughing forcibly.
"Same old Filia it seems", said Lina to herself.
After a few moments, Filia was left by herself in the alley, panting for air. The bandits had all been sent flying or simply had run off.
"I can't believe those vermin tried to steal money from me. I hope that taught them a lesson," said Filia placing the mace back on her thigh strap.
"Filia, what are you doing here?" asked Lina, approaching Filia.
"I got a job acting as a guide to the southern continent. I was on my way to town square to meet my partner, when those accursed ruffians accosted me," said Filia, catching her breath.
"Would your partner happen to be named Vargus?" asked Gourry.
"Why, yes, how did you know?" asked Filia.
"We're coming along for the ride, so it seems," sighed Lina.
"Oh I've missed all of you so much Ms. Lina," exclaimed Filia as she ran up and hugged Lina, almost crushing the poor girl.
"Filia...you're...crushing...me..." said Lina.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength," said Filia, relinquishing Lina and blushing. As a golden dragon, Filia had amazing physical strength.
"It's good to see you too. Well Vargus is waiting at the square, we'd better get a move on if we're going to leave this town as scheduled," said Lina, adjusting her cape.
The trio returned to the square. Vargus was waiting next to the wagon. Raising an eyebrow, Vargus looked first at Filia, then at Lina, and then Gourry as they were all chit chatting.
"I take it you three know each other?" asked Vargus.
"Yeah, Filia and I go way back. You could not have picked a better guide to lead us around the southern continent," said Lina, slapping Filia hard on the back.
"I see Lina is just as boorish as ever," thought Filia.
"Well without further ado then, let's depart", said Vargus, hoisting himself onto the wagon and taking hold of the horse reigns. Filia, Lina, and Gourry all climbed onto the wagon. Lina looked longingly at the village of Shyremont, as the village soon became out of view. Gourry decided to take a nap atop one of Lina's many bags. Filia and Lina soon struck up a conversation, reminiscing about old times.
"But Filia, tell me, what are you doing on this side of the world?" asked Lina.
"Well I've been broke lately, and I needed a job to make some money. I wanted to start a white magic school, maybe in Sairaag," said Filia.
Lina smiled knowingly at Filia. Lina knew that being the last of the golden dragons was tough on Filia. Filia was a priestess without a temple. Ever since all of her kind were killed by the Overworlders, and the temple she so loved was destroyed by Valgaav, Filia had to start anew.
"Well I suppose that's a start, and I think the white mages at Sairaag will be quite excited to have a real golden dragon at one of their temples. You can teach them some of your awesome dragon spells!" said Lina excitedly, raising her hands in the air.
"I hope you are right Ms. Lina. But for now we have to concentrate on finding the Tears of Katarasu and to save Mr. Vargus' princess. We golden dragons know of the legend as well," replied Filia.
"But the golden dragons never found the Tears of Katarasu?" asked Lina.
"As far as I know, no. I mean, as far as we were concerned it was simply a legend probably construed from some folk tale or fairy tale. In fact I'm still not sure if the legend is true, Ms. Lina. However, since the story does have a golden dragon in it and there is mention of a temple, I thought we should investigate some of the ancient temples."
"Oh, it's true. I assure you Filia it is 100% true," said Lina. Lina leaned in towards Filia, using her right hand to mute their conversation.
"I don't completely trust Vargus 100% just yet. But, last night I had a dream where Katarasu actually appeared and spoke to me. She's real Filia, as far as I can tell. And the princess we're trying to save is trapped in the same place as Katarasu, or at least that's what my guess is at this point," whispered Lina.
"But how does it all tie together, Ms. Lina?"
"That I'm not sure of yet Filia. But I'm sure we'll find out," said Lina. Lina reclined back onto one of her bags and looked at the breathtaking scenery of the countryside. The wagon trail was a dirt road beaten out through a field of emerald green grass. The stalks of grass were at least three to four feet high. With every gust of wind, the grass gave way, creating a relaxing wave like effect. Far off in the distance a range of mountains could be seen. The mountains were clouded through a thick white mist, but their outline could be seen from Lina's distance.
Filia adjusted her hair and took off her two gigantic green earrings. Her hair lifted into the breeze, the golden tressettes billowing freely. Filia looked to her right, and noticed Lina had fallen fast asleep right next to Gourry. Smiling, Filia looked out at the green ocean of swaying grass.
"I really am happy to be rejoined with Ms. Lina. It has been very lonely ever since they left. I was so lucky to have them by my side when the world faced catastrophe. The pain of losing my people to senseless slaughter, and then finding out that my elders were all liars and wanted nothing more than to cover up the heartless mistakes they made in their past, were both too much to bear. Ms. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadiss, were all there to support me, even when I thought the world would surely be destroyed. I have a feeling that this new adventure might prove to be the same way," thought Filia.
Lina and crew continued on their journey down the winding dirt road. The sun receded into the mountains, and the sky slowly changed color to evening twilight. Lina saw that they were now all nearing the kingdom of Pontaron, a vassal state to the crown of Seyruun. The enormous gray castle of Pontaron could be seen off in the distance, situated on a hill overlooking the river running alongside the city. A lush green forest surrounded the castle on all sides. Slowly making their way past the sign reading "Welcome to Pontaron", Lina got up and stretched her arms and legs. Rubbing her eyes, Lina noticed that there were not too many people on the street.
"Man, I'm getting hungry, where is the inn around here?" said Lina, her stomach making an audible growling noise.
Gourry sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Gourry's stomach was just as empty as Lina's. Vargus stopped the wagon near an inn, and assisted Lina and Filia off of the wagon.
"We should stay here the night, and then set back off in the morning," said Vargus, making his way towards the inn.
"I hope they have something good to eat, I'm absolutely starved," said Lina, rubbing her growling stomach.
Lina opened the door to the inn, and was greeted by an unusually somber atmosphere. There were very few patrons, aside from a few men drinking at the bar. Lina and Gourry sat themselves down at the table, immediately grabbing forks and knives.
"Waitress, we'll take everything from the right side and a few things from the left!" yelled out Lina, raising her right hand to get the waitresses attention. The waitress walked over to the table slowly, her face obviously depressed.
"Why is everyone in this town so depressed?" asked Filia.
"Because of the princess. While reading in her garden, the princess fell into a deep sleep. Her body is still warm, but not even the most skilled priests can revive her," said the waitress, almost at the verge of breaking down and crying.
"The princess...has fallen into a death like sleep...Vargus this is just like the princess of your kingdom!" said Lina.
Vargus' expression was clearly surprised. Bolting up from his chair, Vargus immediately left the inn. Not wanting to be left behind, Lina, Gourry, and Filia followed behind.
"We must go to the castle and see about the princess. Maybe the Pontoron's princess has befallen the same fate as mine. If she has then maybe we can investigate here and get to the bottom of this," said Vargus, quickening his pace towards the castle.
"Agreed," said Lina, quickly following behind. Lina felt an odd chill come over her body. It was not like the chill of winter where the frost is only skin deep, but a chill of the grave. Lina's body uncontrollably shivered, and she felt a strange sickness in the pit of her stomach. Grasping her stomach, Lina fell to her knees.
"What's wrong Ms. Lina!" cried Filia, kneeling down to holding Lina.
Lina looked up towards the castle, into the dark forest that surrounded it. Lina saw a ghostly figure, the figure of a maiden, walking through the forest. Squinting her eyes, Lina tried to make out a face, or at least find some defining characteristic of the ghostly apparition. Before Lina had the chance to, however, the ghostly maiden was swallowed up by tendrils of darkness rising from the ground. Lina pointed to the forest, and tried to call out to Filia, but instead passed out.
"What a strange dream that was. Katarasu reached out to me in my dream. That must mean that the Tears of Katarasu truly exist. But what did she mean by, 'the one whom you quest to save is here'? Does that mean that the Vargus' princess is also wandering that same, cold forest?" thought Lina, resting her chin on her delicate right hand.
Lina's thoughts rose and fell like the tides of the sea. Unable to sleep, Lina simply waited for the morning sun to rise, so that she and Gourry could set off on their journey. Lina met Gourry and Vargus at the square a little before the agreed upon time of noon. Lina had quite a few heavy bags filled with her personal items, which she made Gourry pack onto the wagon.
"Do you really need all this stuff Lina?" said Gourry, heaving another hefty burlap sack onto the wagon.
"Now Gourry, you don't want me to head out on a new adventure not looking my best, do you?" said Lina, clenching a fist and pointing it at Gourry.
Gourry laughed nervously and continued packing Lina's stuff. Vargus procured a pocket watch from his robe and looked around, as if searching for someone.
"That's strange, she's supposed to be here by now," said Vargus.
"Who?" asked Lina.
"My guide, the woman I hired to show us the way to the south, was supposed to meet us here as well. She is running a little late," said Vargus.
Just then, Lina heard a piercing wail echo throughout the town. The voice seemed vaguely familiar to Lina.
"Who is that?" said Gourry.
"We'd better go check it out," said Lina.
Lina and Gourry ran away from the square down a few streets, following the sounds of the loud screaming. Just as Lina and Gourry were turning down an alley, a man dressed like a bandit flew by, slamming into a wall behind them. Lina looked down the alley and say a gang of men surrounding a blonde maiden dressed in white priestess robes, a large white hat.
"Filia!" said Lina in total amazement.
"Ms. Lina!" said Filia, also astonished.
"You can't get out of this one girly, now give us all your money or else," said a bandit, brandishing a knife.
Filia let out a wail, pulling up her robe and grabbing a vicious looking spiked mace that was attached to a leather strap on her thigh. Filia hit the bandit standing behind her squarely on the head, sending him careening into the sky.
"Get away! You filthy scum!" cried Filia as she flailed wildly with her mace, squarely hitting any bandit unlucky enough to be caught in her path.
Lina sighed, resting a hand on her forehead. Gourry scratched the back of his head, laughing forcibly.
"Same old Filia it seems", said Lina to herself.
After a few moments, Filia was left by herself in the alley, panting for air. The bandits had all been sent flying or simply had run off.
"I can't believe those vermin tried to steal money from me. I hope that taught them a lesson," said Filia placing the mace back on her thigh strap.
"Filia, what are you doing here?" asked Lina, approaching Filia.
"I got a job acting as a guide to the southern continent. I was on my way to town square to meet my partner, when those accursed ruffians accosted me," said Filia, catching her breath.
"Would your partner happen to be named Vargus?" asked Gourry.
"Why, yes, how did you know?" asked Filia.
"We're coming along for the ride, so it seems," sighed Lina.
"Oh I've missed all of you so much Ms. Lina," exclaimed Filia as she ran up and hugged Lina, almost crushing the poor girl.
"Filia...you're...crushing...me..." said Lina.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength," said Filia, relinquishing Lina and blushing. As a golden dragon, Filia had amazing physical strength.
"It's good to see you too. Well Vargus is waiting at the square, we'd better get a move on if we're going to leave this town as scheduled," said Lina, adjusting her cape.
The trio returned to the square. Vargus was waiting next to the wagon. Raising an eyebrow, Vargus looked first at Filia, then at Lina, and then Gourry as they were all chit chatting.
"I take it you three know each other?" asked Vargus.
"Yeah, Filia and I go way back. You could not have picked a better guide to lead us around the southern continent," said Lina, slapping Filia hard on the back.
"I see Lina is just as boorish as ever," thought Filia.
"Well without further ado then, let's depart", said Vargus, hoisting himself onto the wagon and taking hold of the horse reigns. Filia, Lina, and Gourry all climbed onto the wagon. Lina looked longingly at the village of Shyremont, as the village soon became out of view. Gourry decided to take a nap atop one of Lina's many bags. Filia and Lina soon struck up a conversation, reminiscing about old times.
"But Filia, tell me, what are you doing on this side of the world?" asked Lina.
"Well I've been broke lately, and I needed a job to make some money. I wanted to start a white magic school, maybe in Sairaag," said Filia.
Lina smiled knowingly at Filia. Lina knew that being the last of the golden dragons was tough on Filia. Filia was a priestess without a temple. Ever since all of her kind were killed by the Overworlders, and the temple she so loved was destroyed by Valgaav, Filia had to start anew.
"Well I suppose that's a start, and I think the white mages at Sairaag will be quite excited to have a real golden dragon at one of their temples. You can teach them some of your awesome dragon spells!" said Lina excitedly, raising her hands in the air.
"I hope you are right Ms. Lina. But for now we have to concentrate on finding the Tears of Katarasu and to save Mr. Vargus' princess. We golden dragons know of the legend as well," replied Filia.
"But the golden dragons never found the Tears of Katarasu?" asked Lina.
"As far as I know, no. I mean, as far as we were concerned it was simply a legend probably construed from some folk tale or fairy tale. In fact I'm still not sure if the legend is true, Ms. Lina. However, since the story does have a golden dragon in it and there is mention of a temple, I thought we should investigate some of the ancient temples."
"Oh, it's true. I assure you Filia it is 100% true," said Lina. Lina leaned in towards Filia, using her right hand to mute their conversation.
"I don't completely trust Vargus 100% just yet. But, last night I had a dream where Katarasu actually appeared and spoke to me. She's real Filia, as far as I can tell. And the princess we're trying to save is trapped in the same place as Katarasu, or at least that's what my guess is at this point," whispered Lina.
"But how does it all tie together, Ms. Lina?"
"That I'm not sure of yet Filia. But I'm sure we'll find out," said Lina. Lina reclined back onto one of her bags and looked at the breathtaking scenery of the countryside. The wagon trail was a dirt road beaten out through a field of emerald green grass. The stalks of grass were at least three to four feet high. With every gust of wind, the grass gave way, creating a relaxing wave like effect. Far off in the distance a range of mountains could be seen. The mountains were clouded through a thick white mist, but their outline could be seen from Lina's distance.
Filia adjusted her hair and took off her two gigantic green earrings. Her hair lifted into the breeze, the golden tressettes billowing freely. Filia looked to her right, and noticed Lina had fallen fast asleep right next to Gourry. Smiling, Filia looked out at the green ocean of swaying grass.
"I really am happy to be rejoined with Ms. Lina. It has been very lonely ever since they left. I was so lucky to have them by my side when the world faced catastrophe. The pain of losing my people to senseless slaughter, and then finding out that my elders were all liars and wanted nothing more than to cover up the heartless mistakes they made in their past, were both too much to bear. Ms. Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadiss, were all there to support me, even when I thought the world would surely be destroyed. I have a feeling that this new adventure might prove to be the same way," thought Filia.
Lina and crew continued on their journey down the winding dirt road. The sun receded into the mountains, and the sky slowly changed color to evening twilight. Lina saw that they were now all nearing the kingdom of Pontaron, a vassal state to the crown of Seyruun. The enormous gray castle of Pontaron could be seen off in the distance, situated on a hill overlooking the river running alongside the city. A lush green forest surrounded the castle on all sides. Slowly making their way past the sign reading "Welcome to Pontaron", Lina got up and stretched her arms and legs. Rubbing her eyes, Lina noticed that there were not too many people on the street.
"Man, I'm getting hungry, where is the inn around here?" said Lina, her stomach making an audible growling noise.
Gourry sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Gourry's stomach was just as empty as Lina's. Vargus stopped the wagon near an inn, and assisted Lina and Filia off of the wagon.
"We should stay here the night, and then set back off in the morning," said Vargus, making his way towards the inn.
"I hope they have something good to eat, I'm absolutely starved," said Lina, rubbing her growling stomach.
Lina opened the door to the inn, and was greeted by an unusually somber atmosphere. There were very few patrons, aside from a few men drinking at the bar. Lina and Gourry sat themselves down at the table, immediately grabbing forks and knives.
"Waitress, we'll take everything from the right side and a few things from the left!" yelled out Lina, raising her right hand to get the waitresses attention. The waitress walked over to the table slowly, her face obviously depressed.
"Why is everyone in this town so depressed?" asked Filia.
"Because of the princess. While reading in her garden, the princess fell into a deep sleep. Her body is still warm, but not even the most skilled priests can revive her," said the waitress, almost at the verge of breaking down and crying.
"The princess...has fallen into a death like sleep...Vargus this is just like the princess of your kingdom!" said Lina.
Vargus' expression was clearly surprised. Bolting up from his chair, Vargus immediately left the inn. Not wanting to be left behind, Lina, Gourry, and Filia followed behind.
"We must go to the castle and see about the princess. Maybe the Pontoron's princess has befallen the same fate as mine. If she has then maybe we can investigate here and get to the bottom of this," said Vargus, quickening his pace towards the castle.
"Agreed," said Lina, quickly following behind. Lina felt an odd chill come over her body. It was not like the chill of winter where the frost is only skin deep, but a chill of the grave. Lina's body uncontrollably shivered, and she felt a strange sickness in the pit of her stomach. Grasping her stomach, Lina fell to her knees.
"What's wrong Ms. Lina!" cried Filia, kneeling down to holding Lina.
Lina looked up towards the castle, into the dark forest that surrounded it. Lina saw a ghostly figure, the figure of a maiden, walking through the forest. Squinting her eyes, Lina tried to make out a face, or at least find some defining characteristic of the ghostly apparition. Before Lina had the chance to, however, the ghostly maiden was swallowed up by tendrils of darkness rising from the ground. Lina pointed to the forest, and tried to call out to Filia, but instead passed out.