Chapter 22: A night out at Otanim

"Here we are!" Reen said as the party entered through the gates of the town. "We're finally at Otanim!"

"Let's hurry and get a room at the Inn first," Lancar said, holding Raditz. "We'll make sure Raditz gets plenty of rest, and we can leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"Yes, let's do that." Clair said, as everybody walked towards the town Inn.

The party arrived at the Inn, and got two separate rooms; one for the 4 guys and another one for the 4 girls. The boys all went to their room, and layed Raditz on the bed so that he can rest. After that, they each wondered what to do next.

"Soooo…" Roger asked. "What should we do now? It's still late afternoon, we got the whole night left."

"Good question… hmm." Lancar replied, turning to Albel. "What are you going to do, Albel?"

"I'll tell you what I'm not doing, I'm not going to stay in this small run-down room." Albel said as he walked out of the room. "I'm going outside. The rest of you do whatever you want, just don't follow me."

"Gee, still the antisocial guy, aren't ya…" Lancar muttered as he turned back to Roger. "So Roger… what are you going to do?"

"Umm… I'm not sure…" Roger said, in deep thought. "Uh… Lancar, I have a question… and it's something really personal… can you keep this a secret?"

"Sure thing, Roger." Lancar replied, wondering what Roger would ask. "You said it's personal eh? What is it?"

"Well…" Roger said quietly. "I think I'm beginning to like Peppita…"

"What's that? Hahahah!" Lancar laughed. "I didn't think this was about something trivial like that, I thought this was about something serious!"

"But it IS serious!" Roger said, little offended that Lancar thought this was a joke. "This is the first time I ever felt this way… she got so much prettier over the last two years, and everytime I talk to her, I get so nervous! And… I don't know what to say!"

"Hehe, I get ya, I get ya." Lancar said, with a good chuckle. "She has become much more mature over the last two years… I knew Verbeysians grow up faster than other races, but still. So what would you like to ask me?"

"Well…" Roger said, with his head down and his thumbs twirling. "What should I do? I like her… and I want to let her know, but I don't even know where to begin! Do you think you can help me, Lancar? Have you been in this situation before?"

"Hahahah! You've come to the right person!" Lancar replied with a laugh. "I'm a married man with a daughter myself. So I'm an expert when it comes to romance and stuff like that. I got couple things that I can teach you about woman, that's for sure!"

"Wow! That's great!" Roger said with excitement. "But… let's not do it here… can we go somewhere else to talk about this?"

"Of course." Lancar said, walking out the door. "Follow me, let's go to a local bar."


Meanwhile, the four girls were sitting down in their rooms getting little bit of a rest. After sitting around and chatting for a bit, Clair got up to leave.

"I'm going to go outside for a little while, to get some fresh air." Clair said. "I'll be back by nightfall. You guys should go outside and relax for a bit as well."

"I think I'm going to go to the theatre in this town and try to book a performance for our troupe!" Peppita said, as she got up to leave.

"Hey, I know an amazing restaurant in this town!" Reen told Farleen and Clair. "Would you both like to go? It'll be on me! They serve really good desserts, too!"

"Desserts? I'm in!" Farleen said, turning to Clair. "Lady Clair, would you like to come with us too?"

"Thanks for the offer, but it's okay." Clair said as she headed towards the door to leave. "I would like to relax by myself for a while. I'll see you guys later."

"Gee, is she ALWAYS such a square?" Reen asked Farleen.

"Well… not so much as Lady Nel, but…" Farleen said as both of them walked out the door. "She has her moments though…"

Reen and Farleen made their way to a local restaurant that Reen was talking about before. They sat down, ordered their food, and started chatting.

"Farleen, I have a question" Reen asked. "I want to know what you think… do you think that Albel has a thing for Clair?"

"Huh? Lady Clair… and Albel?" Farleen replied in surprise. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Well, the thing is," Reen began explaining as she sipped on her Cream Soda. "They always seem to be so close to each other… I think Albel likes her, she's like the only person he ever talks or bothers listening to! He always ignores whatever I say… sigh…"

"Err… now that you mention it…" Farleen said, in thought. "Most of the time, Albel only ever talks to her, and no one else! I saw them talking together on the ship the other day… and he's always mean to everybody except for her… grrr… and there is that time in Peterny where they…"

"What did they do?" Reen asked, curious.

"Errr… nothing." Farleen said, as both of their foods arrived on the table. "The bottom line is that I think you might be right… err, and if that's true, then this is REALLY BAD!"

"I know!" Reen said, with a really serious face. "I'm the one that truly want Albel, not Clair… she shouldn't be the one spending time with him, it should be ME!"

"You really like Albel, don't you Reen?" Farleen asked, in thought.

"Yeah… I mean, not only is he handsome, but he's so strong, with such a cool personality… and he's so mysterious… I can't help but to fall for him" Reen said with dreamy eyes, fantasizing about Albel.

"Then you know what?" Farleen said as she all of a sudden got a determined look to her face. "Reen, I'm gonna help you and Albel get together!"

"Really?" Reen asked as she was indulging on her chocolate crepe. "But how come?"

"If what you said is true, and I think there is a good chance that you're right…" Farleen continued. "Then Albel and Lady Clair might get together… that would be horrible! Not only do I think he's not right for her, but it just won't work! He's a Glyphian… she's Aquarian… we used to be at war!"

"Ohmygosh… Farleen… thank you so much" Reen thanked Farleen, with a look of hope on her face. "So this can be good for everybody! But what do you plan to do?"

"Well," Farleen said as she planned things out in her head. "First of all, we should never give them the time to be together alone! So everytime we see her with him, we have to get them apart as soon as we can, any way we can!"

"I got it!" Reen said. "So every time we see them together, you can distract Clair and I can go in and flirt with Albel! This is perfect!"

"Alright!" Farleen yelled in determined voice. "Then let's do this!"


Meanwhile, both Lancar and Roger arrived at a local bar. They both found a table, and sat down, ready to begin their talk.

"Okay big boy," Lancar said as he looked at Roger. "So now, I'm going to be telling you EVERYTHING that you need to know about woman! So make sure you listen up, alright? If you miss anything I say, you'll regret it later!"

"I gotcha, Lancar!" Roger replied with enthusiasm.

"Good! Okay! But first things first…" Lancar said, as he called a waiter in the bar. "Since this is a real men's chat, we're going to need couple of drinks!"

"What would you like today, sir?" The Waiter asked.

"Gimme 10 bottles of the finest liquor you can find in this town!" Lancar said. "And make sure they're all cold ones!"

"Yes sir…" The waiter said, surprised with the amount Lancar ordered. "What would you like, kid?"

"Ummm… I can't drink liquor… so just give me some orange juice…" Roger said.

"Okay! As soon as I get started on some of those bottles, I can start with my stories!" Lancar said.

"Uh… don't you think you ordered a little too much?" Roger asked, with a sweatdrop.

"Don't worry!" Lancar said. "10 of these won't do anything to me! Plus, this is what the real men do; just sitting back, knocking back couple of the cold ones, and talking about woman!"

"Um… if you say so…" Roger said, little concerned about how this was going.

Two hours later, Lancar had chugged back about 24 bottles of Otanim's finest liquor. Lancar sat back, with a dazed look on his face, apparently in a really good mood.

"So… hic the key iz… you have to be direct with these women! hic you can't just sit back and expect thingz to happen, it AIN'T gonna happen I tell ya! hic You have to go talk to 'em and KNOCK THEM OFF THEIR FEET! hic that's what ya have to do!" Lancar rambled on.

"Uhhhh… Lancar… are you sure you're okay?" Roger asked. "Are you sure you didn't have too much?"

"Heh? Too much? TOO MUCH? hic NO amount of drinks are too much for us REAL MEN! Waiter! hic WAITER! Bring me 5 more, now!"

"Um, I think you're going overboard…" Roger said, intimidated by Lancar's drunken stupor.

"I'm in COMPLETE control! Don't worry bout me! Just listen, kid! hic okey, let me go on, I have another GOOD example of what happenz to men are too CHICKEN to talk to women… hic you see, there was this guy Lieber, rite? He wanted Maria but what did he DO? NOTHING! What did he say? NUTHIN! Who did he end up with? hic NO ONE! That stupid little…"

"Th..thanks for the talk Lancar…" Roger said, thinking inside that he learned absolutely nothing from this whole ordeal. "I… think we should go now!"

"EH? Where ya think ur going? I ain't done! I AIN'T DONE! Get back here kid!" Lancar yelled as he became even dazier after knocking back 5 straight bottles in a row.

"I'm outta here…" Roger said as he slowly slipped out from his seat and ran towards the exit. Soon after, Lancar fell face first into the table, passing out from all the Alchohol he consumed.

"Grrrr… that old man taught me absolutely nothing!" Roger said in anger as he walked down the nighttime street. "How am I supposed to get Peppita to like me?"

"Roger?" Peppita called Roger from far behind as she caught him totally by surprise. "Roger? What are you doing out here? Where's everybody else?"

'Ummm…UMMM… just me and Peppita? Alone here on the street? Roger, say something you idiot! Say something!' his conscience told him as his body was paralyzed with all the nerve.

"You okay Roger?" Peppita asked. "It's getting late, we should get back to the Inn!" she said as she grabbed Roger's hand to pull him towards her direction.

"AHH!" Roger yelled, freaking out. "I GOTTA GO! SEE YA!" he said as he ran off, blazing down the street.

"Gee, what's wrong with him?" Peppita asked, confused why Roger just ran off.


'Bah… more I stay on this planet, the more affinity I'm having for it…' Albel thought to himself standing outside off the side of the street. 'Why am I feeling this way? I've never been on this dumb planet before… why does everything feel familiar to me? None of this makes sense!'

"Albel?" Clair said as she walked towards to where Albel was. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just thinking, that's all." Albel replied, "What brings you out here?"

"I was just enjoying my alone time again…" Clair explained, walking beside where Albel was standing. "I was thinking about couple things, too."

"…" Albel said nothing at first as he turned to her to ask her a question. "Hey, is there anything that is familiar to you in this planet?"

"Something familiar?" Clair asked, surprised that Albel asked him a question. "Well, the environment here does seem pretty similar to our home… but why do you ask?"

"There is something about this planet that is making me too comfortable." Albel explained with a frown on his face. "I don't like it one bit."

"It's most likely just the environment…" Clair said. "But is there something else that you feel familiar with? But, any of us here being on this planet in the past would be impossible…"

Meanwhile, Reen and Farleen were standing behind the corner of the building, looking as Albel and Clair had their conversion.

"There they are again!" Farleen whispered. "uggghhh… what is he doing with Lady Clair this time?"

"Okay… we do as we planned!" Reen said, with a determined look. "You ready?"

"Let's go!" Farleen said, as both of them emerged from the corner.

"Albel… is that why…" Clair asked Albel. "Is that why you've been getting those headach…" As Clair was middle of her speech, Farleen rushed besides her to take her away.

"Lady Clair!" Farleen said, pulling Clair away. "You HAVE to come and see this store! They're selling so many cool things… come on, I have to show you!"

"F…Farleen…" Clair replied, hesistant but getting pulled along.

"Heehee… hey Albel!" Reen said cheerfully as she grabbed Albel's arm, dragging him along. "This town has a really good view of the night sky by seaside! Can yougo with me? Pleeeease? It's so beautiful and romantic!"

"Bah!" Albel tried to shake her off, annoyed. "Leave me alone!"

"Awww… common… let's look around the town first then! Hey, I know this really good dessert place… it's my treat!" Reen said as she persistently dragged Albel away.

"…" Clair looked at Albel and Reen with a look of fluster, as Farleen dragged her away.

The next morning, the party left the Inn, everybody rested up and heading down to the Port.

"Phew… I slept so well… that move yesterday took a lot out of me." Raditz said, stretching under warm morning sun.

"You sure you feel alright?" Farleen asked.

"Yeah, I'm 100 percentand ready to go!" Raditz replied. "I didn't miss anything last night, did I?"

"Nah… we all just walked around the town, that's all!" Peppita said.

"Whoa…" Lancar said, bit dazed from the night before. "I got a little headache, but I'm good to go!"

"Alright then!" Raditz said as the party boarded the ship "It's time to go to Clatos!"


Chapter 23: Clatos – the truth of the past

After a few hours, the ship from Otanim finally arrived at the port in Clatos. Clatos, to surprise of everybody, was a very small village with very peaceful atmosphere.

"WOOOO! I'm home!" Raditz yelled, as he ran out of the ship to embrace his hometown. "I haven't been home in ages! I usually just stick around in Sylvalant so that I can train on the Demon Island."

"This is… certainly a small town." Clair said. "Nothing like what I expected…"

"Yeah, it's kind of like Arias! Small but peaceful…" Farleen commented.

"Hehe, it feels more like Surferio to me." Roger said.

"Oh, Clatos is not a big town by any means… it's just a small village by seashores." Raditz said, as he led everybody to the town library. "It's the smallest town in the Moore Continent, maybe even the smallest town on this planet! Well, maybe it's bigger than Dulce… but still… it's all good. It's small but very cozy and peaceful!"

"That's for sure!" Reen agreed. "I've been here several times… it's a really good place to just get away for a while, it's really peaceful!"

"Yup… anyways, guys, follow me." Raditz said, standing not far from the entrance to the library. "The town library is here. Let's go in."

The group entered the small library which was surprisingly pretty neat and tidy. It was just like something one would expect out of a small town library.

"Wow!" Reen yelled in excitement as she looked around. "Look at all these antiques and old rare books… these might worth millions!"

"Welcome everyone, what can I help you with?" The librarian women greeted the party. Would you li… oh my, wait for a second, Raditz, honey, is that you?" she asked as she noticed Raditz with the group.

"Hi mom, I'm home." Raditz said.

"Raditz!" his mom yelled. "How can you just run away from home like that for the past 2 months? You didn't even write or call or anything at all either! Your father and I were so worried… never run off like that again!"

"Uhh… heh… sorry, mom." Raditz apologized. "Umm… so, pops is out of town again I'm guessing, right?"

"Of course… especially at a time like this, the Planetary Government needs him!" Raditz' mom said. "There's been a big crisis with outbreak of demons from other planets, you know… have you kept up with the news?"

"Of course…" Raditz said. "Oh, by the way mom, these are my friends. We're here to read some stuff from the library."

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Farrence." Clair said with a bow. "We've been on a journey and your son has been a great help."

"It's good to see him being productive for once!" Raditz' mom said. "So, what can I help you folks with? Are you guys looking for books on Ancient Roakian heraldry?"

"Heraldry?" Farleen asked.

"It's what you call Runology in your world." Lancar answered. "It's called symbology in our world, but heraldry is the old term for it."

"I see…" Clair said.

"Mom," Raditz asked. "We're looking for our ancestor's ancient memoirs… that's in the archive over there in the right corner, right?"

"Yes they are, but… why do you need to look at those?" Raditz' mom asked. "Those are more than 400 years old…"

"We have our reasons… thanks mom." Raditz thanked her mom as everybody followed him to the right hand corner. Raditz looked through the shelves, searching for the book that he was looking for.

"Let's see…" Raditz said. "Ratix Farrence: 327 – 413 SD. This one is it! Alright everybody, let's read this thing!"

Everybody looked into the memoirs closely as Raditz began reading out the writings.

"Let's see… the year 346 SD… I think it's this! Okay…

'Galactic year 346. This was the one year I shall never forget for rest of my life. This was the year where the infamous petrification virus outbreak on Roak began. My adventures began when the first news of the outbreaks were passed to our village from the Town of Cool. Father of my friend, Milly Killet, who became my beloved wife later on in life, went over to Cool to investigate the situation only to contract the virus as well. Milly, my friend Dorn Mateo, and myself all went on a journey to Mt. Metox to look for the Legendary Herb Metox… but that's where it all really began. At the summit, we met up with two people from Planet Earth, named Ronixis J. Kenni and Iria Silverstoli…'

"Ronixis J. Kenni? The legendary Federation hero… I've heard of his accomplishments in Roak, yeah. I remember now." Lancar commented. "Carry on."

'…unfortunately, the situation on Roak was getting worse. We were told by the Earthlings that there was no cure to the disease, and that the only way to look for the cure is to look for the original host of the disease. After meeting with Resonian officials, we discovered that the original host of the virus had died 300 years prior. At that moment, we had lost hope, but my friend Ronixis J. Kenni had another idea. Onboard his Spaceship Calnus, he took us to a mysterious Planet called Styx which had an artifact called the Time Gate that allowed us to travel 300 years back in time…'

"Styx? Time Gate?" Peppita yelled. "That's!…"

"Shhhhhh!" Lancar said holding his index finger to his mouth, telling Peppita to be quiet. "Keep quiet… don't say anything."

"Sorry…" Peppita apologized. "Let's keep reading."

'…what happened after this point was the long, adventurous journey that I had to take in Roak from the year 45 SD. There were so many things that happened then, and since this is the memoir about my life and not this adventure, I shall not write the story here.'

"WHAT?" Albel yelled. "That's where it ends? This bloody book didn't tell us anything about the Demon world at all!"

"W…wait!" Raditz yelled, flustered. "There is something else here! Hold on…"

'If one would like to find out about the long and treacherous journey that me and my comrades went through during this time, then I feel that one must prove themselves, by going through trials and tribulations that we had gone through at that time. It is deemed to be highly classified information, yet I have decided to write another log about our adventures since I thought that it should be remembered. However, only the strongest and the bravest shall find out the truth. I have placed this said log somewhere within the Cave in Mt. Metox, a place not for the weak of heart.'

"This is it!" Raditz yelled. "That's where we need to go… we need to go to Mt. Metox Cave and find this information!"

"Man, nothing is going to be simple here, huh?" Roger complained.

"That's just the way I like it." Albel said. "Some things are better done the hard way. It doesn't matter, I'm going to this cave… if someone is too scared go, then don't hold me back by coming along."

"Heh, the guy is right." Lancar said as he cracked his knuckles. "This is just the way I like it. We'll just have to tackle this place, and find out the truth!"

"Count me in!" Raditz said. "You guys will need a guide on how to get there, anyway."

"We're coming too, of course." Clair said, looking at Farleen. "We didn't come all the way here just to give up."

"Same here!" Peppita said, with determined look. "If what we did 2 years ago taught me anything, it's to never give up and never fear! I'm coming, too!"

"Then what are you all waiting for, fools?" Albel asked with a slight grin, as he walked out of the library. "We shouldn't waste any time. We leave right now."

"Let's go!" Everybody yelled.


As everybody walked out of the Library, Raditz walked towards Reen with couple books in his hand.

"Uhh…" Raditz mumbled. "Here are some ancient heraldry books if you want it…I snuck it out of the Library… I guess I can give it to you since it doesn't really have anything important… so… I guess this is good bye, huh?"

"What? OH… the books…" Reen said, surprised. "Thanks Raditz. But it's okay. It was kind of rude for me to ask you to give me the village's ancient treasures in the first place… heehee…"

"But…" Raditz asked. "Isn't that why you came with us?"

"Yeah… initially…" Reen explained. "But I've changed my mind! I'm just going to come with you guys. All this is making me really curious… and I would like to find out something about my ancestors, too!"

"Wow…" Raditz said. "You're really serious?"

"I'm serious… and I guess the biggest reason is…" Reen continued. "Is because I like traveling with you guys…"

"Reen…" Raditz said in admiration.

"It's true… and I can't just leave my darling Albel just like that either" Reen said as she chased after Albel once again.

"Heh…" Raditz said to himself with a sweatdrop, feeling ignored again yet glad that Reen was staying. "Good to have you with us, Reen."


"Alright then." Albel said, standing at the exit of the Village. "Where are we supposed to find this cave?"

"I can explain that one!" Reen said as she wrapped her arms around his once again. "We should head north until we reach the Town of Cool, then go north from that town to reach Mt. Metox!"

"Bah… get off me…" Albel said as he shook her off. "And we're not looking for the mountain… we're looking for a Cave from there. Where is this cave?"

"Ummm…" Reen pondered. "I don't know that for sure either… I only know this continent well because I'm from Portmis, but I don't know of any cave in Mt. Metox…"

"Don't worry!" Raditz said. "I know exactly where it is! It's well hidden, but I know the spot. Just follow me!"

"Alright then!" Lancar said. "Let's go to Mt. Metox!"


Chapter 24: The thief at Cool

The passage from Clatos to Cool was short and direct. The group was met with no resistance on the way, only running into wild animals, which they took care of easily. They eventually reached the Town of Cool without breaking a sweat.

"This is the town of Cool." Raditz explained. "It's been a while since we stocked up on supplies and stuff. Let's shop around here then head to the Mt. Metox cave quickly!"

"Town of Cool huh?" Lancar said. "Cool name for a town, pardon the pun."

"Alright." Clair said. "Let's split up to look for some supplies."

Raditz, Lancar and Clair went together so that they can gather supplies that the whole party would need. Everybody else split up, looking around town and also doing their own shopping.

"So, where are you going to go, Roger?" Peppita asked Roger.

"Um…UMMM…" Roger stuttered. "Well… can I… come with you?"

"Well, sure I guess…" Peppita said. "I'm going to the jewellery store, though. I don't think you'd be interested…"

"Nono… don't worry… I'm VERY interested… heh." Roger said, thinking afterwards and regretting his choice of words. 'DAMN… I shouldn't have said that! Real men don't like Jewels!'

"Let's go then!" Peppita said as they both headed towards the accessories store. Peppita looked around, admiring the jewels. "Oh my gosh… look at that green pearl necklace charm! It's so beautiful!"

'She likes it?' Roger thought to himself. 'This is my chance!'

"Peppita!" Roger said, putting on some sort of a glove and running out. "I'll be… right back! Don't go anywhere… alright?"

"Okay!" Peppita replied without even looking, concentrating on looking at jewels and accessories.

Meanwhile, Raditz, Lancar and Clair stood in front of the item shop, restocking on all the items and food that the party was going to need. As they were picking out what to buy, they were greeted by Roger.

"Hiya guys!" Roger asked. "Whatcha all doin?"

"Uhh, we told you we're going to go shopping right?" Raditz said. "What are you upto?"

"Ummm, nothing! I was just walking by and wanted to see what you guys were doin… okay then… see ya!" Roger said, as he ran off again.

"Strange boy…" Lancar said.

Meanwhile, Peppita was done looking around the store, picking out that necklace that she had wanted. "I'll take that green one, ma'am!"

"Thank you very much! That'll be 7000 fol!" The merchant women said.

"7000? Gosh… that's pretty hefty…" Peppita said as she reached back to her wallet to pay.

"HEY PEPPITA! huff" Roger said as he ran in, out of breath. "You didn't buy that necklace yet did ya?"

"Well… nooo…" Peppita said. "I was just going to…"

"Okay then! Don't worry about it, this one is on me! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEPPITA!" Roger said, going to the women to pay.

"…My birthday was four months ago…" Peppita said, surprised and pondering why Roger was going to buy the necklace for her.

"Ah, no sweat!" Roger said, grinning and paying the women "Consider it… a LATE birthday present! That's right! I mean, we haven't seen each other in 2 years, right? Consider it a present for your last two birthdays!"

"Ooookay…" Peppita said, still surprised. "Then thanks, Roger!… Um… hey… how come you have so much money, anyways? Didn't you… just come to this planet?"

"Ummmm…" Roger hesitated. "I sold couple things to Mr. Ruddle and Reen! Yeah, that's it… I had lots of goodies from Surferio… so I sold them!"

"Okey…" Peppita said, still wondering there was no way he could have had so much money.

Meanwhile, at the items shop, Raditz, Lancar, and Clair were done their shopping. They went over to the cash machine, ready to pay. Total price was 6200 fol.

"We really have to thank you, Raditz." Lancar said. "I really feel bad you're paying for all our stuff! Hey, as soon as everything's over, I'll pay you back, alright?"

"Thank you so much, Raditz." Clair said. "I don't know how to thank you enough… I don't know where we would be right now without you."

"Heh… don't worry about it guys!" Raditz said, little embarrassed. "It's all good! I got plenty to go around!"

As Raditz reached for his wallet, he discovered that all he had was measly 600 fol…

"HEY!" Raditz yelled, stunned. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL MY MONEY?"


Albel walked around the town alone, still little annoyed that he was getting too comfortable with the surroundings. The feeling for him wasn't particularly a bad one, of course, but he just didn't like the confusion that it was creating for him. As he walked by one of the buildings, he saw a mural on the large grey brick wall. At that moment, he got the similar flashback to the one that he had in Peterny, only stronger and more vivid this time.

'T…This painting! This wall!' Albel thought to himself, with cold sweats. 'I… I've seen this mural! But… that's impossible! What the hell is this thing? Why is this here…'

"HEY ALBEL!" Reen yelled as she interrupted his thought by putting her hand over his eyes. "Guess who?"

"Bah!" Albel yelled in surprise. "what's your problem?"

"Heehee, I just wanted to surprise you, that's all." Reen said as she revealed herself to Albel. In the corner, Farleen was looking on, giving Reen a thumbs-up.

"So what are you upto?" Reen asked.

"… That's none of your business." Albel said.

"Hey, don't tell me you were looking at this mural!" Reen asked. "Oh my gosh, you were staring at this alone, and in deep thought? Wow… I never knew you were an artiste, too! That's soooo cool… and romantic…"

"…" Albel didn't say anything at first, then turning to Reen to ask her a question. "Hey, do you know what this mural is all about?"

"This mural? OF COURSE!" Reen replied cheerfully, excited that Albel has finally asked her something. "This is an ancient mural from over 700 years ago! It's a really famous painting, everybody knows about it! They say that a great artist painted this long ago, inspired from the impression that he got from an artifact… an artifact from an ancient race that lived here on the Moore Continent long time ago!"

"Artifact?" Albel asked. "Ancient race…"

"Yeah We call them Moorians." Reen replied. "They came to this Planet from Planet Earth thousands of years ago… or at least that's what they say."

"Hmph…" Albel grunted, in thought. 'But how the hell would I remember this painting…'

"Okay, that was fun, Albel!" Reen yelled, pulling Albel away. "Let me show you around this town! Let's go to that item shop over there!"

"Bah…" Albel struggled as he got pulled along.


"Pshh…" Raditz pouted as he and the rest of the group walked out of the town to the north. "I can't believe I got robbed."

"I'm really sorry about that… it's because you happened to travel with us…" Clair apologized with a bow. "We'll repay you somehow. I promise."

"…Yeah… we'll all repay you soon!" Roger said, with a look of guilt.

"Thank you for paying for our things, Reen" Lancar said, turning around to thank Reen. "You came by to the shop just in time!"

"Heehee, no sweat!" Reen replied with a wink. "Just glad to help you guys!"

"Alright. So where is this cave?" Albel asked Raditz.

"It's actually not far from here at all." Raditz replied. "There is a hidden entrance on the foothills of the mountain, besides a big monolith! Just follow me, we'll be there in matter of minutes!"

"Great! Time to go treasure hunting!" Farleen yelled in cheery voice as the group headed towards Mt. Metox.