They entered the house and they were lead to the kitchen. They sat down and Mustafa looked at Adol, but then he remembered something.
"Ah, wait here a bit. I need to check on Cruxie first." Mustafa said, giving a slight smile as he got up and walked out the kitchen.
"Man he must have it tough...I bet the first thing he does when he gets home is check on his sister..." Dogi said, frowning as he played with a spoon in front of him.
"Yeah, he said that all the recent phenomena has been getting him down, but I'm sure the thing he's worried about most is his sister..." Aisha said looking down, and frowning. She knew how that felt.
"Thing? Really Aisha? You're calling Cruxie a thing?" Dogi said raising his eyebrow.
"No, I meant...ugh. You're a pain in the head. Nevermind." Aisha said while rolling her eyes and sighing.
"Hey Adol, what do you think? Mustafa said that we should stay here but, come on. Don'tcha wanna check on Cruxie?" Dogi said and his lips twitched. That was his line, but he was scared to death of disobeying Mustafa's orders again. Adol only widened his eyes and he smiled. After a while of smiling at Dogi his lips twitched and he nodded, getting up shakily.
"WHAT!? You seriously want to disobey that guy's orders again!?" Aisha said, and the both of them nodded shakily. Adol and Dogi got up and walked outside the kitchen. Aisha gulped and then followed them a second after. It was the scariest stair climb of their lives, each step was a step closer to Mustafa's fury. AND THEY ALL KNEW IT.
"O-Oh man...I've never been this scared climbing the stairs...AISHA, GIRLS FIRST!" Dogi said as he grabbed Aisha and pushed her towards the uppermost floor where Cruxie and Mustafa were.
"WAAAIIITTT!" Aisha yelled as she stumbled to the last step, and fell on the carpeted floor of the bedroom. There she saw Mustafa kneeling down at Cruxie's bed and petting her gently on the head. Cruxie was fast asleep of course, and Mustafa had a slight smile on his face while petting her. Then he noticed the three travellers hiding on the side of the stairs.
"Didn't I tell you to wait downstairs?" Mustafa said in his stern voice.
"I-It was...U-Uh...How is she?" Aisha stuttered. Mustafa huffed and then looked toward his sleeping sister.
"She's fine, the medicine's working...But...I don't know how long it'll last. Iskan Fever is incurable." Mustafa said, looking a little bitter and melancholic.
"What?! There's no cure!?" Dogi said, shocked and wide eyed.
"No..." Aisha said sadly. "There is medicine that slows the progress down, but that medicine is extremely expensive. All the more so with all these outbreaks of the illness..." She said, looking down and closing her eyes. Dogi then sighed and let out a grunt of frustration.
"No need to fret over something we cannot change. We must accept it and move on. Now then, let's talk downstairs." Mustafa said, leading them to the kitchen once again. He prepared something to drink and eat for everyone and set up some plates and utensils.
"So when we first came to Altago, we were arrested." Dogi began and then Mustafa's eyes widened and so did Aisha's. Adol's eyes widened and his mouth was left agape as he face-palmed.
"I-Is that so?" He said calmly, putting one hand on the hilt of his hammer secretly.
"And then Commander Scias got us out and escorted us to the King's hallway. It turns out the King of Altago, has connections to the illegal pirate Ladock! Can you believe it? Good ol' One Eyed Ladock!" Dogi said and then Adol became even more uptight and restless.
"..." Aisha tried to speak but nothing came out of her mouth.
"Do YOU have connections with the...illegal pirate?" Mustafa said calmly, running his fingers on the hammer and ready to strike them at any moment.
"Yeah we do! Good ol' Ladock's been our best bud since I can't even remember! We even did some pirating missions together!" Dogi said and then Adol jumped on him, slapping him relentlessly.
~ Some PROPER explanations after, that don't involve anything that could put Adol and Dogi in an political disposition ~
"Ah so it was no accident...That voice we heard really must have been the Flame Dragon's..." Mustafa said, looking down and pondering.
"WHICH voice?" Dogi said sarcastically, and then huffed. "Well anyway, that wouldn't make sense. If that's true then that means there really ARE dragons. Sure we heard a voice but it's not like we saw the real deal!" He remarked again. Mustafa smiled and shook his head.
"You really don't understand do you? The dragons exist even if you can't see them. They are the forces that make up this land! They have been in deep slumber for centuries but are there when there is fire, water, wind, air, and...life itself really! They are our guardians." Mustafa said, and then sighed. "I'm no expert on the Legend, but those words were pretty off...Let me ask you this...Do you know what the words of the Flame Dragon meant?" He asked, looking at Adol. Adol and Dogi both shook their heads.
"Hmm...I thought that since the Flame Dragon spoke to you, you knew something I did not..." Mustafa said and then pondered for a little while.
"So what we do know for sure is that Adol gained some sort of power from the altar..." Aisha said and then looked at Adol suspiciously. "I need to keep a close eye on him..." She thought to herself and then was shocked when Adol looked at her. Aisha immediately turned her head and kept the conversation going.
"You may want to visit the other altars as well. We, the Tribes of Altago, each revere one of the Dragons. There is an altar near every village." Mustafa said, closing his eyes and smiling slightly.
"Tribes of Altago? You mean like this and Shannoa?" Dogi asked and then Mustafa nodded.
However, two of the Tribes have been lost over the years. Adol, you haven't been to Kylos yet have you? There is another altar there. Kylos is in a harsh region to the west of the Altago Plains. The Eldress there is rumoured to have mysterious powers and may know more about the Five Great Dragons." Mustafa said and then Adol and Dogi nodded.
"Thanks for everything man. You've really been a great help!" Dogi said happily.
"Hah, no need to thank me. I'm just performing my duty. Now prepare well before heading out to Kylos, the monsters there are particularly vicious." Mustafa laughed light-heartedly and then waved goodbye from the middle of the village.
"Bye Adol! By Dogi! By Blo-Aisha!" Cruxie said as they waved goodbye.
"TELEPORTATION DEVICE GO!" Dogi said pushing Adol to the ground. Adol frowned and glared at Dogi, who was still expecting him to teleport them back to Altago. Adol sighed and explained that he needed to 'rediscover' the teleportation points around Altago.
"Gawww...Damn. Fine. And here I thought I wouldn't have to use my feet anymore." Dogi complained as they started walking. As they walked away, they could hear the not so comforting laugh of both Mustafa and Cruxie.
~ Somewhere in the Altago Palace ~
A dark mercenary ran through the corridors of the Palace, a golden fairy by his side. The guards ran towards him in an alarming speed and he jumped off the highest top, cutting them off. He threw a talisman on the ground and landed on his feet. A light blue glow, like electricity, flashed through his body as his feet hit the ground. He got up and ran towards the gates.
"Tch...Security's tighter than I thought. So that was the Altaginian Falcon huh? Hmph...Not bad, but my brother was still better...which means I'm still..." The mercenary thought to himself and then was cut off by a golden fairy who was ahead, but came back for him.
"What are you doing?! The guards are coming after you, move! I-I mean, please hurry." She said flying by his side.
"I know. That bastard didn't tell me how hard this was going to be..." Geis mumbled to himself and then turned the other way, running towards the gates of the Altaginian Palace.
~ A WHILE later ~
"Dis...Altago...AHHHH..." Dogi tried to speak but couldn't, panting for his life as they reached the Altago gates. There they were greeted by the sight of three guards headed their way. This alarmed the travellers right away as they saw many of the guards around town seemed uptight.
"Oh you're the two adventurers the king recognized aren't you? Perfect. Have you seen a suspicious man about town? He'd be wearing a dark outfit and carrying a poleaxe." The guard in the middle asked, and Dogi shook his head. Adol remained silent and staring into space. As Dogi exchanged words with the guards, the word 'poleaxe' echoed through Adol's mind.
"Could that be...?" Adol thought to himself and then he smiled slightly. A fated rival? It seemed likely.
"Hm? Is something the matter mister Adol?" One guard, who noticed Adol smiling, asked. Adol didn't respond and only continued to stare into space.
"Eh don't mind him. He's creepy like that sometimes." Dogi said, and the guard turned his attention back to Dogi.
"Anyway an intruder? What. How with all this tight security?" Dogi asked and then the Dragon Knights shook their heads.
"I hear he's made it out of the vicinity through the Dragon Knight's checkpoints. That's no easy feat! No need to worry though, we've set up blockages on all the major roads. Don't interfere with the Dragon Knight's investigation and stay out of trouble all right?" On guard said as they walked out the gates. Adol, Dogi, and Aisha made way for them as they walked right past.
"Aww dammit. Looks like we're stuck here." Dogi complained again and then turned to Adol. "So what now?" He asked and then Adol shrugged. Aisha only mumbled something to herself as she angrily clenched her fists.
"OH WHAT'S THAT ADOL?! YOU WANNNA SEE TIA!? SURE! LET'S HEAD TO THE TOWN SQUARE!" Dogi suddenly shouted out loud, alerting some of the people around. Apparently, Dogi liked to ship Adol with many people.
"Oh you, no-fuck." Adol thought to himself as he was being carried to the town square by Dogi. Soon they arrived and saw Tia and Maya in the distance. They both looked rather down.
"Oh! W...What the fuck?" Tia mumbled to herself as she saw Dogi, who was carrying Adol, waving at her. She waved back and soon they were within arms distance.
"Hey! Business is slow today huh? Hey Adol, what's say we lend a hand?" Dogi said, pushing Adol and making him fall on the grass. "I SAID, WHAT'S SAY WE LEND A HAND." He said but louder this time.
"No you fuck! I'll lend her a hand, but I'm not gonna be her boyfriend! Can't you tell by now my only lover is Lady Adventure?" Adol thought to himself as he glared at Dogi, who was smiling at Tia and waving his eyebrows at Adol.
"Oh no you don't have too...The city seemed rather chaotic anyway, I bet it's just a bad day today. Haha..." Tia said laughing a little. "Oh how was your trip by the way?" She asked and then Adol told Tia the trip went well.
"It was hot, sandy, and smelled like sweaty men the whole time...It still smells like sweaty men."
"HEY! I just walked 500 miles!" Dogi yelled and then Adol opened his mouth. "AND I WILL WALK 500 MORE! JUST TO BE THE MAN WHO WALKED 1000 MILES JUST TO FALL DOWN AT YOUR DOOR!" The both of them sung horribly to each other and then fell down on the grass.
"Ahem anyway. STUFF!" He yelled at Aisha and then turned his attention back to Tia.
"It seems...Maya? What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see them?" Tia asked, turning towards Maya. However Maya didn't respond and just stood still, looking down. "...Maya...Maya...What's wrong...?" She asked cautiously, and then suddenly Maya collapsed.
"Ma-Maya! Maya, what's wrong?! Maya!" Tia yelled, frantically trying to wake Maya up but also not trying to do anything physically. They all gathered around her and Aisha knew all too well what was happening.
"Get her home. NOW!" She said as she carried Maya and ran for the house.
~ Some time later ~
"Maya...Maya hang in there please! Maya...Maya hang on...please..." Tia said sadly as Maya coughed heavily. The three could only watch from afar.
"I knew it...She had Iskan Fever...but it...it's worse than I thought..." Aisha said looking sadly at Maya.
"What? Like...how worse?" Dogi asked Aisha and she looked down.
"Her hands and feet have begun to petrify already...At this rate..." Aisha said sadly and then closed her mouth, refusing to speak anymore.
"Tia! M-Maya, is-is she...?" Came an elderly voice as the Doctor from Old Town came in. He checked on Maya immediately and his face turned grave.
"Doctor! Can't you make the medicine and give it to Maya?!" Dogi asked, worried.
"You know nothing about this do you? It's not that simple...Come, let's talk." The Doctor said, and they each got a chair. The four of them looked sadly at Tia, who was sobbing at the foot of Maya's bed.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry..." Tia sobbed in silence. Then, she suddenly became silent and stopped sobbing, her face turning stoic and emotionless. She knew what she had to do next.