Disclaimer: I, as I'm sure you expected, do not in any way own Klonoa or any related characters. The Klonoa series is owned by Namco.

Finally the second chapter, this one took a while to write. Again, I did some very minor edits to Chapter One as well.

Chapter Two

It was still dark as Gemini, still in Klonoa's body, stood outside in the courtyard surrounding the temple. Everyone else was fast as sleep – even that girl had finally dozed off! What an annoyance she was! He would have to watch what he said around her. What would she think if she knew that her friend was dead? He snickered wickedly to himself.

They would all be waking up in around two hours – that would easily give him enough time to try out his new abilities. He looked down at the ring in his left hand, he wanted to figure out exactly what it could do, and what powers he had, before the journey began.

He closed his eyes in concentration, trying to tap into whatever magic was at his disposal. He didn't figure it'd be too hard, for he was an experienced with spells – having practiced them ever since he had been a small child. And while this natural-born power was different, his skills did give him a vague idea of how to harness it. Probably more of a knowledge than Klonoa had ever had.

Suddenly, a bright blue light pierced the blackness. Gemini lit up as if a torch, and the gem on the end of his ring begin to pulse. Pain shot up spine of the once reptilian creature as he struggled to control the magic. He flinched, fighting with the powerful, uncomfortable forces. In a final, blinding flash, two rays – emitted from the gem on the ring – shot through the night – cutting the air like razors. Trees cracked and fell as the blazing beams burned through everything in their path until they finally fizzled about twenty seconds later.

Gemini gazed, mouth agape, at the carnage he had wreaked upon the nearby woods. Amazing! Absolutely perfect!

He turned his eyes toward the building where his traveling companions were sleeping. The rays had passed by windows, surely someone would have noticed. Although everything remained quite, almost eerily so after the ear-splitting hum of the beams, he decided it would be best to quickly head back into his room from the back entrance – before anyone noticed he was gone. He didn't want to risk being found out.

Though now he wondered if he even needed their help. With this power, he could probably destroy Ussannis and his whole army with relative ease… And those fools as well.

What strength he had! The Dream Traveler's magic was much stronger than he had originally predicted, and he had just scratched the surface! Just imagine it, what would it be like once he had the Dark Sapphire!

No wonder that fool, Klonoa, had never used his real power – the poor weakling must have been terrified of it! It was indeed deadly…and very hard to control.

Nevertheless, he decided it was best to keep on traveling with Klonoa's group. He didn't want to abuse his new powers too much; or at least not until he had the Sapphire. It would simply tire him out too quickly. The trip would still be much easier with them. And, besides, what did he have to lose? If they ever did figure out who he was he could kill them right then and there and continue on his own.

Gemini entered the building and quietly crept into his room without being noticed. Indeed though, at least some had been awoken by his test of strength – he could hear a few anxious voices muttering softly from within their own apartments. He smiled.

No one had been able to sleep after the blast. Eventually everyone, still in their nightclothes, had been called out of their rooms to go and see if they could the source of the loud light.

They didn't find anything in the garden in front of their sleeping quarters, but when they headed out to the courtyard behind it, they caught sight of the woods.

The remains of decapitated trees littered the edge of the forest, the severed stumps charred. In fact, the whole area was singed.

For a long time, the disconcerted group simply stared at the wreckage in shock. There was nothing there now to hint at what could have caused this. Klonoa suggested that it may have been the work of Ussannis. When questioned as to why he had not simply blasted them instead of the nearby greenery, Klonoa had remarked that he thought maybe it had been a "warning." No one could think of anything better.

Eventually, Friedole ordered them back to their rooms to rest for the last hour before the departure, assuring them that he didn't believe that they were in any immediate danger. They were reluctant, but eventually everyone headed back to their beds, the last time they would have in comfort. Yet, they were all deeply troubled. Had Ussannis really done this? No one had expected such an act from someone with his reputation. Lolo couldn't help finding it odd that Klonoa had so quickly accused Ussannis after he had talked about him so mockingly in his conversation with Friedole last evening.

While, in the meantime, Friedole himself sat in main room, in the chair by the window – the lights dimmed. He rested his chin on his hand, lost in thought. He wasn't convinced. Regardless of their uncertainty, one thing was for sure – the quest certainly sounded a lot more intimidating now!

Lolo yawned. She awoke to the sounds of the others grumbling and emerging from their rooms. Somehow she must have fallen asleep again. Judging from the echo of the footsteps, it seemed that they were gathering in the main room. It was time to leave.

She almost wished that she hadn't gone back to sleep, she had been wide-awake after the mysterious blast, but now she felt more sleepy than ever. Clumsily, she padded her way to join the others. She took a place beside Klonoa, standing shakily. Friedole was talking, though she didn't really catch what he was saying – something about the quickest route to the lake. This early in the morning it mainly went in one ear and out the other.

She turned to Klonoa, who didn't seem to be particularly listening either. "Good morning." She said warmly. He passed her a glance – again seeming a bit annoyed, though Lolo hoped that that was just her imagination. "Umm, you too." He turned away to stare directly at Friedole, avoiding anymore eye contact with her. She sighed, though a bit too tired to care. She instead gave into her weariness, collapsing in a comfortable looking chair a few paces over.

The speech continued for what seemed like a long time, but before she knew it, Lolo found herself heading out the door with the others and onto the path that would eventually lead them to the Lake of Seclusion.

The cold air woke her up fairly quickly, and the group made a steady pace toward their destination. The travelers were mainly silent, but occasionally there would be a few words spoken between friends, or Friedole would make some announcement – though so far nothing that was particularly worth remarking on.

Lolo made a few attempts to strike up a conversation with Klonoa, but he just gave short, unenthusiastic answers. She was beginning to get annoyed herself – was he mad at her for some reason? He just wasn't himself. She sighed, she'd hoped he'd be back to normal this morning.

"We'll be at the port in about a half an hour." Friedole piped up about 3 hours into the trip. "Lolo, when we get there you'll have to show your pendent to the port official, and tell them who we are and where we are going." She nodded. Before they had left, the High Priestess had given her the pendent that traveling Priestesses wore as proof of their rank. It was flat silver with an onyx rim, the middle carved with the temple's symbol and old passages in a mostly forgotten language. She would have to present this to the guard in order for them to be allowed to board one of the small ferries Or at least she would have to if they wanted to get on without having to pay an unspeakable amount of money. Far too much for the average person.

"Aahck!" Aquette's voice squealed as she tumbled to the ground, dragging the nearby Marris with her. "It's them!" Icarus cried as he nimbly dodged an attack by an odd purple creature, drawing his knife. Lolo's heart jumped in panic as she realized what was happening. "It's Ussannis' puppets!" Leorina finished as she pulled out a sword herself, having become quite good with the weapon – she smashed her weapon into an incoming attacker and the thing dissolved into bits. They weren't living beings, but lifeless, magical puppets created by the deranged magician. "Already! I hadn't expected to see any of these things until tomorrow! Well, no matter, Ussannis isn't powerful enough to create anything of true threat. Just finish them quickly!" Friedole cried, charging into the simmering fray at the rear of the group with his own sword. Vioris, who was stronger than he looked, wielded up and swung an axe-like weapon – decapitating and destroying two monsters. Aquette quickly pulled herself off of the ground, and grabbed an arrow out of bag she carried on her back. Instead of heading up to the action, however, she ran to a bit of a distance – taking expert aim with her bow. Marris, also having recovered, took up another axe of his own and ran toward the dark puppets, screaming out angry curses at the beasts. Eneste fought with twin blades, using her unique agility to take out another pair of attackers in a few graceful swings. Klonoa un-sheathed his own sword, and tightened the clutch on his ring, joining the others.

Lolo was left standing alone. She had no weapon, though the Priestesses did have some supernatural skills. Unfortunate that she wasn't very good at them. – She was just an apprentice after all. She stood still, completely at a loss. She felt helpless, panic beginning to well inside of her. She had thought beforehand that she would be able to use her magic, but now, when it came to it, she didn't feel she could. She began to shiver.

Vioris screamed, a claw racking across his side – drawing blood. True, they were easy prey, but more and more just kept coming, appearing from the shadows of the nearby brush. "This is stupid!" Eneste cried, tossing one off of her back, scratch marks on her neck. "They're weak, but there's so many! At this rate they'll exhaust us before we destroy them all." "Just keep at it!" Friedole ordered. Leorina swiped and obliterated a creature that had its wretched teeth clenched around Vioris right leg, while Marris assaulted and defeated another two that had run over to hassle Aquette. Still, most of the fighters had wounds and scratches all over their bodies. And while not deep, they were still painful and tiring.

Lolo simply did her best to stay out of harms way. Terribly ashamed. Any confidence she had once had in her abilities was gone. She'd wanted to prove herself, but now, in the face of danger, she'd frozen inside. Maybe this was why none of her colleges respected her… Maybe she didn't deserve it! She tried to summon up some of her skills, but it was useless. She silently began to sob. Terrified.

More creatures emerged from the woods, this time from the opposite direction. Aquette and Lolo stumbled for safety, but to her horror, Lolo felt a sharp pain spike up her leg and felt herself fall hard against the ground below. She looked up to see the soulless face of one of the puppets staring unseeingly down on her – its gaze hollow. They were relatively small, and of a basic shape, but they were frightening to look in the face. She tried desperately to summon up some sort of shield, anything! But nothing happened. She was sure that if it was a real creature it would be laughing and mocking her. She screamed in helpless terror.

A few feet off Icarus cried out as he too was dragged to the ground, completely taken by surprise. "Damn it, get off!" Lolo heard Leorina scream as one of the new-coming creatures bit down hard on her shoulder. Icarus gasped as his sword was pulled out of his hands. They were outnumbered.

Klonoa took a few steps back, dislodging a creature that was holding onto him from behind. He assessed the situation. The weak creatures were beginning to become dangerous in their numbers. He looked over at Lolo, who was still struggling with the dark puppet, trying meekly to protect her face with her arms as the creature slashed at her. How pathetic! – He wondered how the real Klonoa had put up with her. Well, in any case it was time to end this. He hoped this would work, he hadn't the time to play with his powers as much as he would've liked to.

Lolo let out another scream as the creature ripped its claws down her side as she tried to roll out of its grasp. The grotesque thing now tore at her arms, trying to get at her face. She kicked at the dark puppet, but it just slammed her harder against the earth below – arms held down. She gasped as the beast raised its right arm, preparing to swipe at her face and neck.

Suddenly a blinding light lit the scene, attracting everyone's attention, regardless of the circumstances. The glow was emanating from Klonoa's body, his eyes closed in focus. The brightness of the light increased, and the ring's gem began to pulse. This caught the concentration of Ussannis' puppets as well, and they all came charging toward the glowing Dream Traveler. His companions just watched, completely spell-bound.

With a loud blast, not two, but many smaller rays were dispelled from the ring – each one homing in on a monster. Each connected. All the puppets were destroyed in a flash of smoke.

When the air cleared there wasn't a single one left, and no more came out of the woods. The whole group stared at Klonoa in awe. "How's that?" He asked smugly. "I'm pretty convenient to have around, aren't I?" "Klonoa! That was…incredible!" Lolo cried as she pulled herself off the ground and came running up to him breathlessly, completely in shock. "Where did you learn to do that? I didn't even knew you could!" "I've been practicing, that's all. I never quite got it before, but I worked really hard before this trip – thought we might need a bit of a boost in strength! And I think I figured this all out now!" "That sure beats the wind bullets you used to use. Funny you never tried to learn these powers before now." Leorina chimed in, walking tiredly up to him – along with all the others. "I did try, somewhat. But I guess…well, I think I was actually a bit afraid of it…" "I could see why, power like that is not to be taken lightly…" Friedole agreed. A thought occurred to him about the night before, but he kept it to himself.

For a moment, Klonoa and Friedole looked at each other oddly, as if reading each other's thoughts. Then the Dream Traveler quickly turned away. "Well, I'm a bit tired now… I think I can make it to the boat, but lets get there as quick as we can so we can take a break from all this walking." "Agreed." Friedole seconded. "We'll get to the lake and board one of the ferries, we'll check over all our wounds there, and then they'll be plenty of time to rest. Does everyone think they can hold out till then?" There were a few groans, but eventually everyone nodded. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. They all began to begin padding down the trail again, all still somewhat in shock.

Though the pace was slowed a little, the group still arrived at the Seclusion Port within about forty minutes after a tiring, silent walk. Much to Lolo's frustration, Klonoa still didn't seem in the mood to talk. She really wanted to find out more about what he had just done, too. It just seemed so strange… Though, she had to admit that at least now everyone had something else to think about besides the cowardice she had showed… She was severely disappointed in herself, as well.

"State your business here." The port official stated as they addressed him at his till by the boarding lane. "Umm, we would like to board the ferry heading to border of Mira-Mira." Lolo was forced to speak. "Do you have the money?" The worker stared down at her, his hard face a bit intimidating. "Well, no. Umm, you see I'm a Priestess, and I have, uh, proof." She held up the pendent that dangled around her neck, usually obscured by her shirt. The tiller looked a bit disappointed. "Very well. Is this your traveling party?" She nodded. "Board whenever you like, but we leave in about twenty minutes – be on in fifteen."

She sighed in relief – that was easy. She looked back at Friedole. "Let's just get on now." He decided. "We need as much rest as we can get after that struggle." They all turned and began to walk onto the dock when suddenly a voice piped up from behind them. "Please, wait!"

They turned to see an odd white creature coming toward them from the direction they had just come. He hurried up to the tiller, afraid the ferry was about to leave. "Please, I need to get on too!" He looked up at the Port Official pleadingly. "If you have the money that wont be a problem." The tiller answered. The creature frowned, he had to get on with them somehow. "How much?" "More than you have, I'm sure." Was the worker's only response. "But – " "Look, just get out of here kid, alright."

The creature turned toward Lolo's group. "Can I get on if I get permission from her? She's a priestess, right?" "Err, I suppose, if she lets you become part of her traveling party."

The odd, white creature approached her. "Hey…umm…look, I really need to get back to Mira-Mira, is there anyway I could travel with you on the boat. I'm afraid I don't have the money to get back…" "Well…" Lolo studied the creature. He looked oddly plain. He was pure white with mid-length fur, a semi-long, fairly bushy tail, and bat-like ears. He was tall and thin. "What's your name?" "Theo." She looked him over again, including his eyes. She noticed that his gaze seemed to keep wandering toward Klonoa, though he didn't act entirely comfortable with the sight. She wondered why. She knew she should ask Friedole before allowing anyone along, but for some reason she trusted him, regardless of how uncomfortable her friend seemed to make him. Besides, it was her decision, wasn't it? "Well, I don't see why you couldn't come along…" "You mean it! Thanks so much, Mrs…" "Lolo." She smiled.

She noticed Friedole cast her a disapproving glance, but she was sure he'd get over it. Her and the newcomer, Theo, headed back toward the tiller. "It's okay." Lolo stated. "I'm allowing him to come with us, under the allowance of my pendent." "Well, whatever, I guess…" The official gave the white thing one last look. "He's the responsibility of your party, then." She nodded. The worker simply went back to work on his papers, leaving them to board. They rejoined the group. Theo stood back, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Lolo, what were you thinking! You're not supposed to use your pendent to allow any but us to travel!" Friedole whispered the words to her, but there was a definite agitation in his voice. She shrugged. "Well it was my decision, I didn't see why he couldn't come along. It's just for the ride, after all." She whispered back. "But I'm the leader, you shouldn't make those kind of decisions without asking me if it's okay first!" "Just let me make up my own mind sometimes, will you!" She snapped, her agitation from the days earlier events boiling over. He looked at her in surprise, and she quickly lowered her voice back down, embarrassed. "Besides, he seems okay to me, I don't see why we couldn't trust him." Friedole shook his head in frustration. "You don't even know who he is! For all you know he could be a spy working for Ussannis. And we don't know why he wants to go to Mira-Mira, either." "Well, I already told him he could come, I can't take it back now! We can find out why he wants to come after we get on and rest a while." With that, she walked away, ending the conversation. Friedole groaned, but at least this "Theo" didn't seem particularly suspicious. Though all the same he was annoyed.

Klonoa scrutinized the newcomer, he'd noticed the odd way Theo kept looking at him. The Dream Traveler's stare seemed to make him uncomfortable – Theo was breathing heavy under Klonoa's gaze, trying to avoid eye contact. Was that a bit of anger on his face. Klonoa blinked.

"Well, everyone, let's get on now before anything else happens, or we pick up any other traveling companions…" At Friedole's order, everyone walked down the thick dock, up the ramp, and into the mid-sized boat.

How will the trip across the lake go? Will everyone survive the journey to Ussannis? Who is Theo really? Stay tuned!