"Lord Van!"

He wasn't sure how long he had been in the study, studying the parchment laid out before him. The news had spread quickly through the castle about the attack, and further from what he understood. The countryside was alight with the news of the attacks. Travelers were already being more cautious, afraid of staying in the smaller towns, which would cause all sorts of problems later if they didn't deal with the issue soon. If the smaller towns didn't get the business from travelers, they could have a famine on their hands within a few months.

"Lord Van!" Van lifted his head from the map spread out on the table in front of him, the familiar call breaking his concentration.

"I'm in here, Merle," he said, voice echoing off the stone walls of the study. The room was vast, the walls lined with shelves full of books of all sizes and colors: the lore and history of the people of Fanelia. A large number of the tomes had been destroyed during the attack by Zaibach, but they had managed to save a fair number of the volumes. They were not what interested him right then, however. It was the map of Gaea, particularly their area of Gaea that interested him. Merle darted into the room, a smile on her feline face.

"Lord Van! The representative from Asturia has arrived!" she informed, and the smile on her features gave away just who they had sent. Van grinned lightly, straightening as a familiar figure entered behind Merle. Allen Schezar was just as Van remembered the knight to be, if not perhaps a little wiser in his blue eyes. He stood tall and proud, but without the arrogance his youth would give him. Van had always been the more immature of the two, though that too had changed in the last two years. Allen's eyes saw a king much matured despite being a mere eighteen years old.

"You've grown quite a bit, Van Fanel, king of Fanelia," he spoke, the same low calm voice he always had riding the air, a patient smile on his lips.

"And you haven't changed at all, Allen," replied Van, walking over to his old comrade, the two exchanging solid forearm shakes. Allen still wore the rich blue and white garb of one of the Knights of Caeli, long blond hair loose and straight as rain. The only real change was the thin gold circlet around his head, the mark that he was head of his father's house, his family's insignia borne on the metal. The two parted, and Van walked with him over to the table where he had been regarding the map of the area. "I take it that Asturia has some stake in this recent raid then?" Merle took a seat nearby, watching the two in silence.

"Yes," said Allen, his elegant features drawing into a slight frown. The loss of life was abhorrent to the knight. Such a senseless loss.. "Some traders from Asturia were caught in the raid, and as the most recent attack was so near the boarder of the land, there is a rather significant desire to see the culprits apprehended."

"Does anyone in Asturia have any information on the attacker?" asked Van, his eyes narrowed with thought, not arrogance and a need for action.

Allen paused a moment, unable to stop the surprise that overcame him at the question. Time really had changed him, hadn't it? Van was no longer the hot-headed young man he once was, but had matured greatly into a king and ruler who thought before he acted, for the benefit of his people. For a moment, he wondered if maybe the girl from the Mystic Moon had something to do with the change in Van.

She had changed all of them, in the end.

"Not much," he admitted, sounding disappointed in the news. "There didn't appear to be any survivors, but there were signs of guymelef activity."

"Guymelefs?" Van paused, considering this. "You don't think... Zaibach?"

Allen shook his head. "Dornkirk's empire was divided among the surrounding kingdoms, and his followers either agreed to living peaceful lives, or were caught by the various ruling kingdoms and incarcerated. His machines were destroyed- so were all the guymelefs that were found on site. There were rumors that some of the neighboring kingdoms took some of the guymelefs, but the rumors were never proven." He shook his head, white gloved hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Even if they were, I can't see this benefiting anyone. It was only a small town, maybe with three guymelefs guarding it. A stop over for travelers on the road."

Van's eyes darkened as he sat in a nearby wooden chair, thumb idly running over the hilt of his family's sword, as well as the pendant around his neck. The silence stole in as he considered the facts, his fingers playing with the small trinket. Allen looked at it, a small smile stealing across his lips.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" he said after a moment. Van looked at him, startled from his thoughts. "Since Hitomi left."

Van looked down at his pendant, the one given to him by the girl he had loved.

And always would.

"Almost three years," he admitted, looking at Allen. "I often wonder if she still..."

Allen regarded the young king as he trailed off, the young man eventually shaking his dark haired head as though to clear it.

"What do you suggest we do in regards to the attacks?" he finally asked.

Allen moved forward, looking at the map on the table. He frowned lightly, looking at the arrangements of towns: those that had been attacked were circled in red, forming almost a wide spread triangle on the map. The boarders between the kingdoms were highlighted, but after a few moments, he couldn't determine any set pattern beyond that. "They don't appear to be moving into the land, but remain on the outskirts. The towns they're attacking don't have any alliance to Asturia so-"

Van frowned. "Wait, they're not aligned with Asturia?"

Allen shook his head. "No. They're neutral to us: just small trading villages from what we understand."

"Then who supplied them with guymelefs?"

Allen looked at Van, realization dawning. "They are not aligned with you either?"

Van shook his head. "No. I knew they were there, but I was under the impression that they were part of the Asturian nation."

An uneasy silence fell over the pair as Merle watched in silence in a chair near the door, a frown on her features. If the towns were in fact neutral territories, why attack them? And who had supplied the towns- apparently quiet trading villages- with guymelef technology?

"I will have my general send messages to the other kingdoms, and see if they have any knowledge of the towns on the boarders. In the meantime, Allen, you and I should ride out to one of the sites and see what there is left," said Van, standing, hand on his sword.

"Is that wise?" he said, as Van passed by him to go to the hall. "You're the life blood of Fanelia, a kingdom that has come a long way, but still has far to go. If anything were to happen-"

"You'd be there to watch my back, would you not?" said Van, grinning a bit over his shoulder, a flare of the familiar hot head in his eyes.

Allen looked at the young man. Had the years not gone by, had he not seen the change in the young king, Allen would have denied him. Fanelia needed its leader. And yet, there was something in the king's eyes that made Allen think better of it. He had grown, learned. He had changed from their very first meeting a great deal. Again, the knight of Caeli's mind drifted to the girl with blue eyes, the girl from the Mystic Moon, and he wondered how much of this change was her doing.

Allen smiled, and nodded, bowing with his hand over his heart. "I am at your service, Van Fanel, King of Fanelia."