Breath of Fire III: Of Gods and Dragons

Chapter Thirteen: One Thing Leads to Another

Written by Estrelita Farr

.

For three consecutive nights in a row, Ryu and the others trained Beyd so he would be strong enough to go and repair the lighthouse. Even though he still seemed weak, the bookkeeper was rather determined and enthusiastic about the training and he worked very hard to get stronger. There were even many occasions when he caught Ryu off-guard and nearly injured him with his sword.

Despite Zig's boasting about going to the lighthouse, he kept saying that it could wait. Day after day he went after Shadis, bragging about how great he was and how together they would make the Guild a big success, and Beyd only watched, tight-lipped, wishing that he was already strong enough to stop all this nonsense.

Today, however, would be different.

After Ryu, Nina and Momo arrived at the wharf to do more fishing, Zig and Iggy came again to the usual end of the wharf, and Beyd took no notice of them as he went on with his work. But the muscular man seemed to be extra pleased with himself this time, and it showed in his stride as he made his way towards the Guildmaster's daughter.

"Hey, Shadis!" he cried. "How 'bout you and I go get a room together, eh?"

"Pretty smooth, boss!" Iggy cheered. "Go for it!"

Shadis turned away in disgust, crossing her arms. "Go by yourself!"

All of a sudden he grabbed her wrist, with a huge grin on his face. "Now that ain't the way to talk to your future husband!"

She tried to break away. "Ugh! Let me go, you beast!"

With one hand still gripped around her wrist, he used the other to pull her nearer by the waist, close enough for her to smell his breath. "C'mon now! Don'tcha wanna have some fun?" He let out a loud guffaw.

Iggy clapped loudly. "Way to go, boss!"

Beyd, who had been quietly watching, could not stand it anymore – it was too much for him to watch Shadis being harassed like this all the time. Before even Ryu could react, the bookkeeper suddenly lunged forward and pushed the huge man away from Shadis, surprising everyone with a sudden burst of strength.

"What?" Zig exclaimed, stepping back. "What do you think you're doing, Beyd?"

Beyd said nothing.

"Beyd?" Shadis called.

"Shadis, I…" He looked firm, still standing between her and Zig. "I'm going to the lighthouse."

"What?" the muscular man exclaimed again.

"It's Zig here who's going!" Iggy cried. "So just butt out, Beyd!"

Upon hearing this, Zig recovered from his initial surprise and regained his composure, so he spoke in his usual loud voice, "That's right! I'm the strongest, so I'm the one going to the lighthouse!" He shook a fist menacingly in front of the bookkeeper's face. "You got a problem with that, you'll have to fight me!"

Beyd still did not answer for a while, but soon he nodded. "Fine, I challenge you to a fight! The winner gets to go to the lighthouse!" He pointed a finger towards Zig. "Tonight, at the town square!"

He grinned. "All right! Get ready to lose real bad tonight, Beyd!" Then he turned his gaze onto Shadis. "Get ready to kiss the winner after this match, Shadis, and it'll be me! Bwahahaha!" With that, he left with Iggy following behind him like a dog, both of them laughing loudly.

"Beyd!" Nina called as she and her companions went to his side.

"You… you goof!" Shadis shook her head, exasperated. "How could you be so reckless?"

The bookkeeper smiled sheepishly, back to his normal meek self again. "I'm sorry, I really don't know what came over me. But now I can't back out of it…"

"I'm sure you can do it, Beyd!" the princess said.

"That's right, Beyd!" Shadis cried. "You have to beat that bozo and win!"

"Go for it!" Momo said.

Beyd smiled. "T-thanks, everyone. I'll certainly do my best tonight."

Only Ryu stayed silent. Now that they were all worked up over the fight, he hadn't the heart to tell them that he doubted the bookkeeper would even be on par with that burly sailor…

Who knows? Maybe luck will be on his side…

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

.

"All right!" Iggy shouted loudly, standing on one side of the town square. "We're here to decide who gets to go to the lighthouse to fix it! Will it be Beyd, or the boss?"

It was already night, with the moon shining brightly in the sky and illuminating the square. All of them were there – Ryu and his friends including Garr and Peco, Beyd and Shadis, and Zig and Iggy. However, somehow news that Beyd and Zig were going to duel leaked out among the sailors, so there were well over a hundred spectators standing around the side of the square to watch. Some were even supplied with drinks and food.

Ryu glancing around nervously, thinking the same thing as his companions did – would Beyd be able to win?

"Pipe down! The duel's starting now!" Iggy yelled, quite enjoying himself. "Get ready! Three… two… one… and FIGHT!"

Zig cracked his knuckles, grinning confidently. "I hope you have enough bandages, Beyd! HAH!"

The crowd gasped as he abruptly rushed forward, hitting his opponent hard with his fists, and Beyd had no chance to react. The air was filled with boos and cheers as the skinny man was punched in the stomach, hit in the jaw and pummelled in the face, and soon he was on the ground covered with bruises.

"Fight back, Beyd!" Nina cried, trying to make her voice heard above the combined voices of the crowd. "Fight!"

"C'mon!" Ryu shouted as well.

Zig stepped back, rather triumphant, and he began to wave a hand in Shadis' direction. "Heh! Don't you worry, Shadis! There ain't a chance for me to lose to this wimp!"

"Beyd!" Shadis called, ignoring him. "Beyd! Get up! You have to win!"

This seemed to perk the bookkeeper up, for he attempted to stand up again even though he was rather battered up. As he struggled to his feet, he yelled, "Here I come! YAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The crowd cheered as he charged forward towards Zig, holding his sword high up in the air. His muscular opponent was still waving at Shadis, distracted, and it seemed as though he was going to be sliced…

Then Beyd stumbled, landing on the ground with a loud crash, his sword accidentally flung into the air.

Everyone's groan caught Zig's attention, and it made him look even more triumphant than before. He loomed over Beyd, cracking his knuckles menacingly, with a huge grin on his face. "Now I've got yo–"

BONK!

The extremely hard hilt of Beyd's sword had landed squarely on his head.

Everyone gasped again as a dazed look came to Zig's face. A dopey grin came to his face and he swayed sideways, his arms hanging loosely by his side, then he stopped. He seemed to be floating on his two legs… and his massive body crashed onto the ground with a tremor.

The air became thick with stunned silence, all eyes focused on the unmoving body on the ground.

After a moment, Beyd muttered disbelievingly, "I… I won…"

Then, as though a valve had exploded, the crowd cheered loudly, their voices echoing all across Rhapala.

"Oh no! Boss!" Iggy exclaimed, running to Zig's side. "I-I don't believe it! How could big ol' Zig here lose to the wimp?"

In the midst of all the crowd's cheers, Shadis rushed to help her childhood friend up. "Beyd, are you all right?" She shook her head, concerned. "Look at you… you're all beaten up…"

The bookkeeper smiled, despite the fact that he was aching and bruised all over. "Oh, don't worry about these… I'm fine." He bowed his head, focusing his gaze onto the ground. "Shadis, if… you married Zig, I'd lose you forever, and I don't want that…"

"Oh, Beyd!" She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

He turned red and began to stammer. "I-I want to help you, Shadis, l-let's take care of the guild t-together…"

She nodded happily, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I've been waiting to hear that for ages!"

"Boss! Boss!" Iggy shouted. "Did you hear that? Boss! Wake up, boss!" But his attempt was futile, for Zig was well unconscious on the ground.

Beyd smiled in gratitude as he looked upon Ryu, Nina and the rest of their group. "Thank you, thank you all so much… If you hadn't convinced me to fight Zig, then…" He shook his head. "I guess… then I would have stayed the same old Beyd… a ninety-eight pound weakling…"

"No, you did it on your own, Beyd," Ryu said, beaming. "We only helped you a little."

"Yeah!" Nina smiled as well. "I'm just glad everything worked out, Beyd."

"Yeah, I'm glad too…" Beyd nodded. "Still, thank you all so much."

Garr cleared his throat. "Now then, might I but suggest some rest?"

"Yeah, I need to patch Beyd up too," Shadis mentioned as she draped one of Beyd's arm around her shoulder to support him. "Thanks so much, all of you."

As she went off with him, the crowd began to disperse and return to their respective homes for the night, leaving Zig lying in the middle of the town square. Now that he had lost, no one seemed to want to help him. Not even Ryu, who often felt inclined to help people.

"Boss! BOSS!" Iggy's cries echoed into the dark sky.

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-o-o-o-o-o-

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The next morning, they had decided to visit Beyd and Shadis again. When they arrived at the usual place at the wharf, however, they were surprised to see Beyd covered in bandages – there were bandages around his head, his left hand was bandaged, his right arm was wrapped up in a sling… and there were probably more beneath his clothes. Shadis, eager to help him however she could, was helping him to write as he dictated to her.

At the sound of the group's footsteps, the couple looked up and smiled at them.

"Oh, hello!" Beyd greeted, waving with his free hand. "Thank you so much for everything, I feel much better now knowing that Zig wouldn't disturb Shadis anymore!"

"I'm glad, but are you okay?" Nina asked, looking at his bandages. "These look pretty painful…"

"Oh, I'm okay, don't worry." He smiled embarrassedly. "It's just because I'm not used to fighting, so…" He winced as he accidentally moved his broken arm too much. "Ouch!"

"The bad thing is, now he's in no condition to go to the lighthouse." Shadis shook her head. "And the ship's still not back yet…"

"I've been wondering…" Momo started with a hopeful grin on her face. "But could you let me fix the lighthouse? I'd love to go and see the machines there!"

"Uh oh…" Ryu muttered, and Honey, who was on his shoulder, nodded in agreement.

Shadis looked surprised. "Really? You'll do that for us?"

"Momo may not look it, but she's really smart!" Nina added, beaming. "And she loves machines!"

Garr nodded. "And the ship may arrive sooner with the lighthouse working again."

"After all you've done for us…" Beyd nodded, smiling in gratitude. "Thank you so much."

"But you can't get in just like that, since we've blocked off the area from the public." Shadis fished her pocket and pulled out a shiny badge. "But this should help to get you in."

Ryu took the badge and gazed at it. The badge's picture consisted of a golden cat, posing haughtily on a grey anchor with the words "Porters' Guild" in silver words.

"That's the Guild's badge, isn't it?" the princess inquired.

Beyd nodded. "Yes, that shows that you're associates of the Guild, and the sailors at the entrance to the lighthouse should let you in when you show it to them." He shook his head. "I'm sorry for making you do this… and be careful."

"We will," the boy replied, pocketing the badge and keeping it safely with all his belongings. "Thanks for the badge."

Nina nudged the bookkeeper, with a grin on her face. "Make sure you take care of Shadis!"

Both Beyd and Shadis quickly reddened, and the group laughed as they left for the western end of the wharf, where the lighthouse stood tall in the distance.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

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At a glance, one may not notice anything out of ordinary with the lighthouse, but once inside, it was clear that something was wrong. A layer of dust settled everywhere, indicating that no one had been here in ages. A thick silence hung in the air, devoid of the hum of machinery… and there was no one in sight.

The lighthouse was actually rather a maze of stone halls and staircases, each accompanied by complicated machinery, which drew Momo's attention the moment she set her eyes on them.

"Whoa!" she cried. "I knew the lighthouse runs on chrysm energy, but I didn't know they have such great machinery here!" She ran here and there, examining them with great excitement. "I could spend all day just looking at them!"

"It is up to you…" Garr crossed his arms. "But perhaps later?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. Let's get the lighthouse working first!" She grinned cheerfully as though she had remembered their mission from the start. "Let's go, then!"

Honey slapped her forehead.

Even as they explored the lighthouse, the red-haired girl kept gazing at the machinery in awe and often walked into things – walls, doors, railings – but luckily her companions were more alert than she was. Even Honey had to tug at her ear to bring her attention back to reality.

After much exploring, they soon arrived in a room that was filled from the top to bottom with machines, much to Momo's excitement and awe. Once again she bustled up and down the room excitedly, much to the others' annoyance, but she soon found a small user guide lying nearby, presumably for new employees.

"Wow!" she kept saying as she quickly read through it, her eyes shining. "Wow!"

Nina shook his head. "Um, Momo…"

She did not hear her as she went on flipping the pages, then she grinned excitedly and looked up from the guide. "Hey, guys! Apparently this is the boiler, and it uses chrysm ores as a source of energy!"

"Wait, when you say 'a source of energy'…" Ryu thought for a moment. "Do you mean that the lighthouse uses this chrysm energy?"

"You bet! And I'm going to turn it on!"

Garr nodded. "A plausible idea."

She jumped in joy. "Oh boy! I can't wait!"

Everyone else sat on the ground as they waited for her to read through the user guide again, thoroughly this time. When five minutes had barely passed, she tossed the book away and rolled up her sleeves.

"Okay, this is pretty simple," she stated, pulling out a small pouch made out of a shiny substance. "All I have to do is to throw a chrysm ore into the hatch, and then flip the switch there–" She gestured towards a panel at the corner of the room. "–when the boiler's stabilised with enough pressure!"

"Uh… okay," Ryu said, not understanding much. "Where do we get a chrysm ore?"

"Oh, I know!" the princess piped up. "You use chrysm ores in your cannon, right?"

Momo grinned as she pulled out a glowing chrysm ore from the pouch she was holding. "You bet! Always keep an adequate supply for emergencies!" She opened a hatch in the machine and tossed the ore inside. "Okay, here goes!"

A low hum came from the machine, gradually growing louder and louder, and it continued to hum loudly even after the red-haired girl flipped the switch at the panel. Lights appeared along the machinery, even on the ones leading outside to the numerous halls, and the boiler remained humming softly.

"There!" Momo said. "The boiler's up and working now, all we have to do is turn on the switch at the top of the lighthouse!"

"All right then!" Nina said. "Let's head to the top!"

Peco jumped high into the air. "Pukyuuuu!"

Upon leaving the room, all five of them made their way upwards, soon arriving at the last hallway before the top floor. However, the moment they stepped into the large hall, there was a strange unmoving thing there. It was shaped like a large green lizard with an extremely long tail, barely taller than Momo, and both its front legs were held above its head as though it was a pedestal to hold something.

"Oh, wow!" Momo exclaimed, her eyes shining. "It's so cuuuuute!"

"Uh, cute? I guess…" Ryu scratched the back of his head. "Well, it looks alive, but it's not moving…"

Garr crossed his arms. "It resembles not a monster, does it not?"

"I don't know, but…" Nina shivered a little. "I-I don't like it… let's just leave it alone, okay?"

With a wary eye on the lizard-like thing, they walked past it and headed towards the last set of staircase in front that led to the top floor of the lighthouse, but no sooner Ryu placed a foot on the first step, he heard a loud thud accompanied by a slight tremor in the ground, as though something hard fell.

Then again. And again.

Wondering what it was, he looked up the staircase and paled immediately – something BIG was bouncing down the staircase.

A colossal eyeball!

"RUN!" he yelled, and everyone complied without a second thought.

The eyeball bounced down the staircase like a giant ball after them, creating cracks in the floor each time it landed, and then it fell onto the outstretched arms of the lizard-like thing they had passed earlier. Immediately the lizard sprang to life, its tail twitching as it struggled with the weight of the eyeball, and the numerous sinister crimson eyes on the eyeball glared at the group of five below.

"Hm…" Garr held his chin with a hand. "Did I say it resembles not a monster? Perhaps its bizarre appearance addled my mind…"

"Uh, now that I think of it…" Momo shook his head. "It's not really that cute at all…"

"Whatever it is, it's hostile!" Ryu cried.

The largest eye glowed menacingly, then there was a great burst of power as a giant ray of red light shot through the open space, barely missing as its targets jumped out of the way. Red sparks circled the ray, spreading to the sides, and they could feel the intensity of the power even if it passed by them.

Garr charged forward, his halberd held tightly, and struck at the largest eye, stabbing the blade right into the iris. An unearthly deep howl filled the air, like the mournful sound of a horn, and the creature retaliated with another crimson ray that missed once again. Momo's chrysm pellet, which she had fired, hit the eyeball on one of its smaller eyes, making it shriek.

"Pukyuuuuuuuu!" Peco cried as he bounced rapidly forward, leaped high into the air and kicked the lizard's leg.

No response.

"Pukyupukyupukyupukyukyu!" he shouted as he kicked the leg repeatedly.

All the eyes on the eyeball gleamed menacingly, and Garr hurriedly grabbed the onion before he could be fried with a crimson ray.

"Lightning!" Nina shouted as she waved a glowing wand in the air, and a great burst of sparks struck the eyeball. However, it did not even wince, but instead jumped right off the lizard. It leaped high into the air, barely spinning… aiming for her!

"NINA!" Ryu yelled, rushing towards her as he took on his Force Dragon form in a burst of light, spreading his wings to fly.

The colossal eyeball narrowly missed its target once more, creating a huge crack on the floor where the princess was previously standing. Growling as he held the back of Nina's dress in his jaws, Ryu's eyes glowed as he retaliated with a powerful Flame Claw, and the eyeball howled as it bounced back onto the lizard's outstretched claws. Furious, it fired another crimson ray at him, but the Dragon already saw that coming and swerved sharply to the right.

"Fire seems to hurt it a lot…" the princess observed and began charging another spell. "Ryu! Keep hitting it with fire!"

Ryu gave a low growl in reply and scratched the air with his front claws, the magical claw marks of his Flame Claw striking the eyeball and burning it. At the same time, Nina cast her spell, which coated Garr's spear with crimson flames.

"It's weak against fire!" she cried.

Garr nodded and charged once again, this time with a burning blade to attack with. With all of his strength, he stabbed into the monster's largest eye.

A deep mournful howl filled the air.

"Stand back, Garr!" Momo shouted as she aimed her cannon.

Nodding, he slashed the creature once more and jumped back, giving her a clear shot.

"Heh, with such a big target, who'll miss?" She grinned. "Take THIS!"

She fired her cannon at the monster, and for once the chrysm pellet exploded right on target – the centre of the largest eye. With another deep mournful howl, the creature disappeared in a flash of light before their very eyes, starting from the top of the eyeball to the feet of the lizard-like creature.

When the light dimmed, there was no sign of it anywhere.

"Wahoo!" Momo cheered. "We did it!"

The princess shook her head. "That was scary…"

Ryu nodded in agreement. "What's a monster like that doing here, anyway?"

"Pui?" Peco said, its head tilted one side.

No one seemed to know the answer, so they just shrugged and continued on their way towards the top of the lighthouse. Once they reached the top of the last staircase, bright afternoon sunlight greeted them, accompanied by the cries of the seagulls, and a sea breeze blew lightly around them. With such peaceful scenery in view, it was hard to believe they were just in a battle with a weird monster.

At the centre of the little room, a large light bulb stood encased in a crystal, which was probably used to magnify its light to the surface of the sea, and a panel with a flip switch was just behind it.

"Well, the boiler's up and running," the engineer mentioned. "But I don't know if there's anything wrong with the machinery at all." She beamed. "Oh well, we'll just turn on the lighthouse and see!"

The others did not argue as she stepped up to the panel and flipped the switch. No sooner she did that, the light bulb began to shine dazzlingly, the crystal projecting the light perfectly on the surface of the roaring sea. But since it was broad daylight, the effect of the light was not clearly seen from the town.

The red-haired girl grinned. "Great! It works perfectly! Nothing wrong at all!"

"That's great news!" Nina stated, smiling. "Let's go back and tell Beyd and Shadis!"

They spun around, preparing to head back outside, but before they could even take a step, however, a high voice yelled loudly, "NO! Turn the lighthouse OFF!"

"What?" Ryu said, searching around for the owner of the voice.

Something small and sparkling whizzed by their heads, making them turn, and stopped just above the switch for the lighthouse – it was a faerie, a glowing minute-sized girl with purple butterfly wings and long orange pink hair that flowed around her ankles.

And, from the way she was waving the wooden club in her hands, she was certainly less than amicable.

"I said TURN IT OFF!" she yelled again, slamming the club into the switch.

She had only meant to flip the switch so that the lighthouse would be turned off, but she accidentally swung the club in the wrong direction and jammed it in place instead, rendering it useless. Sparks spread all over the panel, making the group jump away, and the faerie looked despaired.

"Oh no!" she cried. "Now what are we supposed to do? After we went all the trouble to get Gazer to guard the place…"

Instantly they knew that Gazer was the name of the eyeball monster they had fought earlier, and how it had come about to roam the interior of the lighthouse.

"Um…" Nina started, not quite knowing what to say.

"But now we can't turn it off!" Then the faerie tossed the club in their direction, barely missing Garr's head and wings, and she angrily waved her arms about in a tantrum. "Dummies! It's all your fault! I hate you!"

"Hey, wait a second!" Momo protested. "All we did was to turn the light on! Why are you so worked up over it?"

"Dummies!" she cried again. "You'd better make up for it!" She tossed a gleaming tiara at Nina.

"Huh? What's this?" Nina asked as he held up the tiara to look at it. It was made out of a strange blue crystal on a golden circlet, and it was very pretty to look at.

"It's a Faerie Tiara," the faerie answered grudgingly. "If you use it in flower rings out in the country, you can come to our world." She waved her little arms angrily again. "And you'll be in big trouble if you don't!"

With that, she flew off, just as suddenly as she had come.

"Um…" The princess shook her head. "Did we do something wrong?"

"No idea," the boy replied, and sighed softly – they had only come to Rhapala to board a ship, but ended up getting caught in a wave of things… one thing certainly led to another.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

.

First, they stopped at the wharf to tell Beyd and Shadis that the lighthouse was finally fixed. When Momo told them about the broken switch, the ecstatic couple assured them that it was a small thing. With the huge monster at the lighthouse was gone, their own technicians could head in and fix anything!

Convinced that now the Porters' Guild could handle things on their own, all five of them headed outside Rhapala to look for rings of flowers as the faerie earlier had instructed. At first they just stood around, wondering which way to start searching first, then Garr led them to the western direction. Soon, they arrived at a green area, a grassy hill with several trees and flowers around.

"I have but seen one around the proximity," Garr declared, scanning his surroundings.

"There it is!" Nina pointed towards the foot of a particular tree.

Sure enough, there was a pretty ring of flowers there, large enough to fit all of them in, but even as they stood within the circle, they did not know how to get into the faeries' world.

"Um, how do you use this?" the princess asked, holding up the tiara.

Ryu shook his head. "I don't know… I thought it would react or something when we stand in the ring."

"Hm…" Momo thought for a moment. "Tiaras are meant to be worn, aren't they? Maybe something will happen if you wear it?"

Nina nodded. "Okay." The tiara was a little too loose for her, but she didn't mind.

All of a sudden the blue crystal on the tiara shone dazzlingly, enveloping them with its rays, forcing them to cover their eyes. However, when the light dimmed, they found that they were no longer at a place outside Rhapala, but somewhere else.

The place seemed to be isolated from civilisation and was heavily forested, with numerous trees around the hill, the air filled with the roar of the sea. A small, shabby-looking shack stood on a ledge just above them, and they assumed that it was their destination for now.

Inside, they were greeted by a familiar high angry voice, "It's about time you came, dummies!"

It was the purple-winged faerie they had seen at the lighthouse earlier, this time accompanied a blue-haired, pink-winged one and a purple-haired, red-winged one.

"At least we came…" Ryu muttered to himself.

"This is strange!" Momo said, shaking her head. "This is the faeries' world, yet it's on the other side of the lighthouse?"

"That's right, dummy!" the first faerie shouted. "That's why I told you not to turn it on!"

"But why don't you want the lighthouse to be on?" Nina questioned, puzzled. "You have a house, so it wouldn't shine on you at night…"

"There's a monster here who hates the lighthouse at night!" the azure-haired faerie cried.

"And it said it'll eat us if we don't turn it off!" the third faerie added in despair.

The group remained silent for a while, taking in this bizarre situation, then Ryu spoke, "When does it usually come?"

"At night!" the orange-pink-haired faerie stated. "It comes to the beach then!"

"I see…" Nina smiled. "We'll chase it off for you, okay?"

"Really?" the three faeries chorused. "Do you really mean it?"

Momo nodded. "Well, it's not like the boat's coming anytime soon, anyway."

Garr crossed his arms. "We have naught of a choice, since we have but arrived…"

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

.

It was a clear moonlit night with a gentle breeze, the sound of the waves soothing to one's ears. In the distance, the rays from the lighthouse illuminated the surface of the sea, showing the way for the ships to arrive, but even now, the port of Rhapala was still empty of ships.

Ryu sat leaning against a large rock on the beach, his eyes closed as he rested. The calming sounds of the sea helped him to relax, even if he knew that he would have to fight a monster after this, and it made him hoped that the faeries were only joking.

But if the monster really did come… should he use his Dragon form? Should he transform just to intimidate it enough to chase it away?

…no. I won't use it for anything except to protect, I promised myself that…

"Ryu?" Nina called.

He opened his eyes and looked up, seeing her sitting beside him. "Yes?"

"Are you… okay?" She seemed concerned and worried.

He smiled, nodding. "Yeah, I am, don't worry." He stared onto the sandy beach, barely noticing that Honey was chasing a hermit crab around. "I'm just wondering if I should change into a Dragon, just to scare the monster away…"

She thought for a moment, then beamed. "If you do, then we won't have to fight, and it won't disturb the faeries anymore!"

"I've thought of that, but… I won't use it unless I really need to." He sighed softly, closing his eyes again. "There were many times that I wish I were just an ordinary person, living an ordinary peaceful life…" He shook his head. "I don't like the fact that I'm a Dragon."

"But Ryu…" She held his hand in hers. "You've protected me so many times when you turn into a Dragon, how can you hate the power?"

"I just… do." Then he faced her again, looking more cheery. "But you're right, I was able to protect you with this power of mine… yeah, I should think like that."

She smiled. "Yeah, you should, and I like you even if you're a Dragon!"

The boy turned red immediately from this sudden declaration. "T-thanks…"

Suddenly, Momo, who was keeping watch, called out loudly as her rabbit-like ears perked up, "Hey, guys, do you see what I see?"

Immediately the two children sprang to their feet and went to her side. They caught sight of a large red fin moving about the surface of the water, first to the right then to the left, gradually nearing them. With Garr and Peco around the hills in case the monster came from that direction, Ryu thought quickly as he felt that it was his responsibility to protect the girls.

"Okay, here's what I'm going to do…" he muttered, his hand at the hilt of his sword. "When it comes up, I'm going to hit it…"

Nina nodded. "Okay, be careful…"

They waited as the fin slowly drew nearer to them, closer and closer… then it came out of the water. Instantly in one swift motion, Ryu drew out his sword and swung it at the creature… and heard a high cry of a creature that was quite unlike a monster's.

He blinked.

It was a red dolphin, lying on its side with part of its head showing above the surface. Surprisingly, Ryu's sword had barely formed a scratch on its hide, as though he had hit something as hard as steel, and it got up again unhurt.

"Ow!" it cried, making them jump. "What was that for?"

"Um, sorry…" the princess shook her head. "It's just that we were told that there was a monster coming, and… well…"

The dolphin shook its head slightly. "No worries, everyone makes mistakes… things happen."

"He's a nice dolphin, isn't he?" she remarked, facing her companions. "I wonder if he's the one the faeries told us about?"

Momo shrugged. "Well, it's best to go and ask them… shall we?"

She nodded. "Okay."

Both girls walked up the hill towards the hut again, leaving Ryu alone at the beach. He stared at the red creature before him, feeling that somehow he had to be careful of it… then, all of a sudden, the dolphin smirked and squirted water at him, surprising him.

"H-hey!" he exclaimed, shaking himself dry.

"Oy, what's your problem, hitting me like that earlier?" it said.

"My friend told you, it was a mis–"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." There was a terribly bored tone in its voice. "I was being nice 'cause the chicks are there, but you? I won't hold back!"

I'm beginning to think that he's really the monster…

Ignoring his silence, it went on. "And what's with the lighthouse anyway? It's a bloody nuisance! No one could get a wink of sleep with it shining away all night!" It squirted more water at him, then again and again. "Go on! Get rid of it! Or I'll have to get rough with ya!"

Ryu was getting wetter and wetter by the minute, but it stopped just as all of his companions returned, once again pretending a nice dolphin.

"Ryu!" Nina called as she ran to his side. "Ryu, why are you so wet?"

Before he could reply, the faeries floated down from their hut. The moment they caught sight of the dolphin, the purple-winged one exclaimed, "That's him! That's the monster!"

Everyone else blinked. "Huh?"

"Yes!" the second faerie confirmed. "He told us that if we didn't turn off the lighthouse, he'll eat us!"

The dolphin shook its head. "Hey, the light's too bright, so I can't sleep… so, you think you could, like, turn it off for me?"

"Turn it yourself, dummy!" the third faerie shouted.

The dolphin frowned.

"That's right, you dummy!" the second one yelled. "Why did you have to bully us about it anyway?"

The frown grew bigger.

"Read my lips," the orange-haired faerie said, "Leave us alone, you BIG – DUMB – DOLPHIN!" She pronounced the last three words with great emphasis.

That was the final straw.

The dolphin swiftly lunged right out of the water, a sharp golden horn coming out from between its eyes as it revealed its great crimson armoured body that would remind one of a giant lobster. The faeries, frightened out of their wits, flew off in a hurry, leaving the group with the monster.

"SHADDAP, you runts!" the red creature snarled, no longer in the amiable voice it had used earlier. "I should just fry you in oil and have you for a midnight snack!" It roared loudly, spreading its large fins bordered with spikes. "I've had it! You're dead! You're all DEAD!"

"Not if I can help it!" Nina shouted and unleashed the spell that she was charging. "Take this! LIGHTNING!"

Lightning bolts immediately struck the monster with a great flash of light, its wet body enhancing the effect of the spell. Ryu and Momo winced at the electric shock as the creature's scream echoed in the night sky, and as the spell ended, it slumped into the water up to its neck, its body numb from the shock. Before it could recover, Garr took the chance to bring his long halberd right in front of it, the blade just an inch away from its throat.

"Grr…!" the dolphin monster growled, but it could not do anything for fear of being sliced by the weapon.

"You have but two choices," the winged man said quietly. "One, leave and never return. Two…" He raised the blade a little higher, so that it touched the monster's tender throat. "Refuse, and I shall take your life here and now. Choose."

Nina watched the monster closely, her glowing wand indicated that she had a spell ready.

"…fine! I'll leave!" it finally shouted, grudgingly. "I won't return, but I'll let ya know that I'll find some ways to pay you back for this!"

Then, it turned and jumped back into the water, splashing water all over them, then disappeared out of their sight. Despite being wet, however, they were ecstatic that they were able to chase the monster away.

"Whoa, that was easy," Momo commented, grinning. "And it's all thanks to Nina!"

Nina smiled in embarrassment. "N-not really…"

Ryu beamed. "Well, looks like you don't really need me to protect you, after all." Then he added slyly, "Just remind me never to make you mad!"

Everyone laughed.

After a while, Garr stretched his large wings. "Well, mayhap we should return to our camp."

The boy sneezed. "Good idea, I'm beginning to feel that I've already done a lot today."

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End of Chapter Thirteen.

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Author's Note:

So sorry for the late update! Last weekend the whole of Malaysia had difficulty accessing certain international sites… for me, it's FanFiction (dot) net included. When the slow internet was finally restored, FanFiction (dot) net had this login and submission technical glitch thing… x_x

Since today is already Friday, I'll consider this as this week's update instead of next week, so I'll be putting up the next chapter next Saturday (March 7). Sorry. T_T

Though it was kinda funny; I spent so long training (myself and Beyd) only because I was typing the story at the same time, and in the end I was overpowered… Beyd only lost about 30 HP in total (he only received 0 – 2 damage from Zig's normal attacks, 14 damage from Lucky Strike) in the duel with Zig, and Ryu in his Dragon form only needed 3 Flame Claws to kill Gazer and 3 Thunder Claws to kill the dolphin monster. I'm never this hardworking when I play the game normally!

And don't mind me combining both Australian English and other English for the dolphin's speech… it really looks weird if I made it speak in Australian English and then provided a translation for it, so I just combined both. o_o

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Review Replies for Chapter Twelve:

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To RedemptionWarrior:

Haha, good to see that you find the start of Beyd's training funny! I was worried it might be too flat… but thankfully it's not so. xP

Nah, I won't be going through the whole Fairy Village side quest; it's rather difficult for me to add it to my already saturated story. Sorry about that. o_o

Thanks for reviewing!

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To Airess Byrd:

Thanks, glad that you like the chapter! I love the Dragon scenes as well!

I never did quite like training Beyd either, but thankfully it didn't bother me much this time round because I was typing the chapter the same time I was training him. Heck, I was almost worried he'd wipe my party instead. O_O

Haha, Honey as Momo's personal PDA… and the great thing is, the 'PDA' moves on its own! Momo's so scatterbrained that I'm sure she'll even forget she has a PDA even if she's given one to organise herself… xP

Thanks for the review!

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To Nina Windia:

Oh, definitely, while Beyd's training is hilarious, it's kinda boring to train him from scratch because he's that noob… except, thankfully, it didn't bother me much this time because I trained him while I wrote. Multitasking is great! xP

I'm glad to hear you find the chapter interesting, and Zig's the biggest oaf I've ever seen! :D

Thanks for reviewing!