Prince Ayn, Mieu and Wren entered Castle Shusoran after a fairly short trek. Mieu was able to show Ayn around, as she had been here before, when Ayn didn't even exist. There was a guard waiting at the castle entrance.

"Ah, you must be Prince Ayn. I'll tell His Majesty you're here." the guard said, and he ran to the throne room. Whilst he was waiting, Ayn played with his ponytail. The guard returned very soon.

"Prince Ayn, King Lyle will see you now." Thanking the guard, Ayn, Mieu and Wren entered the castle and headed straight for the throne room. Inside, they could hear an argument.

"Your Majesty, I've told you a thousand times - we are under attack!"

"Listen, you snivelling peasant, you should've told me sooner! Do you realise how many innocent lives have been lost, because of this? And you only tell me now?"

"Please, Your Majesty, I..."

"Yeah, I don't want to hear another stupid excuse. Clear off, now!" Several seconds after, a man pushed past Ayn and knocked him over.

"I apologise, sir..." the man whimpered. Ayn cleared his throat.

"That's Prince Ayn to you, scoundrel!" he snapped. The man bowed.

"I am so sorry, Prince Ayn. I was in a hurry." he said gingerly.

"Common courtesy, idiot. Next time, look where you're going! Oh, and here's a handy tip - don't annoy King Lyle." Ayn said angrily, turning on his heel and marching into the throne room. Mieu and Wren followed him.

The throne room was massive, and it was decorated with tapestries, paintings and torches. Even the throne itself was elaborate, with blue silk cushions and drapes. Sat on the throne, was someone that Mieu and Wren recognised - it was Lyle. He still had that same wayward ponytailed light green hair, he still wore his usual vest-and-pants combo, rather than fancy robes, and he still had all that 'Lyle-style' that made him... well, Lyle. Mieu seemed to notice something different about him, though.

"Hey, don't just stand there! If you want to see me, come closer! I don't want to have to yell at you just to have a chat!" Lyle shouted at the threesome. They obeyed him and walked up to him. As they got closer, Mieu saw what made Lyle different from the last time she saw him. It had been seventeen long years since they had seen each other. Lyle noticed Mieu looking at him.

"Mieu, do you think I'm attractive? Sexy?" Lyle asked. Ayn tried in vain to stifle a laugh, but he couldn't, and so he ended up doing a VERY unprincely thing - he laughed right in front of Lyle.

"Uh... of course!" Mieu stammered. She only said it out of politeness - Lyle just wasn't as good looking as he was seventeen years ago. Ayn was still rolling about on the floor, laughing himself silly.

"Hey, Ayn! Do you mind not laughing? Yeah, I know you - Rhys told me all about you." Lyle said sternly, standing up off his throne and pulling the laughing form of Ayn back onto his feet. He stopped laughing now and looked Lyle in the eye.

"I apologise, Your Majesty." Ayn mumbled. Lyle snickered.

"Rubbish! Call me Lyle." Lyle replied. Mieu cleared her throat.

"Lyle... what happened to your eye?" she asked. Lyle had been wearing an eye-patch over his right eye.

"I lost it, Mieu." Lyle said sadly.

"Did you check down the back of your throne?" Ayn asked. Lyle laughed heartily.

"Yeah, I checked, but all I found was some fluff, some dust... and an old pair of my father's boxers." Lyle said. Mieu, Ayn and Wren all grimaced.

"Seriously, Lyle? Your dad stuffed his undies down the back of the throne?" Wren asked.

"Yeah, he did. I tried to tell him off, like 'Hey! I'll be needing that throne soon!', but he said that he'd leave them there as a memento. He never washed 'em, though. They smelled awful when I pulled 'em out. I had to chuck 'em - I wasn't gonna have stinky undies in here." Lyle replied.

"So, uh... what really happened to your eye?" Mieu asked.

"I already told you - I lost it!" Lyle said.

"But... how?"

"Well, I was fighting a battle, as you do, and some idiot archer fires an arrow at my eyeball! You could say it was a bullseye, but it was more a Lyle's-eye, if I say so myself. So there I am, fighting the rest of the battle with an arrow stuck in my poor seeing-out bit! When I finally got to the doctor, he pulled out the arrow... and my eye with it. He said that I couldn't fight any more." Lyle hung his head and a tear leaked from his good eye.

"I've seen one-eyed fighters before! I was watching some wrestling, and there was this fella who was totally blind in one eye, and he won the fight!" Ayn said excitedly. Lyle shook his head.

"Yeah, but all you have to focus on is your opponent! How about real battles, with archers and knights and the like?" Lyle asked. Ayn looked down at his feet.

"My father has a one-eyed knight called Sir Scarface. He's fought over 20 battles, with just one eye! See, Lyle? It is possible to fight with one eye!" Ayn replied. Lyle cheered up a little.

"Well, stuff THAT doctor! I'm going out and fighting again!" he said, raising his staff above his head.

"So, anyway... Ayn, why'd you come here?" Lyle asked, lowering the staff.

"Well, as you probably already know, cyborgs have invaded our land, and I've got to find this planet called Satellite, as it's a safe place." Ayn replied. When he had finished speaking, a young woman ran up to Lyle. She had the same light green hair that he had, but hers was curly and flowed beyond her shoulders.

"Father, I don't think we can stay here much longer." she said. Lyle put an arm round her and whispered something to her. She ran back to her mother, who was Lucy.

"Oh, you look curious about her? That's Thea, my daughter." Lyle said when he saw Ayn's confused face.

"Wow, she's... uh, never mind." Ayn said, shaking his head.

"I hope you weren't gonna say she was ugly... or I would've smacked my staff off your butt." Lyle muttered. Mieu looked at him.

"Um, nothing! Well, you should head over to Rysel, you lot. The locals know a fair bit about Satellite." Lyle said, ushering Mieu, Ayn and Wren out.

"OK, thanks, Lyle. It was nice to see you again." Wren said, before getting shoved in the back by a one-eyed king named Lyle.

"See you around! Hopefully we'll meet again!" Lyle said, as though it would be the last time they would all meet. Mieu took one last look at him before they left.

"He's a funny one, that Lyle." Ayn said as soon as he was safely out of Lyle's earshot.

"Yep, he is. Mind you, that's what I like him for." Wren replied as the threesome boarded a ship and sailed to Rysel.