"So you are the Warriors of the Light? The crystals have chosen their champions! We are saved!" - Priestess Aria

"We get people every now and again that claim to be Warriors of Light," Alus said. He'd insisted that Toan call him that instead of "King Alus Restor I" or "Majesty," thank Dran. "And we prefer to catch them before they make a scene. The Warriors are my friends, you see, and I'd rather not let their reputation be sullied by troublemakers."

Toan sat at a table with Alus on a large balcony that overlooked the city of Saronia. Given the castle's position at the top of the hill, it had a nice view of the ocean that stretched on for miles and miles beyond what even they could see. Despite the view, however, the summer air was just as stifling up here as it was down there.

Xiao lounged on a cushion provided on a seat by Toan. She was curled up in the shade, breathing slowly. She purred as a gentle breeze ruffled her fur.

The journal rested on Alus' side of the table and Toan couldn't help wondering at how such a little thing had led to him sitting here.

Toan said, "I guess they're pretty famous, then?"

Alus nodded. "They saved the world, after all."

"The smaller villages know?"

"I couldn't say for sure, but I suspect so."

Toan felt a twinge of jealousy. "You said no one's been able to contact him?"

Alus nodded and took a sip of tea. "His last letter mentioned a quest with the other Warriors to the other side of the world, to the land from which you came. It's been weeks, now."

Beside him, Xiao shifted in her sleep, so Toan started rubbing her back. She needed her rest. Toan frowned. He came all this way, just to miss Arc because he went to where Toan was?

Alus flipped the journal open, scanning its contents. "But how do I know this isn't a forgery? I think this could all still be an elaborate ruse to earn yourself favors and money."

"I don't care about money or fortune or fame," Toan said quickly. "I didn't expect help coming here, and I can leave without it. I don't care about proving this to you, only about finding my brother and returning him home. No offense."

"Returning him home?" Alus asked, eyes shooting up to lock onto Toan's. His face showed a hint of fear. "You would take him away?"

Toan winced. He honestly didn't know what he would do when they finally met. "I was hoping he would at least come visit my village. I just want my mother to see that he's alive."

"But… you won't keep him, will you?"

"I honestly doubt that he would in Norune with us."

Alus returned to the book. "Where did you get this?"

"My father." Toan leaned back against his chair, feeling suddenly tired. "He left it with my mom when he took Arc away."

Alus hummed, closing the book. "What do you need? We have ships, men, a library… anything you want. I was hoping to get the advice of Arc and his friends on some political matters we're attending to here, so we might call it even if you find them for me."

Toan blinked, hands pausing in stroking Xiao's fur. What could he use? He needed information more than anything else. "Perhaps you could-"

The door opened to admit a petite servant girl with lush brown hair. "Pardon, Majesty," she said, "but we've received urgent news from the coast. It's a ship, Majesty. The Nautilus. They're trying to haul it to shore."

"Thanks, Enaim," Alus said, standing. "I'll oversee it myself. Perhaps Arc is closer than we thought."

Luneth snapped his eyes open as the ship lurched. Goro also jolted awake, scrambling to keep a hold on the ship. A large rope and tether attached itself to the ship and Luneth blinked bleary eyes, trying to focus on the large silhouette that now pulled their broken vessel.

Now that the burn of the other power had died, the fatigue returned and Luneth groaned. His stomach hurt from lack of food and even holding onto the outer hull of what remained of the Nautilus proved challenging.

Luneth hauled himself to his knees, reaching inside for that same power, the one that burned away his need to eat. It sparked to life as Luneth's eyes followed the rope to their captor's silhouette, which turned out to be another ship just a few yards away.

Voices shouted in the distance and sailors rushed about. The ship attached to them started turning around. Luneth grabbed the pole in the middle of their little wreck with one hand, and took Max with the other. "Hold on!" he shouted.

Goro was two steps ahead of him, securing himself to the same pole.

The remains of the Nautilus jolted again as the other ship righted itself. They then started sailing, leaving a tail of churning water behind them.

"Who are these people?" Goro hissed.

"Saronia," Luneth said, grinning. The ship's mast was emblazoned with the iconic symbol of a bird behind two crossed blades. "It looks like Alus found us."

Goro scowled. "Alus? What's Alus?"

Shouts interrupted them and Luneth looked to see a boy about the same age as him mount the rope and start sliding down, using nothing but his two feet.

Goro gawked as the figure approached. He looked strangely familiar, with brown hair and tanned skin, and clothes that closely resembled what the people wore in Norune…

When he got closer, the guy jumped and hit the surface of the Nautilus, feet thudding into the side of the ship. A small cat followed closely behind.

"Toan!" Goro said with a huff. "What took ya so long?"

The guy shrugged, straightening. "Sorry – I didn't realize you were coming."

"Darned right, I wasn't coming."

"What changed your mind?"

"I'll tell you later."

The guy turned to Luneth. "Do you need bandages"

Luneth pointed at Max. "He does. Got blown up with the ship."

"Hey!" Goro said, tugging at his singed clothes. "So did I!"

The new guy moved on to kneel beside Max's body. "Have you all been drinking?"

"Drinking? Do we look like we have-?" Luneth paused. "Oh, drinking! Duh, what kind of adventurers do you think we are?"

The guy blinked. "I don't see any water skins."

Luneth pulled out his flask. "Check this out!" He pulled water from the ocean and distilled it into the flask, finishing with a quick flourish of his wrist. Which Ingus always reprimanded him for, but one had to admit – it was flashy.

The guy raised an eyebrow. "Saltwater?"

"No! Idiot! That'll get you killed! This is clean."

"Hey," Goro said. "Got any extra bread, there?"

The guy shook his head. "You three probably shouldn't be eating something that heavy yet. As soon as we get back, we'll check you into the medical wing – they'll know what to do."

Luneth blinked. He hadn't noticed before just how gaunt Goro had become. And he spoke slowly, as if it took effort.

The other guy lifted a new bottle of water to Max's mouth, trying to coax a few small sips in. He kept that up for the rest of the hour or so that it took to get the ship docked. The ship that hauled them moved fast – when did Saronia upgrade their ships to sail so smoothly?

After the big ship docked, the sailors disconnected the Nautilus and started towing it into a separate bay. They offered a ramp up to the docking pier and Luneth helped the other guy carry Max while Goro kind of staggered his own way up.

"What was your name again?" Luneth asked.

"Toan."

"Wait!" Luneth almost dropped the splint. "Toan? The Toan? The very guy we've been searching the whole planet for?"

Before he could respond, a squad of medics and white mages showed up, stretcher in hand. They guided Luneth and Toan in lying Max on it before one of them started trying to tie something to Luneth's wrist.

"What?" he protested, "Stop that! I'm perfectly fine!"

A short woman, wearing the robes of a Saronian healer, put her hands on her hips. "You were just stranded in the middle of the ocean for an unknown period of time. We need to give you a check up and least a couple of days of bedrest."

"No! I'm fine! Look at me!" He didn't want to lay confined to a bed, being hand-fed porridge! "Goro, tell them!"

Goro looked between them, eyes weary. "Maybe just a couple of hours."

"Says the one barely standing," said the medic. "You're both checking in for the next twenty-four hours and that's final."

"Says you and what army?" Luneth asked. The other medics carried Max away. "Shouldn't you be more worried about our friend over there?"

"Hey," Toan said. "How about I worry about getting him to check in?"

The woman huffed, but something about Toan's attitude seemed to dissuade her. She shot a glare at Luneth before turning on her heel and hurrying after the rest of the squad. Goro resisted, but the medic appeared to be intent on taking someone, so she dragged him off on his own.

Luneth looked back at Toan and there was a brief, awkward moment of silence as they stared at each other.

All this time, all this searching… Luneth felt like he should have been satisfied, looking Arc's 'real' brother in the face. Instead, he felt almost a little annoyed at how underwhelming this guy was. He was like… Arc, but different. How boring were real siblings? They were just copies of each other in the end.

"You're him," Luneth said flatly.

Toan slowly nodded.

Crystals! Luneth had not planned on their hunt actually working. What in the name of the elements was he supposed to do now? Murder Toan and bury the body?

"Behind you," Toan said, pointing.

Someone behind him cleared their throat. Luneth sighed. Of course, he thought turning to see Alus waiting.

"Hey, Alus," Luneth said, scratching sheepishly at his neck. "What's up?"

"Lunatic Wisdom Laboratories," Crest called the place. She wasn't here now, but Refia wanted to tell her she understood where the name came from. Except for the 'wisdom' part.

Moonlight reflected against the metal bridges and houses and every bolted, metal surface. In fact, this place looked to be made entirely out of metal, from the doors to the signs, including all four structures that rose above the ocean on piers of steel.

Refia held back, rubbing her arms against the wind billowing in from the ocean. It looked so… alien. Of all the places she'd seen in this time, this one definitely won in terms of strangeness.

"Madame Crest," Rufio was saying, "referred to the Red Lab. It's just over the bridge there."

"Thank you," Refia said. "I'll see myself there, then."

Her guide thankfully took the hint and left her to continue forward on her own.

Lights guided her forward, showing her along the path that glowed with a thousand tiny lights, all of different colors.

After some winding around, she stopped just outside the red lab. Its large set of double doors hissed and slid on their own before her to reveal a large room full of trilling and beeping machines.

Workers bustled about inside, wearing strange cloth made from shining, orange material, all lit in the same red that shone from the building's exterior.

Refia descended a ramp leading to the main floor and scanned the ground for anyone that matched the description Crest had given her. "Excuse me," she said, stopping a passing worker. "Where might I find a… a 'rabbit' by the name of Osmond?"

The orange-clad man hesitated. "Osmond? He's just over there, ma'am."

One of the chairs swiveled in place and a small figure with enormous ears leapt into view. "What now?" he demanded.

"A girl wandered in, sir," the man said, "Said she's looking for you."

"Oh, a girl, now?" Osmond twitched an ear. "And what does she want?"

"The Sage Crest sent me," Refia said, nodding thanks to the other guy, who took the chance to leave. "She said you might have some answers."

"Answers, hm?" The rabbit wriggled his nose behind his mask and goggles. Refia couldn't see any of his face. Or any of his body for that matter. "I guess it depends on the kind of answers. I can't give you solutions to your math tests, for example. But most anything else…"

"Can you help me travel back in time?"

"Whoa!" He took a step back. "That's a lot you're asking there! Time travel is banned, you know! Don't say it so loudly!"

"You're speaking louder than I am."

"Says who?" Osmond glanced around the lab. "Here, let's take it somewhere else. Might not be as big a deal, depending on who you are. Would you happen to have some ties to the royal family?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Good, good. We might be okay, then. I do not need a lawsuit on my door tomorrow morning…"

Refia blinked as Osmond jumped from his chair and started waddling up towards the door. "What's a lawsuit?"

"Outside! Outside, I say! Follow me."

The door hissed open and he hustled her out. The ocean wind whistled in the trees and Osmond led her along the steel ramps. "Okay, how long ago did you come from?" he asked.

"Er, three hundred years ago? About? Crest didn't get an exact date."

"Crest didn't? Man, either she's getting old or there's something wrong with the history books. Did you do anything to her?"

"You think I would-?"

"I know I've had times when I just wanted to kick her knobby legs out and make for the hills." Osmond shook his head. "Okay. To start, let's go consult the computers and get a solid fix on your origin. Don't exactly want you missing a dozen birthdays. Especially when they're not yours. People tend to get a little huffy about that kind of stuff, Griffon knows why. Birthdays kind of lose their excitement after four centuries."

"Four centuries?"

"Just keep asking questions, don'tcha? It's a long story. Anyway, I suppose I should welcome you to the labs. Beauty, ain't it? I promise, you'll never find another like it for centuries."

"… Right."

The road was dusty, as were all roads in the southern portion of Blue Terra. Ruby hated traveling in the desert but given that the white-haired brat ran off with Toan's map, there wasn't any other way to get to Ungaga's place. Instead, she wandered through cresting dunes and gritty sand, all just so she could have a shot at getting a little help.

She hated it. When she passed through Matataki, she discovered the hard way that not everyone sat patiently waiting for the call to adventure to knock at their door. Even Goro wasn't there when she came asking, so the odds of Ungaga being at his house were… not reliable.

Ruby kicked at sand. How could anything survive out here in the wastes? She'd never seen cities thrive in the dunes, but the thought of living day to day in this climate left a bad taste in Ruby's mouth. Having to ration water, like it was a precious commodity instead of the thing that covered the world and even threatened death to some cities that made their abode too close to the ocean. Like Queens. Why didn't these desert-dwellers just move further north, come closer to the habitable green lands of Matataki or Patina Bog? There were so many less hideous options to choose from.

Her feet felt gritty, so Ruby stopped for what must have been the hundredth time to shake sand from her slippers. Why the stupid desert of all places?

Already the sun sunk on another day and lit the sky in orange and red hues. Muska Racka wasn't much farther ahead – Ruby could already make out the silhouettes of their huts – but it was still, what, an hour out? The mirages out here were so deceptive.

Voices carried her way, faint and distant. Ruby smiled. She was close, then. As she came closer, she could make out that they weren't just any voices, either. The voices sang to a tune with a cheerful beat. A celebration?

Ruby picked up her pace, leaping far enough to crest over another dune. The wind carried her almost to the village doorstep and chilled the sweat dripping down her face and neck.

Huffing, she jogged the short distance left and slid toward the village border, almost losing her footing to the shifting sand.

The fire rose almost as high as some of the hovels here. Ruby paused to watch it, letting the desert folk dance and twirl around her. Queens didn't do bonfires, for some reason. King liked his parties, but they were always so quiet and boring. They would play some card games, smoke a lot, and whisper about upcoming plots in the same manner that some women gossiped.

Here, however, music thumped as big men beat on drums and chorused loudly. It was enough to help Ruby forget her exhaustion and simply be for a few moments before she joined the crowd.

Living for a thousand years taught her a few things. One of which was hat one should never try to take over a kingdom just because she had the power. It made for angry subjects and a restless populace. Another lesson was to never poke a hamster. Another lesson—more of an entire university's course, really—was how to blend in wherever she went. Civilization and society changed constantly and she'd been through enough different cultures to learn the languages, speech patterns, and even dance styles of the changing times.

Ruby moved lithely through the spinning crowd. It was a basic, primitive dance. Mostly just a lot of clapping and spinning to a steady beat. It repeated the same, short routine over and over again, so it only took a couple of rounds for Ruby to get it down.

Clap, twirl, clap again, link hands…

A hand grabbed her shoulder and Ruby yelped as someone yanked her from the circle. The circle of dancers barely stuttered at losing her. "Hey!" she said, turning to see Ungaga.

"Ruby."

"Took you long enough."

"What are you doing here?"

Ruby gingerly removed his hand from her shoulder. Mikara stood nearby, casting them both confused and uncomfortable glances. "I came to ask for help," Ruby said. "Come on, you know that the moon's missing."

"Now is not a good time."

"Oh? Is there a better time that I can come back and ask for your help in saving the world?"

Ungaga hesitated. "Tomorrow."

"Why not tonight?"

"Ruby."

"Terra's bowels, some people can be so self-centered. 'Hello, did you know your village was just destroyed?' 'Yes, I did, thank you very much. But I was going to wait until I finished my bath before I got up and did something about it. Fine, I'll help you now. Here's a potato cake.'"

"Ruby."

"And don't think you're off the hook, either. I won't exactly forget about the-"

"Ruby. I'm getting married."

Wind blew in from the desert expanse, stronger now than it was when Ruby arrived. Was a storm coming in? She leaned over to look at Mikara again, who certainly was dressed pretty well, with some kind of feathers flaring out of her hair and her face done up with makeup that in all honesty was probably borrowed from Jibubu.

"What's this, Ungaga?" Chief Bonka asked, appearing at his side, smoking stick in one hand. Darned tribal people, all knowing how to be almost as stealthy as snakes. "An old flame giving you cold feet?"

"Hello, chief," Ruby said, remembering some rather unpleasant experiences with this woman in some of her alternate memories. "Eat any young adventurers lately?"

Ungaga gave her a warning look, but Bonka just busted out laughing.

"Well," Bonka said, tapping her stick as her mirth subsided. "That cactus juice is being sadly neglected. Please, help Ungaga loosen up, if you can. I'd love for him to develop a sense of humor for once."

"She's friendly tonight," Ruby remarked, watching her walk off. Then turned back to Ungaga, holding her hair against the strengthening wind. "Anyway, will you help me?"

Ungaga looked at Mikara, who was making a show of watching the dancers, though she glanced in their direction once or twice. "The timing is poor, I admit."

"But you'll come?"

"Assuming it's necessary."

"Good. That's-" Ruby stopped, glimpsing a strange light appearing in the sky. "…-Not a star."

A tiny, man-shaped figure appeared high in the sky, flickering in and out of sight.

It wasn't a storm coming in. Not a sandstorm, at least. There was one more person out there who would have noticed the moon disappear, and in fact probably noticed sooner than any of them.

Ungaga's gaze followed hers and his eye twitched. Ruby could swear she heard him think "you've got to be kidding."