In a blue room inside a blue tower, a blue haired guardian sat and stared at nothing at all.
The reason for it could finally be pinpointed. Lucia rose quickly up from the chair she had occupied until now.
"What is it, Lucia?" a male voice said from the doorway.
"I... I felt it again. And I know what it is." Lucia hurried out of the room, heading for the crystal halls. "I have to contact someone on Lunar. I must go to the crystal chambers."
"We could just go there, you know." The male had followed her, and his voice had taken on a concerned tone. "To Lunar, I mean."
"I cannot leave the Blue Star. Not now. Perhaps I can reach Kodai, or one of the other dragons."
"The star dragon? But Lucia..." The male skidded to a halt as they reached the crystal halls. Lucia went straight to a machine of sorts and activated it. A large crystal started glowing and spinning slowly. Lucia went over and let her hand glide slowly through the surface of the spinning crystal as she slowly entered it.
"I must hurry. Please let me do this. A life might be lost if I don't, because in this case, there will not be anyone on Lunar who can help."
"Okay, Lucia." the male said, apologetically "I'm sorry. You know best with these things."
The guardian of the blue star rewarded him with a smile before returning to her task.
Quinn was speechless.
There was no reason he shouldn't be. He was, at the moment, riding on the back of the white dragon high over the ground of Lunar. And it stretched as far as his eyes could see in every directions. Meribia, now a small speck at their backs, and the rusty hulk once known as Taben's peak in front, an even smaller speck in the distance, hardly viewable under all the growth. And then, there was the rest, stretching out in all directions around them.
If he died tomorrow, he thought, his sardonic sense of humor evident, he would die a happy man.
He hadn't ever imagined that it would be this exciting to fly. Not even during the time he had spent in anticipation getting ready to meet Nall outside the city gates, and certainly not when he woke up that early morning.
"Quinn?"
He barely registered the voice. Was he asleep? Probably. Then, who was speaking?
"Quinn? Wake up."
Nina! Was that Nina? Must open eyes... Must see.
The world swam into focus and settled on a floating red shape just aside one of the bed's posts.
"Mmmmhhllo.."
A chuckle was heard. "What?" The red shape moved, as did the voice. "Perhaps you should wake completely up before trying to talk. What do you say?"
Well, his senses were already working fine by now, he surmised. He felt a little listless, and there was a dull ache in his muscles. Considering the condition he was in before being put to said bed yesterday, it was only to be expected. Not surprisingly, it was worse than the last one. What was worrisome was that it had happened sooner than it was supposed to. But because he was just a dragon's flight from Vane, he didn't let it trouble him too much.
"Good morning, Nina.... *Yawn*" he mumbled, and rose up from his outstretched position in the bed.
She grinned. "See? Now, that was much better." Her face took on a more curious look. "Say... how do you feel, anyway? I mean... you looked pretty bad yesterday. That was the illness that's plaguing you, wasn't it?"
"Yes, but... Hey, I'm not worrying about it now. We're gonna reach Vane soon, so I'm going to be cured today, probably. Tomorrow, at the latest. Don't worry about it."
"You feel okay then?"
"Actually, I feel like I've been run over by a grindery..." He winced, and rubbed his aching shoulders, "...But that's another matter and not one of any particular importance. I'll be okay. Right now, I have to get ready for the trip."
And with that, he stood up, grabbed his clothes, and headed for the bathroom.
And one quick bath later, Quinn felt much better.
Dressed in one of his spare travelling clothes, he packed the rest into a bag and went into the main room of the rooms he was renting at the inn. As the rest was pretty much ready anyway, there was not much else to do than check out and leave.
"Well..." Quinn said, looking in Nina's direction, "...that's everything accounted for. Are you ready to go?"
"Right now, the fur I'm wearing is all I carry with me..." she said, the sarcastic tone that never failed to bring a smile to Quinn's face evident in her voice, "...so you might say 'born ready' is my middle name."
"Okay..." Quinn replied, barely able to restrain himself from laughing, "Let's go then."
"Roger that."
Quinn looked a bit thoughtful as they walked the streets of Meribia. At least, that's what Nina thought, helped a bit by the fact that he didn't pay as much attention to the surroundings as he usually did. That, and he kept staring right in front of himself all the time with that faraway look of his.
"Ten silvers for your thoughts, Quinn," she said, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him.
"What? I'm sorry. I didn't catch you there."
Well, at least he was aware of his surroundings.
"I said 'ten silver for your thoughts'. Besides, considering how distant your look was, you couldn't have caught a fluffy bug even if it was floating right in front of your face."
"I was just thinking about..." he said, his face suddenly taking on a wry grin. "...Say, where did you plan to get a hold of ten silvers, anyway? Are you going to sell your fur?"
"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous! I was just wondering why you looked like someone that's been doing the kind of herbal study not sanctioned by the pharmacy association."
Quinn looked at her with a look that reeked of mock indignation and horror. "Why, the nerve of some... I'll have you know that I have never done anything like that..." he said, sniffing into the air with such seriousness, it sent Nina into a fit of giggles.
"Well, to tell you the truth..." Quinn said, after a while of silence, "...I was just thinking of a dream I just had."
"Really?" Nina's attention immediately turned to Quinn. "What about?"
"I dreamt about this woman. She had blue hair and was dressed in a blue dress. I felt like I knew her, or that I should have. It was just so weird," he said, his faraway look reappearing. "She was smiling, and I felt like I've known her my whole life. I don't remember much more than that."
Nina didn't say anything immediately, but the wicked grin told Quinn that the answer was going to be of the smart-ass persuasion.
But before she could say anything, Quinn added, "I advise you to think well over what you are going to answer me. Your future might depend on it." He gave her a crooked grin, and a look that told her of his intentions clearly.
"Hey, I wasn't going to say anything... suggestive. Really."
She grinned smugly at Quinn, waiting for a reaction. Getting a 'don't try that game with me' look in return, she continued.
"Well, offhand, I guess it could be the goddess, or perhaps Lucia. From what my mom told me, any male person who saw her after getting her new outfit would keep dreaming of her for weeks to come." Nina's smug grin did not fade, and Quinn rolled his eyes in response.
"Well, if not for the fact that I haven't seen her in my entire life, that might have been correct."
"Hmm. Do any of the Bunny karate girls have blue hair?"
"Oh, yes," he said, rolling his eyes again. "In fact, quite a lot of them do."
Nina didn't answer that. She sat, smiling, all the way to the gates.
"So, there you are..." a rather deep voice said, making Quinn look straight into the face of the large, white dragon lying outside the city walls. Quinn, awestruck by the sight, couldn't get one word out. Having expected to see a human looking Nall at the gates, the current form of the white dragon was a bit of a shock to behold.
Nina, though, was considerably less surprised.
"Hi, dad."
"Now, let's get going. We haven't got all day. I have got to track down your mother, after all."
Even with that said, Quinn's shocked state stayed with him for a while.
His reverie ended as he returned his attention to the surroundings.
Being a trip that would take a couple of hours at least, Nall had obviously decided to fly as high as the atmosphere allowed, giving them the best view they could hope for. Quinn could easily see the plains to the far east, a little to his left. Although, at this distance, the carnival was impossible to see, and Nota was not in view, either. But Quinn didn't care. To fly between the clouds was more than his senses could take on now, anyway.
And then, he felt Nall starting his descent.
The trip, Quinn thought, would regrettably soon be at an end. Leaning carefully over to the left, he could actually see the magic city far in the distance, but closing in curiously fast. It was odd, travelling at high speeds like this, mostly because his head told him that it normally took several days -- perhaps a week -- to travel between Meribia and Vane. And to cover the journey in mere hours, well, it was enough to boggle the mind.
And as Nall floated down towards the city, twisting his wings to slow down, Quinn wondered if he would get the chance to ride the skies again.
Lucia sighed in frustration, as she -- being in the process of phasing herself out of the crystal -- removed her hand from it.
"No luck?" the man in the background asked, a concerned tone in his voice.
"No. I can't reach any of them. Both Nall and Ruby are outside, and Kodai is not in either of the spires," she answered miserably. "I just don't know what to do. I can't leave, and the preparations for sending us down, even if I could leave, would take too much time...."
"Then, how about leaving it to me?" a voice rang in the enormous hall that made up the room of the crystals. And it was a voice that Lucia knew all too well, even though she was a bit surprised to hear it. None the less for the fact that it was on the Blue Star.
Lucia and her companion on the Blue Star turned to the source, who was slowly appearing into what could best be described as a transparent state. And since neither Lucia nor the aforementioned companion could find their voice, the apparition continued: "After all, I guessed you'd notice him by now. You do intend to have him brought here, don't you?"
"Yes..." Finally finding her voice, Lucia managed to reply.
"Then leave it to me." The voice, best described as enigmatic, was still heard as the figure vanished again.
And left only stunned silence from the inhabitants of the Blue Star.
Quinn still looked completely starstruck when his feet touched the grass fields outside Vane.
"Thank you for taking us here," he said, still a bit distant.
"Hey, no problem," Nall shot in, smirking slightly at him. "Glad to see you enjoyed the trip."
"Yes, it was great," Quinn answered, his mind returning to his surroundings. "I envy you a little, having such easy access to the skies." He grinned widely, as Nall arched a look at him, obviously thinking. If his thoughtful frown was any indication, he was considering something.
"Forgive me for asking," Nall said, his draconic features lightening slightly, "...but would it be possible to know where you are heading after you find your cure?"
"Home, I guess."
"Then, might I ask you for a favor?"
Both Quinn and Nina looked a bit shocked at this. Mostly Nina, as she knew that her dad never asked anyone for favors.
"...Of course," Quinn said, still a bit unsure of what more to say.
"Thank you. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit reluctant about asking you for anything, seeing as we're enough in debt to you as it is. I will not hold it against you if you refuse my request..." he trailed off, sounding a bit reluctant, which surprised Nina even more. She had never in her life seen her dad struggling to speak.
Then, Nall continued, putting Nina's further thoughts to a temporary stop.
"Would you allow Nina to accompany you on your journey back to the plains?"
Quinn looked positively shocked at that, his eyes wide open and not blinking once for a small eternity. Nina looked no less so, with the addition of her jaw, which had hit the magic floor of Vane almost in a literal sense as well as a metaphorical one.
Nall, upon noticing Nina's look, but slowly appearing gleeful smile, added: "This does not mean that you're off the hook. When you do get home again, after we come and pick you up at either his home or the carnival, you can look forward to a lot of time spent inside some other walls. That is, if he accepts my request." He turned back to Quinn, awaiting his response. Nina, her smile disappearing again, did the same.
It was a while before Quinn managed to speak, even though his mouth was opening and closing, but with no sound audible. Some time passed before he managed to collect himself. Nall didn't speak, as he was awaiting his answer.
"I... I'm... I mean, I'll be happy to have her join me. She hasn't been a bother at all, and I'd welcome her company on the journey back."
Nina squealed in joy, and flew over to give him a huge baby dragon hug, as best she could.
"Good." Nall cut in, apparently satisfied. "Then, I will come to your grandfathers' house in about... thirty days after you leave Vane." He turned to Nina. "That should give you plenty of time to visit the carnival before we commit you to the red dragon cave penitentiary." The last was said with a certain parental, yet humorous, tone as he turned to leave.
"Dad, wait." Nina flew after her father, who had barely taken a few steps anyway.
"Yes?"
"Why are you doing this? I mean, I'm happy that you are allowing me to finally go somewhere, but..."
"Because I want you to get this out of your system now. I can hardly blame you for wanting to travel and to see what Lunar has to offer. That you got from me and your mother both. I'm giving you this opportunity to experience a little bit of what Lunar has to offer, while under his protection." Nall rumbled, indicating Quinn, who promptly blushed and started staring at the ground. "You must understand that I only want you to be safe. With someone aiming to possibly destroy the dragons, we worry about you every time we don't actually see you, and we will probably never stop doing that. But when you finally receive your aura, we can rest a bit easier in the knowledge that you'll be able to take care of yourself a lot better. Not that we won't worry, anyway, but we can trust you to handle situations with more ease."
He paused, and Nina took her turn in staring at the wonderful lawn that made up most of the area around the stairs leading to the ground below.
"Well, I better get going. You behave now!" he said to Nina, before turning to Quinn, the most serious look Nina had ever seen on his face. "Please take good care of my daughter, Quinn-san. She is worth more to me than anything."
And with that, he jumped off the stairs, wings wide, and caught the wind.
And he was gone.
Quinn's smile grew as he walked into the city itself.
Nina wondered a bit about that. True, he was close at finding his cure. At least she hoped he was. She didn't really doubt that -- this was Vane, after all, and there was nothing that couldn't be done here as far as magic was concerned. Although why it warranted a smile like the one he wore when he traveled here on Nall's back, she didn't know.
"Well, you look deliriously happy," she commented.
"Hmm?" he said, turning to her. "Oh, I'm sorry. Its just... this place. It's alive. I can feel the magic flow. It's like a song that calms my soul to it's core. I guess all those magicians in one place might do that to a city. Or perhaps it's the fact that the city itself still carries a lot of Althena's magic inside of it."
"You better not tell the people here, or they'll recruit you on the spot." She grinned, eyes closed tightly, apparently barely able to keep herself from snickering.
"I'll keep that in mind."
The way to the visitors hall was pretty much over by the time they finished their little conversation. Quinn, upon entering, found himself in front of a large desk, where a somewhat rotund man sat writing in a book. Behind him, a rather large file cabinet could be seen. Upon seeing them, the man closed the book and turned his attention to them.
"Welcome to the magic guild of Vane. Please state your name, address and business here."
"My name is Quinlan, and I live on the Madoria plains with my grandparents, Gowan and Maria..." he stated, trailing off as he wasn't quite sure how to state his business here. Hesitantly, he continued...
"I... My purpose is to find a cure for an ailment I have, and I was hoping that help could be found here."
The clerk was about to say something, but Quinn raised his hand and continued.
"You see, whatever it is, it's probably tied to my magic aura somehow, which is the reason I came here. If anyone here could just pinpoint the cause before I have the next seizure, it's most certainly going to be easier to cure."
"I see," the clerk said, looking away, apparently thinking. Upon reaching a conclusion, he told Quinn to: "Sit down over there, both of you. I'm going to have to talk to the head of medical and magical aura research. I'll be back in a few."
And with that, he left the room.
After several minutes, he came back, carrying several sheets of paper under his arms, handing them all to Quinn when within arms length.
"Fill out these, please. When you are done, deliver them to me," he said, promptly returning to the desk, continuing on the book.
Quinn just shook his head in disbelief and turned his attention to the papers.
Quinn was a bit confused.
After having plowed through the stack of papers -- there wasn't as much as he first thought -- he was promptly directed to another building a little more on the outskirts of the city called "aura scan photographer". He knew what a photo was, as it was quite a while since it had been invented. It had been deemed quite the revolutionary invention. Of course, the portrait artists hated it, but everyone else loved the accuracy of the image it captured.
But aura photography? Nina, when asked, had professed no more knowledge on the subject.
He would have to ask a bit about it. Anything even remotely technical interested Quinn to a certain degree.
The building itself was surprisingly small. Being in the outskirts of the city, very few people were seen as well. Quinn entered the building and found himself in a room where the walls were each covered with black curtains. All the lights were dimmed as well.
"Can I help you?" a voice said, and a woman dressed in magician's robes appeared from a room in the back.
"Er... Yes, I was sent here by a clerk to have my aura photographed, apparently," Quinn said, handing her the papers he was given for that very purpose.
"Of course," she said, accepting the papers and turning to the room in the back. "Just follow me, if you please."
Doing so, Quinn and Nina entered yet another room, the same sort of curtains covering the room, but movable by the roof. At one end, a simple stool was placed in front of the camera itself, a few feet apart. The female magician pointed at the stool and told Quinn to: "...take a seat, and we'll have this done in a flash."
She grinned a bit at that, and both Quinn and Nina winced and rolled their eyes.
"Okay, bad puns aside," the magician said, moving behind the camera, putting a big plate in it. "Just sit still now."
Tossing some sort of strange blanket connected to the camera over her head, she activated the camera. Quinn found it out as the flash went off, not with the trademark white light, but more of a purple glow. It was still enough to make Quinn turn away and blink a few times in rapid succession.
"And there we go......." the magician said, removing the blanket from her head. "You can leave the stool if you wish."
She fiddled with the camera again, removing the plate from the camera. "I'll just get this off to the analyzing team, and they'll sort it out. It's going to take a couple of hours to develop the picture and analyze it, so you should have plenty of time to see some of Vane. It's an open city, so you can go wherever you like."
"Would it be possible to know how you can photograph auras with this thing? As far as I know, it takes training to detect, or see, magic auras, and a camera is just an 'eye' of sorts."
"Yes, that's true. You could say it was an accident, the way we discovered it. To put it in a way that's easy to understand, we apply a little 'scan' magic to the plate that absorbs the picture, and that is what catches the aura on the photo-plate when the flash, a magical light-source of sorts, sort of illuminates it. Usually, we use this to see what potential studies the students would excel in, if they were to start here in Vane. You are probably the first non-applicant we have had in the magic aura photography room."
"Really? That's interesting. I didn't think that the Photo camera could be used in that way."
"Neither did we, and, as I've said, it was purely by luck that we found out. Luck, scan magic and accident. That's how it developed into what we now use as aura scanning. It's much more convenient for us, and it saves on the magic power."
"That... sort of made sense." Nina voiced her opinion for the first time since the question was asked. Quinn gave them both a look that told them he was of the same opinion.
"Well then," Quinn broke off, standing up, "I guess we should have ourselves a look around here while we wait. Thank you very much for the info.
"You're welcome. Now, is there anything else I can help you with before you leave?"
"Actually," Quinn answered, "I'd very much like to see Ghaleon's grave. Could you tell us where it is?"
Just above the city of Vane, there was a little hill.
On the ground, the wild grass grew, covering the entire top. A few trees grew slightly too far apart to be called a forest, and the few leaves they carried had already taken on a dark red color. It was just a matter of time before the breeze would take them, probably further down the hill as there were none to be found on the ground nearby.
And in the shadow of the tree on the top itself, a stone had been erected. It was not a big stone, nor was it a special one. But on the surface the name "Ghaleon" could clearly be read. Flowers were planted in front of the stone, said to be planted by Mia herself. All those things gave the grave itself a quiet, serene effect. This, apparently, was the resting place of what was considered to be the greatest magician on Lunar.
Quinn and Nina both watched the marker stone, not completely sure what to say in a moment like this.
"You know," Nina interjected, "...it would have been interesting to meet him. If nothing else, just to see what kind of a person he was."
"Have you asked your parents?" he replied, eyeing her. "They both met him, after all."
"Yes. I've gotten most of it from mom. Dad just changes the subject when I ask him. I guess he hasn't forgiven him yet."
"But he did have a big hand in finally saving this world. I wonder where the spirits go when they leave the mortal realm behind. When it all was said and done, he deserved his rest."
"I thank you for your words, Quinlan. It is good to hear that I didn't leave this world with such a bad impression of me."
By the sheer surprise of it, Quinn jumped and Nina almost flopped to the ground as the voice made itself heard right behind them. Turning around, they saw the translucent being currently standing a mere couple of feet away, smiling an arched, almost smug, grin. His spectral shape wore a cape of sorts, covered over his shoulders by big pieces of armor. His white hair was flowing down his back, and his yellow, catlike eyes were casually looking at them both.
"Ghaleon?" Her voice had a certain uncertainty to it.
"That is my name, yes. I am sorry to be interrupting you, but I made a promise, and I have a message to deliver to you," the ghostly form of Ghaleon said, turning over to Quinn. "And the message is this: You have to go to the Blue Star at once."
It took quite a while for the message to sink in.
"What?!" Quinn almost shouted. "To the Blue Star? But I have to find my cure here, first. I can't go racing over Lunar in my condition."
"I am afraid you have no choice, boy, because the... cure you seek will not be found here. In fact, you should leave today. The more time you waste here, the smaller the chance is that you will make it. Right now, there is only one that can help you, and she can not leave the Blue Star. Not even for you, Quinlan of the plains."
"She? You mean Lucia? But..." he trailed off, sitting down on the ground in sheer surprise. "But don't you know? Couldn't you do something?"
"I'd like to help you, dear boy, but you see, being dead has its... disadvantages. Even if I knew what to do, there is nothing I could have done about it. As such, my main concern was to bring the message to you. Now, listen to me! Go to the Blue Star! Your cure will be found there."
And with that said, the form of Ghaleon slowly disappeared. And the wind carried his departing warning.
Hurry.
"Well, what are we going to do?"
The silence had lasted for a while, even as they were walking towards the city. Quinn had adapted his thoughtful face, and Nina was getting very curious.
"I'm going to go to the Blue Star. What else can I do?"
Nina looked like she was about to protest, but then she let out the breath she had been holding, and closed her eyes.
"Nothing, I suppose. Perhaps we should check the library for information about the spires before we leave. And we have to... Quinn, what's the matter?" Nina had caught the sad and frustrated look on Quinn's face.
"I hoped my journey would be over, Nina," he said, kicking a pebble along the road he walked. "I'm not sure I can take the journey. It was a pain just getting here."
"You can't just give up now," Nina said, incredulously. "You have to try."
"I am," he said, calming down a bit, "I suppose I have no choice. And besides," his smile grew, "...you owe me a ride across the sky."
"Well then," she replied, happy to see his mood lift, "...let's hit the road."