Alisia awoke as the sun rose and stretched out her limbs. After a quick meal and packing of possessions, she proceeded to the south. She was in no mood to go monster-bashing in a huge confusing forest yet.
Alisia muttered to herself as she walked alone for an hour or so.
"If this Lunar is really a fully-alive world... why did it look so dead in the skies? Was there a reason why its true nature was hidden?"
The thunder magician suddenly stopped.
What looked like a village was in front of her...
Alisia stood wide-eyed as she saw people bustle about on their daily business between the buildings. A large temple of some sort was in the corner of the town while a long wooden dock jutted out of the side of one structure and into the seas to the west.
"S... so... the moon is inhabited by more than just monsters! Actual people live here... I gotta tell the elders about this when I get home!"
Beside her, on the ground near her feet, was what appeared to once be one of those statues of the goddess. It was cracked and broken apart however.
Alisia stared at it and wondered who would have mangled an icon of Althena. That appeared to be blasphemy to her... of course, she didn't know the customs of the humans of Lunar herself so she shrugged it off and resumed staring wildly about the town.
"Hey lady... you new to Dalton?"
She snapped back into reality to look at the source of the voice. It was a young boy, probably not older than nine or ten years, with a brown tuft of hair and a simple yellow outfit on. He currently was tugging on Alisia's long waistcloth to get her attention.
Alisia slowly replied, glad that the humans of Lunar spoke the same language as those of Earth.
"Um... yeah... I'm quite new here. This town is called Dalton?"
The child nodded.
"Uh huh. My mom and pop run the new sleeping and eating place here."
"An inn?"
The kid nodded. "Are you lost? My daddy knows a lot about stuff around here."
The mage thought to herself for a second and replied.
"Hm... that would be useful... I am rather lost now. A lay of the land would be a good start. Can you take me to your father?"
The child beamed and took her hand. He led Alisia toward a large building next to the temple. A sign with a picture of a bed was hung outside.
"Ah... there you are Timmy... you didn't force another customer in here again, did you?"
Alisia stepped into the moderately lit room. There were a number of wooden tables and chairs to the left, a stairway straight ahead and a wooden counter to the right.
The voice came from a plump, motherly-looking woman with dark green hair and an apron on. A number of bottles of various liquids were positioned on the wall behind her and the counter.
"A bar? I thought this was supposed to be an inn," Alisia asked the woman.
"A little of both. We're not truly a bar like those in other towns... but we're stocked just in case," the woman answered with a grin. "Welcome to the recently opened Seaside Inn of Dalton. I hope my child didn't drag you in here."
Alisia smiled back. "No, I was interested in getting a little information about the surrounding areas. You see... I'm sorta lost and, ah, Timmy here said his father knows a lot."
"Oh...you're lost? Well, perhaps you'd like to settle down here for a day or two while you get your bearings. Our rates are very reasonable... and I'm sure my husband will be able to help you when he gets back."
The mage sat down at a chair. Timmy was in one near her.
The innkeeper's wife continued, "He should be back a little later. Have you had anything to eat yet?"
Alisia politely declined the offer since she had eaten only about two hours ago. She then decided to explore Dalton until he returned. Timmy hurriedly offered to show her around. She smiled at him and accepted the offer.
Within the hour, the child rushed Alisia all around the village. She saw the insides of the temple where orange-robed priests prayed in front of a huge version of the goddess statue that Alisia saw back at the gate. The dock wasn't anything special... other than the fact that it extended from the second floor of the Dalton tower (she wondered how big the ships that docked there would be).
The one shop in the town was open and well stocked. Alisia looked around for a bit but found nothing worthwhile. She wasn't that familiar with the items that were sold, though Timmy tried to explain some of them, and ended up just relying on what she had left in her pack: healing potion, beef and a single Revive sphere she had for emergencies.
She returned to the inn to find a couple of customers at the bar counter. One stared at her as she walked in but quickly returned to his drink.
A black-haired man with a mustache and wearing a blue tunic approached Alisia and the child.
"Ah, so my little son returns again... this must be the woman who needs help. Hello, I am the innkeeper here in Dalton," he said with a bow.
Alisia grinned, "I'm Alisia Dragoon, a sorceress. Could you give me directions to places of interest around here?"
He replied, "Of course. I'd be happy to tell you. Please, let us sit."
Alisia and the man sat at a table. His wife placed a small meal in front of them as they conversed.
"You say you're a sorceress... I guess that explains your strange outfit... is Vane your home town?"
Alisia thought quickly to herself: "Maybe I shouldn't say where I'm really from... that Star Dragon guy said that no one should have come here from Earth yet... besides the fact that he wouldn't believe me."
She replied aloud, "Uh, no. I've wandered a bit lately, but I came from a tower to the northeast of here."
The man laughed.
"Ha, ha! No one lives in that tower or has since I've known that place. It's just a silent, empty spire... there's no way in or out of that tower. You must be kidding, heh, heh."
Alisia simply grinned and nodded as he changed the subject fortunately.
"So where do you want to go?"
"I'm really not sure... I'd just like an idea of what's around here for now."
He smiled and began to rattle off a few directions.
"Let's see... directly south of here is Larpa, one of our village's trading partners. If you're looking to cross the seas you might want to purchase a boat there... we don't sell any vessels here since we're just a trading and rest dock for passing ships. Southeast of Larpa is the main part of the Salyan desert, a rather dangerous place... though I've heard there may be a few scattered settlements there."
He continued, "To the north lies both that empty tower and the Forest of Illusion. The forest is a confusing place filled with hostile creatures so I'd recommend not going that way. However, you did say you're a magic user, so you may be able to handle what's in there. I've been past there by ship and you can find towns such as Takkar and Nota north of it. The cities of Vane, Meribia and Azado are FAR to the northwest..."
Alisia sat and listened for quite awhile longer as he gave her a veritable map of Lunar from his mind... at least eastern Lunar that is.
Far off at the entrance to the Illusion Woods stood a pair of Fly-Boys.
"Now?" one asked the other.
"Yep," was the response. "It's time. We'll keep them guessing if we strike right at the other end of Lunar right after the Horam strike force finishes. I wonder if those guys trashed that town..."
"No matter if they did or didn't. If we keep the humans occupied until we recover that item, they'll never be able to stop us." He turned and motioned to the horde behind him. A gold-skinned Goblin King at their side also turned and murmured to the fifty or so goblins behind them. They all cheered and raised their clubs.
As they started to march to the southwest, one Fly-Boy muttered to his companions.
"It's too bad we lost half of them when one cut down that tree to make more clubs... that was a nasty beast he disturbed... wish we could have it on our side."
"ARRRGGGHH!!!"
Anti-Hiro yelled as he slashed the last Fire Elemental in half. He looked down at his shimmering body to see a large number of burns, bites and wounds on his person.
The other four dopplegangers were laying and kneeling down in the corner of the room. Anti-Ronfar was trying to heal the horrific damage that the stampede of flaming bodies had dealt the quintet. He was running low on magic though and very tired.
Anti-Leo stood up and looked at the empty chest, then at the hole in the ceiling.
He muttered to no one, "If I see another one of these beasts, particularly that little one, they aren't going to be alive for long."
Anti-Jean spoke to the others.
"Our mission is a total failure now... the staff is gone and at least one of the heroes is alive... who knows what the master will do to us..."
"How do we know if the master is even around anymore... wouldn't he have contacted us by now?" Anti-Lemina noted.
"QUIET!!"
Anti-Ronfar sighed and started to get angry. Anti-Leo's favorite line was getting old fast.
"I've decided... with the staff... and probably the Dragon's Eye... gone from here, we have no reason to stay. If Zophar wants us to stay, he'll have to tell us. Otherwise, we're leaving to kill our mirror images and retrieve the items," Leo's clone announced. "Let us go now... perhaps we can even catch up with my 'brother' if we hurry."
The others groaned and followed as he trotted toward the stairs.
The Blade Wizards were tiring fast as they walked through the dry air of the Salyan desert.
"There had better be some sort of civilization here or we're done for."
"Yes brother... look, there is!"
The latter mage pointed to a small shack in the distance.
A rumbling stopped their excitement... until they saw a HUGE metallic ship with the image of a dragon on it front roll loudly over the nearby seas and stop next to the house.
"Looks like a steamship of some sort," one noted.
His twin replied, "If we could acquire that vessel, we'd have no trouble getting around the surface of this moon and find the blades much faster."
"Yes, let us go and sneak aboard..."
"Hello Gwyn, old friend."
"Ah, Leo! Glad to see you again."
The beast-man closed the entrance flap of the shack after Whisp floated in. Gwyn looked up from the book he had been writing in and stood to greet his guest.
"Care for some tea... oh, what is this thing... a baby Fire Elemental?"
"No thank you for the tea... as for this fiery wisp I'm not exactly sure. He resembles a small elemental, but seems quite a bit more intelligent than those things usually are. Plus he protected me a few times back in the Dragon Ruins."
Leo sat on the couch as Gwyn poured himself some tea. Whisp simply floated nearby, looking around at the contents of the room.
"Hm... that makes two strange happenings lately. Yesterday I saw a white light come down from the skies and enter the Blue Spire. I thought perhaps my grandson and Lucia were paying a visit, but they haven't arrived or passed by here yet. No one has come down the path from the spire... I wonder if something could be holding them up there," the old scholar remarked.
Leo tried to relax after the exertions of the previous day and night.
"Didn't Lucia originally arrive in a beam of blue light?"
Gwyn thought a moment and replied, "My memory isn't as good as it used to be... I think it was blue. But who else could be coming from the Blue Star other than them?"
He continued, "So Leo, do you have any news about the rest of Lunar?"
The knight began to rattle off some of the normal information to Gwyn. Ronfar and Mauri's wedding day was looming closer and preparations were still being made. The government had noticed a peculiar rise in monster attacks lately... nothing serious yet. There hadn't been really any changes with Lemina, Jean and the dragons' lives since he last saw them.
Leo then noticed Whisp apparently reading through Gwyn's open books.
"Do you have idea... or do any of your books mention... just what he is? I know he looks like one of those creatures... but something about the way he looks and acts makes me feel he just didn't belong in the ruins," the half-breed asked.
Gwyn coughed and replied, "Not off the top of my head. I'll check my compendiums right after this cup of tea.
A loud rumbling accompanied by a lot of shaking made the old man suddenly drop his drink.
"What the-"
"Eh... that sounds like the Destiny! But who's piloting it?!"
Leo, Gwyn and Whisp hurried out of the shack.
On the deck of the Destiny were perched two robed figures. Both of their faces were covered by hoods. One was spinning the wheel wildly as the other held on to a side rail.
"No!!" Leo yelled as he saw the DragonShip surge off to the northwest. The figures on top turned at the sound of his voice and laughed. One proceeded to head inside the ship. The one at the helm struggled with the controls as the Destiny rolled off in the water, moving in a number of directions but generally north. The Blade Wizards were not familiar with the controls and were having trouble controlling the vessel.
Gwyn shook his head.
"You better go after them... if they figure out how the cannon works it could be disastrous. I'll wait for Hiro and research your little friend here. Is he staying or coming with you?"
Leo looked at Whisp. The little ball of flame was staring after the steamship with narrowed eyes... as if he recognized the thieves.
"I think he's coming... I'll return when I recover the Destiny. Oh, wait, can you provide us with a quick ride on the little boat you have under the house. Afterwards you can return and await Hiro."
"Of course, let's hurry."
The three of them dashed off to prepare the raft and give chase.
Boomer awoke and found the world upside down. He looked up, er, down to see his sharp boomerang-wings cutting into the soil below him. The lizard looked at his feet and saw the water drakes were deliberately dragging his wings in the ground. He communicated with them... asking just what the heck was going on...
He then looked to the side and saw a red-faced child nearby (he appeared to have been crying) standing next to a weary old horse and a broken metal plow.
The drakes explained that they woke up early and watched the child from a distance. He had come into the fields to do his daily chores, which included plowing, and had started bawling when the plow broke. He thought he would get into big trouble at home if he didn't finish his chores.
Therefore, the drakes decided to make a few grooves in the ground 'using' Boomer to do his plowing.
Boomer responded with the equivalent of "You're kidding." He was also annoyed that they had revealed themselves when he wanted to remain hidden until he could see if Alisia was in Raculi.
The drakes humored him and finished the 'plowing'. They stopped next to the boy and let go of the boomerang lizard. Boomer flipped over and shook the dirt from his body while one serpent sprayed water onto his wings.
The four animals were horrified by what the young boy said next.
"Mr. Ronfar! Look at what the nice beasties did!" he yelled to someone else in the fields.
The next thing they knew, a man in an orange outfit with a bandanna around his head was looking down at them.
He chewed on a blade of grass as he spoke.
"What? Four lizards... strange-looking lizards."
The kid replied, "They did the plowing for me... isn't that cool!"
The man looked at the child, then the broken plow and then back at the animals.
"Why? I wonder why these things... which look kinda like monsters to me... would help you."
"I was crying for help and they helped me."
Ronfar had his left hand on the rod at his side, which resembled a black mace. He thought a bit.
"I wonder how they could understand you... they certainly are a weird lot."
Boomer and friends simply stared back, a bit apprehensive of the sinister look of the man's weapon. Looked kinda tough...
Ronfar laughed and picked up Boomer. The lizard looked uncomfortable but didn't struggle.
"There's something strange about you four reptiles... maybe Mauri knows something about your kind. I've never seen a lizard with boomerangs for wings before," he continued. "You seem to be friendly enough by what you did for this kid... I don't think all the citizens of Raculi are going to mind other 'animals' around."
With that, he walked toward the town with the drakes following at his heels.