Gwyn was awake early the next morning to view the pre-dawn stars in the sky with his telescope. It was a quiet task but enjoyable for the lonely old man.
He wondered what was taking his grandson and his friend so long to reach his home. They probably wouldn't have passed by without a visit... especially since there was no DragonShip Destiny available to ferry them across the sea due to those strange wizards who had stolen it. Leo had hopefully caught up to them by now.
Gwyn sighed.
"Where did those magicians come from?" he spoke to himself. "It's doubtful that they were from the Dragon Ruins... and the only other place reachable from here without a boat is the Blue Spire... but they couldn't possibly have come from there."
The old scholar watched the sun slowly rise over the horizon and illuminate the dark skies with pale yellow light. He swung his viewing device around and scanned the lands nearby in search of anything.
Far to the west he saw something strange.
He could see his grandson and his four friends apparently arguing at the edge of the sea... but they were shimmering with a pale blue color.
"Eh?"
Then he heard a familiar voice from the cabin below his observation scaffold.
"Grandpa Gwyn?"
The old man quickly scurried down the ladder into his home.
"Hiro, my boy! You've returned! And you brought Lucia too."
"Good to see you too Gramps."
Hiro's hand felt like it was about to fall off from begin shaken so much by his grandfather. Lucia received a tight hug to her surprise.
The two of them had landed in the middle of the night and gradually made their way to the old man's cabin with little difficulty. Lucia's magic was as powerful as before.
"Please sit down. I'll make some tea and breakfast," Gwyn spoke. Hiro and Lucia sat down on the quickly cleared off couch. The little meal was ready quite soon.
After eating their fill, the trio began to chat a bit.
"So what brings you two lovebirds back to Lunar? Just a visit?" Gwyn quested. "Not trouble like the last time I hope."
Hiro looked at Lucia, who nodded solemnly.
"Well, unfortunately it may be trouble Gramps," Hiro responded. "Has anything strange been happening lately on Lunar?"
Gwyn slowly nodded.
"Other than seeing another light show at the Blue Spire a day ago, there's been an increase in monster attacks lately. Leo was just visiting to tell me about it yesterday when we were interrupted... a couple of orange-robed wizards with hoods stole the Destiny-"
"What?! Those wizards were here and now they have the Destiny?!" Hiro exclaimed.
Lucia softly spoke, "They must have been the source of the illumination you saw at the Blue Spire... those magicians must have landed on Lunar safely there."
"'Landed' my dear? I thought the lights at the Spire were you and my grandson arriving," Gwyn responded.
Lucia shook her head. "I'm afraid not. We only landed last night." She paused and looked at Hiro, then continued. "Those mages were part of a group that invaded the Crystal Spire back on the Blue Star and transported here to Lunar."
Gwyn was stunned.
"I thought the Blue Star was devoid of life until it was repaired."
"No... the Blue Star is far from being completely revived... but there are small clusters of life beginning to thrive here and there which live in green areas... totally unknowing of life on Lunar or anything about their planet's true past," Lucia responded. "They should never have learned of Lunar until the Blue Star was restored... but a few happened to travel over."
Her face darkened.
"In addition, one member of that group had in its possession a vessel of unspeakable evil that should not have been uncovered... Althena herself even left another dragon to watch over it in case it did. The object is a dark sword... a counterpart to Althena's blade with incredible destructive power and possibly the ability to revive great evils... including Zophar."
Gwyn was wide-eyed.
Lucia muttered aloud, "It's amazing that just the emergence of the Scimitar hasn't released several of the hiding evils of both the Silver and Blue Stars. There are other dark lords besides Zophar who were looking for it... it's a good thing that the dark dragon that Althena sealed away LONG ago has not broken his bonds."
This was new to Hiro.
"Dark dragon? Another one?"
Lucia nodded slowly. "Yes. This serpent had control over several elements in a lesser magnitude... but he was given a cleansing power of destruction as well to remove evil elements from both worlds. Unfortunately, he craved more power and destruction... ultimately allying himself with beings such as Zophar to conquer the goddess. Althena, with the help of the rest of the dragon tribe, was able to seal away this dark dragon in another dimension."
She sighed.
"He nearly escaped once due to a strange precaution he took before joining the evil ones. The dark dragon found a way to mingle his blood with a select few people of the group who worshipped him. Even if he was sealed away, the bloodline could revive him. One time he almost broke fully through to the Blue Star. Fortunately a hero rose up and re-contained him under the influence of Althena."
Gwyn stood up and paced around.
"That's certainly a lot of bad news... hopefully this evil drake will not awake. Hmm... you mentioned a guardian dragon for this dark sword before... not the dark dragon, right?"
Lucia replied, "No... another pure member of the dragon tribe... but a concealed one. We have reason to believe that another creature in the group that came over may in fact be this dragon... but we're not sure."
Hiro chimed in, "In looked like the bunch that came over here were actually two groups... one chasing the other. The wizards were one... a girl and some strange animals were the other."
Gwyn suddenly slapped his forehead.
"Gramps?"
"I just remembered," he started. "I thought I saw you, Leo, Ronfar and your other friends to the west of here just before you came in... but you were all shimmering!"
"Shimmering?" Lucia asked, then her face darkened again. "Oh no..."
"Dopplegangers... and they're loose," Hiro sternly said. "Did Leo get the Destiny back?"
Gwyn responded, "I don't know... I haven't seen him since he ran off to chase it near Larpa."
Hiro stood up.
"Grandpa... I think we'd better follow Leo. Maybe he knows what all the havoc is about here... plus maybe those mages had the sword. Can we borrow the boat?"
"Of course... do you want me to tag along?"
"Hm... better not Gramps. Leo may come back here and you need to tell him what's going on."
The old man nodded.
Hiro and Lucia quickly waved to Gwyn and disembarked for the western half of the Salyan desert. They hugged the southern coastline to see if they could track the dopplegangers that Gwyn had seen.
Just past the Dragon Ruins, they found them standing on the coastline... arguing loudly. Hiro and Lucia hid behind a large rocky outcropping and listened.
"Now what do we do 'Lord' Leo?" Anti-Hiro scoffed.
The fake beast-man glared at him.
"We’re going to need a boat to cross... maybe that old shack far to the east has one," Anti-Ronfar noted.
"Thank you for the nega-obvious!" Anti-Lemina said sarcastically.
"QUIET!!! Can't you ever stop whining?!" Anti-Leo bellowed.
"Hmm... dopplegangers of one of the masters... excellent," a strange voice spoke.
Anti-Jean spun around. "Wha?"
Before them appeared a tall wizard in a white robe and elaborate hat. Strange runes and markings covered his clothes.
"You are Master Zophar's dopplegangers, correct?" the mage spoke.
"Yeah... what's it to you?" Anti-Hiro snarled.
Anti-Leo answered, "Yes. Is the master still alive?"
The grim-visaged man shook his head. "I'm afraid not... he has passed away. But he may be revived... if you wish to assist us."
Anti-Ronfar nodded for the group.
"Absolutely, Mister..."
"Ornah. Very well. We have a lot to do in a short time."
Ornah began to make strange motions with his hands. In a flash of light, the six figures vanished.
Hiro and Lucia came out of hiding.
"Ornah...never heard of him."
Lucia noted, "If they plan and reviving Zophar then we have no time to lose!"
They quickly boarded the boat and hurried to the mainland where they started toward Larpa and Dalton.
The Destiny had lay still during the night in the middle of the sea. In the morning the steamship headed to the west toward Raculi.
The Blade Wizards were at first quite skeptical of the bent, aged Goblin King who had leapt to the ship back at that town.
They were soon impressed as he told them about the wizard helping the Cult of Zophar to revive the dark masters.
"Grand Wizard Ornah is alive?! Wonderful!" one exclaimed.
"Where is he?" the other asked.
The goblin monarch did not currently know. All that he knew was that his hordes were supposed to sack Dalton while another force invaded the Serak Palace and then leveled Raculi.
The twins decided to head toward the town and see if Ornah was leading the other force.
As they slowly drove to the west (all three of them had problems piloting the craft), one of the twins and the short king decided to investigate the vessel. They found plenty of food, living quarters and supplies... and a statue of that cursed goddess.
One of the Blade Wizards hurried toward the sounds of commotion near the captain's quarters. The goblin had found something and was whooping in delight. Up near the ceiling was a white-colored object bearing a strange emblem. The mage floated up, picked the item off the wall and handed it to the short leader.
"The White Dragon Crest! The priests will be pleased!" the little goblin hurrahed.
"Crest?" the wizard quested.
"One of the sacred items that we must keep from the heroes... and now the Cult has it," the king smiled.
They ran back to the bow and informed the other mage of their finding. They also found out that the Destiny was almost at Raculi now.
Jean sat up and yawned. She stretched her arms and legs and surveyed the chamber. The table that had held their dinner now was covered with a small breakfast.
Frye was still snoring at her side. Without warning he rolled over and pinned one of Jean's legs under his body.
"Hey! Wake up sleepy-head and get off me!" She shook him as she spoke.
The little green dragon kept sleeping.
Jean sighed and tried to wiggle her foot out from under Frye unsuccessfully. Then she grinned.
"There's food..."
Frye's eyes snapped open. He sat up, freeing Jean's limb, and took a big yawn. Then he hopped over to the table and began to voraciously devour the meal.
"Save some for me, pal. Are you always hungry?" Jean joked. She stood up and went over to eat as well.
Halfway through the meal, the Star Dragon (in humanoid form) entered the room.
"Morning Lady Jean and little cousin."
Jean had never been called 'lady' in that sense in her life.
"Eh?"
The Star Sentry continued, "Nall returned earlier and left once again due to commotion at the Blue Spire last night. He has Althena's Sword with him... so it should be safe."
Jean nodded. "And Ruby?"
"She has not returned from Serak yet, though I do not feel that she's in any danger."
The titan walked over to one of the walls. It opened to reveal a balcony to the morning skies.
"However, there was a great deal of action in the Illusion Woods to the northwest last night. I also felt a familiar presence in that area..."
Frye looked up from the dish in front of him.
"Perhaps you'd like to investigate the area for any signs of the commotion. I must remain here in case the other dragons... or another visitor... comes back."
Jean thought for a moment and nodded. If there was trouble nearby, it would be a good idea to get a view of the damage so they knew what they were up against at least.
The dancer gathered her things as Frye finished eating (and produced a laugh inducing burp).
In a few minutes, Jean was astride the dragon and ready to fly off.
"Farewell for now," the Star Dragon spoke as they waved and soared away to the forest.
On the surface of the Blue Star, a sleek metallic shape landed with a huge thud. Miraculously, it floated up and scanned around the area. Nearby was the strange metal structure that Alisia had passed through during her quest to eliminate Baldour.
"Area is clear," an evil mechanical voice announced. The speech came from the entire object... which was a tall machine that shifted its form from a flying craft of some sort to a humanoid shape as it spoke. The light of the sun glinted off of its shiny metallic body. It was colored black, dark orange and red, standing almost fifteen feet high. A pair of long 'wing' shafts lowered on its back as it knelt on the ground.
A hatch in its chest opened and a humanoid figure stepped out... a very dark figure except for its mane of neon green hair. The figure stretched its arms out and responded.
"Hai. Your cockpit is too cramped to stay in that long... good thing this trip wasn't extended," a strange female voice spoke.
"Is this one of the crafts that came to or left this planet?" the mechanical creature asked.
"One that came... probably the one that started it all... it was not one of yours. Come, let us get what we need from the wreckage... then we must hurry to the Silver Star," the black shape responded as it unsheathed a similarly dark sword and polished it with a blue cloth.
The titan nodded, letting the sunlight shine on his shoulder. The number 51 could be seen in white markings upon the red metal there. The machine followed the dark figure into the metallic structure.