The 'Haunted' Mansion stood silently to the east of the village of Takkar. No one ever entered or left the structure. It seemed deserted to all outsiders, but nobody ever tried to explore it for fear of ghosts.
It would make a perfect hiding place... if it indeed wasn't haunted...
East of the spooky building and across an expanse of grassy plains and hills was a rather unknown cavern. Hiro and his friends had once found this secret cave in their quest to reach Pentagulia. They merely cleaned out the dust-covered equipment chests and left.
However... the cavern did not remain empty for long...
A group of Dung Beetles and Flytrappers shuffled along outside of the cave in search of food. They paid no attention to a grim voice barking out orders... or to a quartet of Albino Baboons standing in front of the cave mouth who were staring off into nothingness. They appeared to be hypnotized.
"Keep searching! If we can find the ruins then we will have the power we need!"
The secret mountainous room was no longer but a small alcove. The walls had been smashed open and huge excavation was apparent. Wooden and stone supports held up flimsy ceilings in the now huge cavern. Tunneling and digging equipment was scattered everywhere.
The speaker was a tall man dressed in a white wizard's robe. An elaborate hat was on his head. Strange runes covered his entire outfit as stood beside a group of orange uniformed priests.
"I will have to return to see the master's condition now... continue the search while I am away," the intimidating figure spoke to his associates. "Soon both lords will be revived!" he added with a cough.
The other priests nodded, then turned as a voice yelled, "I've found something!"
The mage levitated over to the source of the call. A Necro Knight stood next to a pitch black opening, trying to cast his torch's flickering flames into its depths. The wizard looked inside and grinned evilly.
"We are now one step closer to our goal!" he bellowed.
A plethora of cheers came from the assembled Flash Lords, Assassins, Fly-Boys and Necro Knights that infested the cavern.
He muttered a few instructions to the priest next to him and promptly vanished.
The orange-clothed vicar announced, "The world will soon tremble under the might of the Cult of Zophar! Quickly, send word to our associates to the west."
An assassin stepped forward, bowed and dashed out of the cave.
It had taken a while, but Boomer and the water drakes finally reached the outskirts of the town of Raculi. Night was falling as they approached the fields of the town. No one was out working there right now for fear of monster attacks.
From a distance they could see that people were still bustling about inside Raculi. It probably would not be a good idea to look around for Alisia or the others until everyone went to bed... one can never know how someone will react to a winged lizard and three serpent-like reptiles... though it usually isn't calmly.
With rumbling stomachs, the four of them waited out in the fields for the action in town to die down. Rather than going off to search for food in the wilderness, they tried to find something in the fields without raising any alarm. All that was found was forgotten basket of vegetables. They voraciously ate the legumes... though any of them would have preferred a nice slab of beef by now... and settled down to rest in the relatively-safe farming land.
Before they knew it, they were all fast asleep.
Frye's head popped up suddenly from the meat he was frantically devouring at the loud sound of applause around him.
Illuminated by only the licking flames of the campfire in the middle of the circle of watchers, Jean finished her latest exhibition of her dancing skills. A torrent of applause immediately followed her performance.
She smiled and bowed to her fellow Carnival-denizens and then skipped over to where Giban sat. The old man was the only person who sat near the green dragon. There was an uneasy space between the creature and the people who were situated near him.
Jean briskly took a seat on the ground between Giban and Frye. The old carnival master congratulated her on her prowess in this latest demonstration. She thanked him as the minstrels of the troupe began to play a slow, soft tune while everyone began to eat.
The dancer ate a little as the others enjoyed their meals and chatted a bit about the day's activities. She turned to look at the dragon to find him greedily chewing the last bit of the beef they had provided for him.
Jean grinned.
"I guess you were too busy gobbling that down to even see my dance."
Frye swallowed the food and grinned back at her, shaking his head.
She responded with a puzzled expression, "Eh?"
Actually, the young dragon had kept one eye on Jean during her whole performance. He was amazed by her skill as she skipped and twisted about. The few human dancers he had seen back on Earth once from a distance (at a fair or celebration of some sort in Alisia's village) couldn't compare with her agility. Alisia herself was probably an exception...
Jean had moved perfectly in rhythm to the music that had been played as she danced. It was indeed a beautiful sight to watch her prancing silhouette spinning about outlined by the flickering campfire... it was illuminating... and even a little inspiring.
Frye sat up and crawled to stand on his back legs. His rapidly flapping wings helped him keep his balance as he took a few steps and proceeded to imitate a simpler part of her dance... dragon-style (which primarily meant a little more clumsily and wildly but still with an air of agility).
Giban and Jean watched in silence as Frye spun about and flipped over in the empty grass around him, then balanced on his tail. The dragon almost lost his balance once but righted himself with his wings. At the conclusion of his 'dance', he blew a large ring of smoke from one nostril and tumbled through it, landing upright back at his empty plate.
Jean began to clap with a short laugh.
Giban did likewise and spoke, "They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
A few of the others who had seen the spectacle sat shocked.
Jean pet Frye on the head and smiled.
"I guess I have some competition now," she joked.
A little later, Frye crawled behind Jean as she spoke to Giban. They were heading toward the carnival denizens' personal tents.
Giban nodded.
"Yes, I don't see any reason why the dragon should not be allowed to stay with us for awhile. He seems tame enough," the old man spoke. "And that little display of his may have calmed down the other members a bit... maybe even amaze a few."
Jean grinned and responded.
"I am a bit curious about his origins and the way he arrived here... perhaps Ruby has some information about him. It's about time for another visit by her... I'd guess she'd know considering they're both dragons."
Giban replied, "Yes, waiting for her would be a good idea. Hopefully she can shed some light on... I wonder if he has a name."
Frye heard this and decided he might as well be a little communicative for all the hospitality they had shown him. His claw started to scratch the dirt behind them. With a pleasant growl, they turned to see four roughly written letters on the ground.
"Frye... guess it fits him..." the dancer said.
"Hmm... he seems very friendly to you, Jean. I wonder if he's alone though. I still remember the expression on his face when he was discovered... a look as if he had just been ripped from a friend," Giban continued. "Perhaps if he has companions, they will come looking for him... oh well, I shall see you tomorrow. Sleep well, Jean."
Giban walked off to his own tent as Jean waved. Frye dipped a wing in his direction.
She lifted the flap that led into her own tent and regarded the dragon for a second. She had never had a pet and didn't know if Frye should sleep outside. Jean then thought that this was not a pet, but an intelligent dragon and motioned for him to enter with her.
Frye actually was surprised by this. Other than in Alisia's home, he normally slept beneath the stars with his kind. He crawled on in.
The dragon settled on a soft rug in the middle of the floor as the green-haired girl went behind a barrier and changed into her sleeping outfit. She went over to the wooden upright box that contained her costumes and flipped through them.
Frye watched as she paused at her karate uniform, then shook her head and hung up her dancing clothes.
Jean extinguished the lamp that was illuminating the tent and settled into her cot.
"G'Night Frye."
The dragon responded with a short murmur and drifted off to sleep, rumbling gently through the night.
Earlier that evening, Alisia found herself at the edge of a huge body of water. She had followed the Star Dragon's instructions and headed as far west as she could, ignoring some crossroads that had gone north toward an immense forest.
Waves calmly moved toward the shore as she stared out over the water. In the surrounding darkness everything seemed calm.
She decided to set up camp in a small wooded area nearby and decide to either explore the forest (against the Star Dragon's warning) or head south the next morning.
Alisia set up a small fire using dead wood she could find in the area and munched on a few rations. Before settling down on her sleeping sack, Alisia looked up at the night sky and gazed at the Earth.
"So far from home... and alone... I wonder what that titan meant by 'reviving the Blue Star'. What is the Blue Star...?"
Her trek that afternoon had not been uneventful. Familiar mutant flies and a few scorpions had rushed her menacingly. A little Thunder magic and evasion however had kept the threat to a minimum.
Apparently, Lunar was just as dangerous as Earth...
Elsewhere on Lunar, Alisia's other animal friends found fine accommodations for the night.
Thundra was never let out of Lemina's sight in Vane. The Junior Premier was very interested in the unusual bird and its origins. She also wanted to make sure the raven’s wing healed correctly.
When Lemina's classes were done, she returned to the Guild Mansion and fed Thundra. After the meals the thunder raven was given a perch to sleep on in a corner of Lemina's room. Thundra fell asleep very quickly.
Whisp was amazed by what was outside the Dragon Ruins. The DragonShip Destiny was waiting outside when Leo and the fire elemental exited the ruins. The fantastic vessel was far beyond any technology he had seen before... with the possible exception of the half-working metal 'building' and the sky palace he had seen on Alisia's quest against Baldour.
The Destiny was in fact a mighty steamship, able to traverse land and water at the same rapid pace. Leo was a little amused by Whisp's expression as they boarded.
Unfortunately, the trek out of the Dragon Ruins had taken quite awhile for the duo... Decepticons and Blood Lords prove to be long, tough battles... particularly when they gang up on a single knight and fire elemental. By the time the weary duo was outside, night was already upon them.
Rather than rush off toward Gywn's home, which Leo had originally planned to do, they spent the night on the Destiny itself to rest. Leo settled into the captain's quarters while Whisp floated inside the heating machine inside that room and relaxed there.
He was a bit worried about the location of Alisia though...
Back on the Blue Star, Lucia went off to rest as Hiro watched the crystal transporter continue to heal itself.
It would probably take another whole day though to be repaired though, as Lucia had said to Hiro before going to nap for awhile.
Hiro stared for awhile at Lunar.
"But what evil has the Scimitar been able to do all this time?" he muttered to himself.
Even the four dragons of Althena were resting at this point... unknowing of anything but a sudden presence on Lunar that had been felt earlier that day.
The only visible motion was far to the west... at Horam...