Chapter 3: The Lost Princess

"One day the Mana Goddess drew upon six beams of light from the sun, they became the six moons.

Each moon held a small deity inside, and when the awoke they sang praises and brought fortune.

These deities became the moon gods, and begged the Mana Goddess top name them,

The Mana Goddess gave each a stone of Fa'Diel and each god was given a name. Tryne, god of water,

Zea, god of fire, Barlen god of wealth, Libleyt, god of plants, Morphes god of earth and Ghazel, god of air. The moon gods rejoiced, and the Mana goddess fell into slumber,

becoming the Mana Tree, leaving Fa'Diel to the Moon gods."


Today was the day I would find that man. My mind was made up the moment I woke up and I headed out, setting the twins breakfast on the table, today I was the one to wake up early. I stuck a note on their door earlier telling them that I might be gone for a while and that Miss Yuka would visit.

As I walked down the well worn path my mind wandered, I need to go to Gato to talk with Daena and her friend I was worried about her, and to get some materials from the nuns. I also had to go to Lumina soon, the manager sent me a letter inviting me back for a drink, and my materials the workshops were running almost dangerously low so a trip was in the near future. I let out a deep sigh and looked into the clear morning sky.

The town sign came into view not long after and once I caught sight I jogged the rest of the way to the inn, maybe -hopefully- the mystery man stayed there last night, or Miss Yuka saw him somewhere. When I opened the door I saw the proprietor behind the counter instead of the ever present Mr. Moti. Her yellow feathers ruffled from sleep, clearly she just woke up too. "Morning Miss Yuka, how's your morning going?" I jogged up to the counter to continue, stifling a yawn seeing Miss Yuka let out one herself. "Have you seen the desert man yet?"

"Not today, he didn't stay here yesterday, but it's early yet. He might have stayed at the bar. Remember Imu, becareful." A large yellow wing was on her beak in thought, but the look of concentration was broken with another big yawn.

I bade her a quick farewell and made my exit, maybe he's at the bar after all that's where I saw him last. With a long strides I made it to the bar in quick time, and went in. The homey feeling that usually pervaded the bar was shattered with a yell.

"Where is she!" I heard a baritone that I had only heard once, I rushed in to see my curiosity hunched over a cowering Rachel, yelling and terrifying the small lady. Her wings were twitching and her antennae were almost flat on her head. There were tears welling up in her eyes "Please just tell me where she is!" At this point I walked up and tried to assuage the tension by separating the two, leading for the man to snap at me. "Don't interrupt!"

The man was far from the people of Domina, his eyes were a deep blue that I only caught for a moment before they went back to glaring at Rachel. His clothes were almost a world apart from the quaint farmers in Domina, with a flashy blue, bold patters and interesting cut he certainly made an impression. "Don't make me angry girl... just tell me where she is! What are you hiding?!" At this point Rachel was shaking in fear, so I naturally stepped in with the most level head.

"Hey cut it out, she doesn't know what you want. You're scaring her half to death!" His glare at my words almost made me want to heed Miss Yuka's warnings, sending shivers down my spine but not stopping me. I stepped between the duo, in front of Rachel. "If you don't leave her alone I will kick you out." My words came out much calmer and cooler than I had thought they would, the desert man gave another withering glare and stormed out of the bar in a flash.

"Thank you Imu." The small squeak of Rachel's appreciation was muffled in my dress, her face almost burred into by back in a bone crushing hug. I extricated my body from her iron grip and waved heading to the door, I messed up big time.

I wandered throughout Domina looking in vain for a hint of flashy blue, and seeing not a single scrap of him, eventually I sat on the dirt road up to the church. Why do I have no tact, or maybe it's just that I'm not supposed to know the desert man, the Mana Goddess was angry at me.

I was awoken from my ground staring from a rock to the head, not very hard hitting but enough to get my attention. I looked all around until he called out.

"Hey," I heard the tell tale baritone from behind me and I turned around. Mister desert stood there in all his blue glory walking up to me until he was only a foot away. "People said, that if I needed help I should go to a lady named Imu, do you know her?" So he was looking for me too? This day seemed to get stranger the further it went on.

"Actually I'm Imu, what do you need help with?" His eyes widened a fraction and he broke eye contact, his green hair covered one eye as he turned his head away.

"A friend is missing." I gave the man a look, I needed a bit more info than that to help.

"What does she look like, how long has she been missing, and I need to know your and her names." I can't keep on calling you the desert man! I yelled the last part in my head, trying not to blow another gasket today.

"Her name is Pearl, um I'm Elazul, she has long hair and a short white dress, the last time I saw her was three days ago when we got in to town, she just... vanished." His voice strained, close to breaking. Dust started to stir as he began to pace the small dirt road trying to alleviate his stress, his cape billowing behind him. "She's like my little sister, I'm so worried about her, please, I need to find her."

His pacing had almost started to wear a hole in the path, as I stood he halted, nothing on him moved and I didn't even think he was breathing. His deep blue eyes stared at me, unblinking until I nodded and started to walk back down the path.

"Come on, let's go back to Rachel, I'll talk to her for you." For a moment he just stared at me, his blue eyes wide with shock and his feet rooted to the ground in shock. I looked him over again, he had some strange jewelry too to top everything off.

"You'll help me? Really..." The strength in his voice faded and he mumbled something that I couldn't even try to decipher, but he quickly gained back his fervor. "Thank you, lets go."

The trip to the bar was quiet, almost awkward as neither of us spoke. Thankfully the town of Domina was a small town, with small roads, within seconds the pub neared and Elazul paused in the quaint cafe outside, looking like a fish out of water, with the cutesy tablecloths and the flowers all around. I passed him and entered the pub again with Elazul traling behind and found Rachel quickly.

"Hi Rachel, are you okay?" her antenna bounced as she turned to face me, she still looked frazzled but her wings were no longer shaking and her eyes held no more tears.

"I'm better, I was just scared. You know how I am, when someone yells I freeze up." She looked down and her wings drooped, I was glad that the bar was empty right now, Rachel could use an easy day after her hectic morning. Elazul was quite a bit behind me, and his shoulders sagged down at the young girls confession.

"Good, I'm glad. Hey that guy was here earlier, he's looking for a friend named pearl. Do you know anything about her?" Rachel's head vigorously nodded, and she almost jumped up and down.

"Yes, I couldn't speak earlier, I was too scared. She was here a few days ago and she payed with this!" Rachel reached into her skirts and quickly brought out a small piece of jade and shoved it into my hands. Its smooth surface almost reflected my face back, and I knew where it was from. I came close to sprinting out of the pub and almost slammed into Elazul, I heard a small chime when he looked at it, but in my excitement I ignored the noise.

"I know where pearl might be."


My heart raced and I almost tripped over myself, I had forgotten how long it really took to get to the Mekiv caverns. Elazul was in a similar situation, his shoulders slumped in exhaustion but his eyes were still facing forward with determination. We walked in silence almost the entire way, any small talk I started was shot down by monosyllabic answers in a deep baritone,

The sun had started to set when the Mekiv caverns came into view, the aqua cavern entrance glistened in the dying sunlight, making the jade look almost wet. I looked back at the sun, we didn't have much time until the sun was under the horizon and the moons came out.

"This is it, Mekiv. This is where the jade came from I'm sure of it." Elazul stood up straight and closed his eyes tight. I stood there, not knowing what to do, move forward or wait until he was done with his mental contemplation. Eventually there was a chime, and Elazul opened his eyes.

"She's here..." his hoarse whisper broke the increasing silence, the first words he's said since we left Domina. My hand shot out and stopped him from running in, I didn't want to lose him in the caves because he ran ahead. "Let me go! I have to find her!" His yell was close to deafening on the silent path, echoing in the dying light.

"You idiot, I'm trying to help you! You'll get lost in there without light, and you don't know the paths! What were you thinking?" I tried not to yell -I really did- but my voice was as loud as his, when I did finish I saw the realization in his eyes, he would have gotten lost in moments. I took a deep breath and composed myself.

"Fine, what do you suppose we do than?" Elazul's hand had sat on his chest, holding the bright blue gem that rested between his collarbones, in what looked like an attempt to calm down.

"Wait here a minute, I'll make a torch." with a wave of his cape he turned to face the caves entrance and stared intently as I began to start my torch. I didn't take more than a minute to start the small fire, with it I stood next to the man and walked in.

The dark cave seemed to stretch on forever, the darkness filled every corner that we passed. With luck though the torches Toto and I placed here forever ago were still hanging, they just weren't lit anymore. I lit every one we passesd, making a path back to the entrance.

As I lit the torches, the darkness seemed to stretch a little to far, and the constant surprise drips didn't ease my nerves. Elazul added to the irritation, he didn't really speak and when he did it was to yell for pearl or grumble under his breath.

When my irritation was about to boil over we entered a bigger cave and now I knew where I was, there was several ways to get here, but it was the heart of the caverns. Toto had enchanted the torches in here to burn brighter, and longer than the others their fire still glowing and reflecting along the walls, here was where we practiced.

The green cave walls could have reflected the spars we had, the monsters that snuck up on us those years ago. I stood still for a moment relishing in my memories, I hadn't visited the caves since Toto left, and I had forgotten the space and its memories. The huge ceiling was dark and I only caught the reflections of the torches off of the damp stalactites. the walls glowed green even with the light of the fire and the cavern echoed with water. It wasn't a comforting area, the dark recesses were still full of unknown surprises and the slippery floor was a hazard all on its own, it was nostalgic in the strangest way.

"You okay? You're not lost are you." The snarky tone tore me away from the memories. I turned away from the glistening walls, my eyes lingering on the cascading rivulets of water sparkling in the torchlight and landed on Elazul. With a quick glare I started to walk again, until he spoke again, softer than before. "Are you okay?"

I stopped and turned around, not hearing that tone in the deep baritone before. His eyes held my gaze, his green brows furrowed in a serious turn. I had thought that his long hair would have gotten in the way of his face, but he had swept it back into his head piece and I had a clear view of his face. I couldn't lie, the man was handsome! His jaw was strong and his eyes were so deep, and his muscles from what I could see were very nice, it took all my will power not to let my mind -and eyes- wander. I shook my head, in a vain attempt to clear it.

"Fine, I'm fine. It's just been a while, and I am not lost." my voice was taut, even with me trying to control it. He was asking and not just in jest. I sighed and turned back around, the two of us started moving again, the small splashes we made the only noises in the cavern for the moment.

The monsters weren't out, which is strange in in of its self, and the tunnel was eerily quiet, I held up a hand hoping that Elazul would stop. The cave was different here, something big had made it's nest in my old training grounds if Elazul sent me a glare I missed it.

I approached the end of the tunnel with trepidation, trying to go as slow as I could, there was another open part of the cave ahead, and as it slowly came into view, I gave a quick thanks the the mana goddess, as the torches were still lit, but something was in there.

A huge shadow sat in the corner, and it was not a rock. The mound of lilac fur trembled with the light snoring the creature had. Elazul behind me was stock still, not moving an inch until I did, his legs crouched as mine were. I had no idea what to do, if pearl was in here or past here we would need to take that thing out, but if she wasn't than we would have wasted precious time on a monster. I started towards it once more.

As we approached, the monster stiffened and sat up with surprising speed and stood before the two of us almost two stories high. The creature took in a deep breath and roared. The sound reverberated through the cave, loud and screeching. I resisted the urge to cover my ears, the noise all but earsplitting. With another roar the monster grabbed a huge weapon made of a skull from behind him. I seemed as though we would have to battle no matter what.

I snatched the spear from my back in a quick motion and Elazul unsheathed his sword a split second later, thinking along the same lines as I was, and in a second the battle began.

With another earthshaking roar the beast kicked out at the two of us, it's foot almost as big as eith of us, missing slightly but with enough accuracy to cause alarm, but it gave me an idea.

"Elazul, follow me!" I grabbed his left arm and ran quickly behind one of the larger stalagmites, his face was furious when we finally were behind the rock.

"What was that for!" He hushed voice was hoarse with anger, and if his glare could have burned holes my own would be gone. I hushed him still under the smoldering glare and the shaking cave and started to let him in on my plan, as fast as I could.

"I'll distract the thing, and you'll attack it from behind. Sound good?" I tried not to sound too panicked, but the urgency in my voice was almost hysterical and I dashed out into the fray hearing a strangled noise of anger come from Elazul.

When I was back out in the open, an earsplitting roar echoed through the cavern, and the beast was looking right at me, and even though that was what I wanted it still sent a shiver of dread through my spine. In a moment the battle began again.

I dashed forward and away from where Elazul was, the beast following slowly but surly. When I reached the other end I turned around to see the lilac monster bear down from above, its fangs bared with malice.

The skull of the creatures weapon slammed down, and I ran again. My heart was hammering in my chest, and I swore if it really wanted to it would have hammered right out. As I ran I chanced a glance behind me, the monster was hot on my tail but Elazul was close behind it. With a quick turn I rammed my spear into the monsters foot with all my might.

The beast let out a bloodcurdling cry that echoed off of the walls, causing the sound to reverberate around the cave. I did cover my ears this time, it pierced through the air and in the next moment Elazul struck.

The dark sword slashed through the back of the things ankles, causing it to let out another piercing scream of pain. The injury didn't stop the monster from continuing its assault on me though, it seemed to only make it mad.

The monster swung the skull ax up, in a change of pace, causing the stalactites on the ceiling to rain down on me, the sound was almost deafening, and the slick ground shook from the impacts. I dodged quickly left as a huge spike narrowly ran me through, but I couldn't get out of the way of the next one.

The spike was smaller than the first, but it sent an explosion of pain throughout my right shoulder and I cried out, the pain unberable with the rock dust. I stayed stock still, grinding my teeth to bite back the pain. I listened for the thuds of more until they stilled. As quickly as I could I got up, nothing but skin was broken but my blood flowed freely, hot and sticky along my arm. I could hear a shout from the other end of the cave, deep and loud, I couldn't make out what it was saying but what caught my eye was that the monster was still up and kicking, literally.

I dodged as fast as I could away from the gigantic foot, thankfully the monster wasn't unscathed from the barrage of rocks it caused. It's fur was red in spots and now the thing was much slower, I easily dodged another kick and stabbed its foot once more.

This time it fell to its knees with a howl of pain, though not defeated yet it. Its hands slammed down and shook the earth dropping its skull ax, only a few rocks fell thankfully and I rushed by its hands trying my best to get a good hit on it but the monster wasn't going down without a fight.

As I dodged another hand slamming down Elazul attacked again. The man was as silent as the shadows he was hiding in, and his sword swung down on the beasts neck, causing a roar of pain, and the opening I needed.

I ran forward and plunged my spear into the things chin, the monster made a sick gurgling noise as its blood flowed but it quieted soon after. When the beast stilled, I took a deep breath. We were alive.

I flopped down, loosing my balance on the slick floor after I pulled my spear away, and sat for a moment staring at the beast. Elazul ran up to me a second later, and pulled me to my feet with the most intense glare I had seen on him yet.

"What where you thinking! That had to the the most dangerous, idiotic thing to do!" his strong fingers dug into the uninjured shoulder. When I looked at him, after making sure he wasn't injured I notice a cut above his eye. The blood dripped slowly but he was unmarred otherwise.

"Calm down, we won." I attempted to brush off his hand, with little success, as he let out another strangled cry of infuriation, his jaw gaping in astonishment. "Come on, lets find pearl."

I broke free of his grasp as he let out an exasperated sigh and headed to the end of the cave that we had not yet been. I started to call for pearl, with Elazul doing the same. I heard a clear chime call with a different one quickly following after. I snapped my head around, I could have sworn I heard that sound earlier in Domina.

"Elazul?" The soft voice was barely above a whisper, but Elazul managed to find the culprit almost instantly. I couldn't make out what Elazul said next, all I heard was a rushed mummer, they talked for a moment before I found the two.

Pearl was beautiful, her hair cascaded into elegant braids with pearls scattered throughout. Her dress was still clean, with only a few spots of dirt her large eyes were wide with apprehension, the duo hadn't quite noticed me yet.

"Than don't get distracted! Let me do the thinking!" Elazul fumed, his hands clutched to the fabric of his hat with almost white knuckles, his hair starting to fall out of the top and into his eyes. Pearl stared, not at Elazul but at her clutched hands squeaking out an unintelligible mutter when Elazul almost exploded again. "That's enough pearl!" pearl let out a wobbly 'sorry' before I stepped in.

"Cut it out Elazul, shes scared." pearl gasped, and almost fell over trying to hide behind Elazul, the latter glared from behind the strands of hair that had come lose earlier.

"Stay out of this!" My mouth hung open, if anything he brought me into this mess and now he had the gall to stay out of it! Pearl quickly peered around him, and glanced at me before asking her question.

"Whos is that?" Her voice was trembling slightly, obviously scared. Her braids swung lazily as she snapped her head up to hear Elazul.

"She helped me find you, she's a weird person." this time I was the one to let out a strangled cry, weird! If anything they were the weird ones.

"Hey! I have a name!" Elazul promptly ignored my outburst and turned to the exit, his cape swishing with the movement. Pearl stayed where she was, and looked at me with less fear in her eyes than before.

"Let's go." the young man turned back to me in one swift motion, and met my gaze firmly with out a smile. "See you later." he started to leave, not looking at me again. Pearl surprised me though, when I turned to see her she was not to far away. When she saw me looking she gave a small bow.

"Um, t-thank you. Here t-take t-these." her face was flushed, almost totally red as she shoved a small pouch of lucre into my hands and she refused to meet my eyes. I gave the young woman a smile, she reminded me of Rachel quite a bit.

Before I could thank her she ran off in the same direction that Elazul went, in almost a dead sprint.


I opened the small door to my house as quietly as possible, hopefully the twins were asleep as the moons have been out for a while. The fire in the hearth was still burning strong, a nice change to the usual cold home I was used to returning to. The rocking chair called out to me like a siren to pirates, its faded green seat promising comfort I desperately craved.

I instead hobbled into the kitchen, and filled a large bowl with water, I sat it down and dug through my drawers to find the rest of what I needed. It took a moment in the dark clutter but I eventually found the disinfectant potion the doctor gave me. I rummaged for a moment longer, and my hands found the rags and bandages faster than the medicine before.

My tired legs carried me to the table, and I sat down as carefully as I could. I let out a his as I pealed away the ruined fabric, the skin was torn and mangled but nothing was too bad. Before I touched the mess my shoulder was I balled up an extra rag, just enough so that I could bite down. The medicine was a little trickier. The stopper was wedged tight, but nothing a little elbow grease couldn't solve.

My breathing slowed and deepened, as I soaked another rag with the medicine trying to mentally prepare myself for what I was going to do. I grabbed the rolled up towel and shoved it into my mouth, biting down to test it. With a few more breaths taken I decided to begin.

I picked the last towel up, dunked it into the bowl, soaking it through. In one swift motion I squeezed the water onto my injury. The water felt as though icy fire was spilling down me, cold and burning. Tears sprung to my eyes as I repeated this process, every time the fire burning less until I felt it looked clean.

The towel was soaked once more but this time I started to pat the wound, and the tears did fall this time. It was not as numb as I had hoped that water would have made it, every inch burned like a salamander was running through every nerve.

The wound was clean, after an agonizing time but by no means was it over. I still had to put the medicine on and that stung the most. I dropped the bloody rag into the bowl of now pink water and grabbed the medicine soaked one. I took in one sharp breath through my nose and started to dab away at my arm. Tears flowed freely down my cheeks, I tried not to scream but I could not hold it in. The muffled scream was quieter than normal, because of the rag, and I heard no signs that either of the twins awoke.

I continued the medicine assault on my arm, not stopping until every inch of the wound was covered. My breathing was labored at this point, sharp and fast through my nose, the rag still in my mouth. I eased the rag down, and started to take off the other side of my top.

Through painstaking minuted I finally wriggled my left arm out and pulled down my top. Now I needed to bandage it and I was done, the remotely easy part. The roll sat innocently next to the medicine, and I began.

It took longer than I would have liked but I got it done, the bandages were tight and I was ready for a drink and some sleep. I got the feeling like this was going to be a long week.


A/N: Hello again! I wanted to adress something about this chapter, the Du'inke. Imu doesn't know what it is, so that is why it's called so many things in this chapter, we wont possess info unless she does. The next chapter will cover some less 'important' quests, and just so you all know I will be doing all of the main quest stuff. The Faeries quests, the Dragon quests and the Jumi quests. I will not be covering ALL the quests though, so there wont be any pirate ship quests or the Diddle and Capella quests.

Thank you so much for reading, please review with any questions, comments or concerns.

With well wishes,

The Mad Desperado.