Act III: Adulthood
Chapter 2: On the Road Again
Party: Ryu, Luna

Wyndia was never quite asleep, but the hours right before dawn had the fewest people around. Some were stumbling back home after a night of drinking, trying to beat the sun’s rays to their bedsheets. Others had awoken far earlier than anyone sane in order to get things done before the crowds flooded the city streets once again. Ryu thought either was nuts. He didn’t particularly like being up at that time himself, but leaving without prying eyes would require some… interesting… measures.

“Remind me again why we’re wearing these cloaks?” Luna queried quietly, picking at her left sleeve with her right hand.

Ryu smacked the back of her hand lightly. “So that casual observers can’t tell people what we look like.” He then chuckled. “Plus, you said that it’s easier to maintain human form in the moonlight when your head is covered.”

Luna gave him a look. “I wasn’t allowed to leave the Castle until I was so good I could do it naked.”

Ryu blanched. “I really didn’t need to be reminded of that.”

Luna acquired a smirk and pressed her advantage. “Nina came down to needle me that one time. It was probably the only time that you let the two of us be together without your supervision-”

“You were naked.”

“-so we took advantage of it and blew each others’ brains out.”

“That was the night you failed.”

“I wanted to bite her.”

Ryu sighed.

“Besides,” Luna continued, “I wasn’t going to be leaving the Castle anytime before you did. Just because I was cleared at eighteen didn’t mean that it was time for me to leave. I was waiting for you. I could take my time in passing that last ridiculous test.”

Bickering companionably, though at a reasonable volume for the hour, the two Ascents made their way down to the end of the main street through the city proper. The elevator stood there, guarded by a squad of Wyndian Knights. The Captain on duty had been warned about the two and gave the order for them to be let through. Luna and Ryu boarded the elevator without comment and rode it down to the mountaintop.

“I still can’t take it off?” Luna asked as the elevator shuttled them down and toward the destination peak.

“Not yet. Still that other guard squad that’s in the new guardhouse on the mountain to pass.”

Luna squinted down at the peak. Sure enough, there was a guardhouse built into the crags. “I hadn’t thought there would be enough space to have one.”

“It’s magic.” This earned Ryu another shove.

The two settled down as the elevator came to a stop on the flat portion of the mountain peak. Ryu nodded his thanks to the guard that saw them off and started the elevator back up toward the floating city. He didn’t pay the two much mind, just yawned and did his job. What a boring shift he must have. Ryu and Luna quickly made their way down the mountain path.

The instant that they were out of sight of the guardhouse, Luna glanced back to confirm it, then pulled her hood down and stretched. “Ah, the moonlight feels good.”

Ryu similarly lowered his hood and turned around to face Luna where she had stopped to stretch. “You know, it’s still strange to hear you say that.”

“It’s still strange to be able to talk while I’m in it,” Luna replied, finishing her stretch and letting her arms swing back and forth at her sides.

“Well, we'll be getting out of it and into the caves in a moment,” Ryu said. “We should get a move on. We've only barely begun.”

Luna nodded, and the two set off down the mountain path. The caves were only one peak over, and so it didn't take them long to reach them. The stroll was mostly pleasant, with only a couple monsters trying to harry them. Apparently even they thought it was too early to be up and about.

The inside of the cave was as both of the travelers remembered it. The monster population had shifted again in the time that Ryu had spent in Wyndia, but there was nothing that the two Ascents couldn't handle easily. Ryu's swordplay had gotten to the point that he rarely was sttuck by any attack he could block or deflect. He took the brunt of attacks while Luna remained in the back with her bow and magical spells. Her latest two included a magical strike that quickly slammed into targets, and the ability to make it hail anywhere. Ryu, for his part, had also gained a spell that did severe damage to undead targets, which was the only spell that he was using in this trip through the caves. The ghosts that were attacking them never knew what hit them.

Ryu lead the way, as he was the one that had been through the caves the most recently, and he had gone over the route with James just the previous day, when he had been packing and doing other last-minute preparations for his journey. Luna was happy to follow and kill things. Heck, Luna was just happy. Ryu didn't really need to ask why; her mood had instantly taken a giddy mood once they were out of sight of the guardhouse, able to see things other than the city. And she liked being able to fight without holding her magic back at all. And they would be even farther away from the Princess. Really, it was a perfect situation for the young lady, and she was reveling in it.

The two Ascents headed downward and downward through the network of caves that ran through several of the mountains which surrounded the floating city of Wyndia. They finally emerged at the foot of the mountain which was the entrance to Wyndia from Romero... and vice versa. Day had broken, and the blue sky stretched out forever without even a bit of white to break it. Luna smiled up at the sky. “A good day to head out on a journey.”

Ryu looked up as well. “I'd have to agree with you.” He looked over at his partner. “Shall we?”

There was still a soldier posted at the camp that Romero kept at the entrance to the cave, but it was not the same soldier that had been there when Ryu had passed the other way three years before. He didn't recognize either of the Ascents, but he apparently had been warned about the possibility of a pair of Agents coming through this morning, and he didn't delay them long; just a signature each. Then the two Ascents were on their way again, this time through the rolling hills of eastern Romero.

Having not dealt with the monsters that resided among the foothills of the Wyndy Mountains last time Ryu was through here, he didn't have any comparison to how they had changed in the past few years. Regardless, neither Luna nor Ryu had any real troubles with them, using the same strategies that they had been using against the monsters that resided in the caves. Examples of the local wildlife included Bullas, Warthogs and Shrooms. All of which fell easily to Ryu's blade, an arrow from Luna's bow, or a spell from either.

The pair of Ascents reached the port town of Nanai, which Ryu vaguely remembered being in for something like an hour three years ago, just as the afternoon started to fade into evening. It was a good stopping point, so the two located an inn and reserved a room for the night and went out to visit some of the shops to see if there were any supplies sold there that might be useful on their journey in the West.

While at the local weapons shop, after both Ryu and Luna had determined that there was no need to replace their weapons (though Luna had purchased a few more arrows), a little blur flew out of the store quickly with a rush of air. Luna and Ryu stood blinking at what they had seen and were still trying to determine what precisely that had been when the shop owner yelled, “Hey! You need to pay for that!”

This gave the Ascents a pretty good idea of what had gone on. “Do you have problems with theft here in Nanai, sir?” Ryu asked.

The shopowner sighed. “Not really. Every city has to deal with their share of street urchins and the like. Normally I'm a little better about spotting these kids before they're able to get their grubby hands on anything.” He had turned to check through the display that had the knife that was now missing. “Looks like he just took a bread knife, though. Not a huge deal, but still a loss of zenny. I wonder what he wanted it for?”

Ryu thanked the man for his time. Once Ryu and Luna had finished t he rest of their shopping, they returned to the inn. Once they were ensconced in their room, Luna said, “We don't have the time to do anything about them, do we?”

Ryu shook his head. “Not right now, no. But we'll be back in Romero soon enough. Wyndia's home, after all, and the best way to get from the West back to the East is through Romero.”

Luna sighed. “Dammit.” But she didn't say anything else about it, for which Ryu was grateful. He didn't want to deal with an argument about something that Luna cared greatly about.

Both Ascents slept well and woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to go. The ship that they had passage on left before dawn, and both Ascents' bodies were okay with getting up early again since they both had gone to bed early as well. Ryu and Luna made it on to the ship with no complications and they were off to sea pretty quickly after that.

The oceans separating the three main continents of the civilized world were an interesting combination of bodies of water. In the north, the Northern Ocean was the ocean that lay between all of the continents. Just to the south, directly between the East and West continents, was the Muddy Ocean, which could only be traveled by mud ships. It was a harder and longer journey to go that way, though it was often cheaper than passage with a larger ship that required deeper water but was faster and more reliable. Between the two peninsulas of the Eastern continent was the Inner Sea, which was where Prima and most of the Manillo were settled. The water there was generally only traveled by Manillo-approved vessels, which only drove up the price of going the way Ryu and Luna were going.

Their strategy was to take a larger and faster ship down south through most of the Inner Sea and then bear southwest in order to miss the mud flats by about a mile and sail across the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean seemed to go forever in all directions but north. Neither continent bound it too much, though the East had the Desert that was in the way of part of it, but other than that it was a free and unbounded body of water. Only the bravest of explorers attempted to go too far afield riding its gentle waves, but few were ever heard from again and fewer had stories of the world beyond the three known continents.

The maneuver of sailing along the Southern Ocean's northern edge was a common way for the more affluent intercontinental travelers to get from one continent to the other without risking a vessel being run aground in the mud that was very near the surface of the 'shortest' route from one continent to the other.

The journey would take four full days. Most of Ryu and Luna's supplies of fresh food were for the crossing; they could purchase more food on the other side. The first day, the day that had them sailing south on the Inner Sea was completely uneventful, but the evening hours right before the two Ascents were going to attempt to sleep in the rocking hold, a guest joined the passengers aboard the ship. Right about when the ship was passing nearby Prima (or at least, as near as any human-owned ship was allowed to get).

“Rigen!” Ryu shouted happily as the Manillo made it onto the deck.

The Water Ascent looked over at the source of the voice and smiled. “Well if it isn't the young Dragon! And all grown up to!” He immediately noticed the interested look on Luna's face and the way that she walked up to Ryu when he called out. “Oh, and you have a lovely lady with you as well! Aren't you the lucky one! From the human Agent to the Princess of Wyndia to this lovely young...” he was about to take Luna's hand to kiss it when Luna stopped him.

“You touch me and you'll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“She's even feisty!” Rigen said approvingly, which caused Luna's eyebrows to rise. “You do have all the luck, young Dragon.”

Ryu tried to stammer out a reply, but failed rather miserably. Luna came to his rescue. “I don't think it has anything to do with luck. Ryu's my friend, and the Princess’s friend too, much as I dislike her myself.” She leaned up toward Rigen, who leaned back slightly, perturbed. “And he doesn't flirt outrageously with anything female that moves.”

Rigen turned to regard Ryu. “Are you sure you can't give me any of your luck?”

“Can we talk about something else?!” Ryu exploded, his arms gesticulating more than usual.

Luna snickered, but obliged. “I'll let the two of you catch up. I'll be in my bunk.” With that, the nineteen-year-old went over to the entrance to the hold and went down.

“I really...” Rigen began, but Ryu cut him off.

“What are you doing on the ship, Rigen?”

Rigen shrugged. “I'm on here to indicate to the Captain that he still needs to be stationary while we exchange some goods with him.” With amazing timing, another Manillo hopped onto the deck behind Rigen where Ryu could see carrying a parcel. He hurried over to the hold and then out of sight. “It's the requirement we give for using our waterways, that they stop and allow trade at Prima. Most human vessels jump at the chance, as it's really a win-win situation. A Manillo is always nearby the ship while its in our waters, but we only actively deal with the ship when trading or when they're violating the terms of the agreement.”

“I see,” Ryu said. “So you'll be headed back to Prima in a few minutes, then.”

“Yes,” Rigen replied. Then he thought for a moment. “I don't think I should leave you empty handed, though.” He reached into his water-travel pack. When he pulled out a pair of gills, Ryu's eyebrows rose. “You should have these.”

“Aren't those extremely expensive, Rigen?”

“Yes,” came the reply. “Of course they are; they provide a unique ability normally limited to my people. But you might find a use for it on your journey... and knowing the kinds of things that you wish to find out, let's just say I have a vested interest in your success.” He reached out, holding the gills for Ryu to take them.

Ryu did, tentatively. “Thank you very much. I don't know what you think I'll end up using them for...”

“You may find them useful. I want you to succeed, and only the Gods know what you'll need in order to do so.” Rigen looked around, noticed that the last stragglers of Manillo were getting off the boat for the last time, and he leaned in to Ryu and whispered. “Don't forget to tell your lady friend who gave them to you.”

Ryu shoved him overboard. He fell back laughing into the spray, and the ship unfolded its sails once more.

That night the ship turned west and headed straight toward the Western Continent. Ryu slept well, though Luna woke up early and could not get back to sleep. When Ryu found her in the morning, bleary-eyed and looking out toward the north where the Muddy Ocean was barely visible under the horizon if you squinted, she was silent on her overnight ordeal. “I don't want to talk about it.” The only seven words Ryu got out of her on the subject.

At one point that day, Ryu told Luna about Rigen's gift the night before. Luna shook her head in wonder at the sheer gall that the Manillo had, while Ryu shrugged. “It'll be useful,” he said, “if we ever get into a situation where we need to escape in the water. Maybe something neither of us can think of right now.”

Luna sighed. “You're probably right, though I can't help but be distrustful of things that come from him.”

“I've used these things before,” Ryu said. “They were very helpful, and they work great for any sort of water exploration you want to do. Never had any problem with them. And he's right; our... unofficial mission... is something that he'd like to see succeed too.”

Luna snorted. “Then why didn't he do anything about it himself? Why has everyone waited until we, the most affected by all of this-” Ryu was used to Luna using inappropriate words, so he didn't even react to this one - “grow up and can take care of it ourselves? Why is everyone else just sitting around and letting all of this happen?”

“I don't know,” was the only answer the Ryu could give.

The rest of the day passed in quiet monotony. Ryu was thankful for the fresh sea breeze, as that was the only thing that made the journey comfortable. Luna stayed on the deck during the day, and then headed into the hold just as the sunset's red rays started to fade from the expansive sky. Ryu liked to stay on the deck until the breeze became too cold to bear and the light from the sun was completely gone before he also headed down into the hold for sleep. The few other passengers that were present on the ship kept to themselves, and Ryu decided it was best not to bother them.

The rest of the journey was like that too. Quiet monotony, a sea breeze and a stable routine. It was a relief to Ryu when Luna's latest quiet complaint was interrupted by the lookout's loud cry that indicated land was in sight. Luna then rushed to the bow, the only time she ever got that close to the front of the ship, and stared hard at the horizon. She turned around and said to Ryu, “I don't see it yet.”

Ryu laughed. “That's why we have somebody up there,” he pointed up to the crow's nest, “who can tell us when something is coming before that thing can be seen from down here.”

Luna looked up at the crow's nest, and studied the rope ladders that would be used by the crew to get up and down the ship. “He's very brave,” she said, which set off Ryu again. She tried to hit him, but he dodged into the hold. He was going to prepare their packs, and it was better to be out of the way of the crew when they were scrambling around the ship raising this, lowering that, untying this line and moving it over there... it was just better to be out of the way. Luna chasing him only helped him get her out of the way of the crew too.

The two Ascents were ready to disembark the instant the gangplank was down. The buildings in the port town of Sonne were of a different style than either of the Ascents had seen before, but they didn't have time to gawk while they were still on the dock. The many dockworkers mixed in with the crews of quite a few ships that were berthed there, and Ryu and Luna climbed their way up to the city proper as quickly as they could. They didn't want to be in the way of anyone if they could help it. Just a normal pair of travelers, out for a vacation before they settled down. That was their cover story.

While the two stopped for supplies in a few shops, such as fresh food supplies that they were completely out of, they did not linger in town. The sun was still high enough in the sky that they could get a decent amount of ground covered before nightfall. Once they felt that they had sufficient supplies for a while, they embarked on the old Imperial Highway that led from the coast to the old Imperial capital of Chedo. Of course, the Fou-Lu Empire had fallen quite a few years ago; the only things that still remained of the Empire were names. Cities, rivers, roads: most of the aspects of the land, particularly in the southern half of the continent where the old capital sat, kept their old names through the ages. It was sort of a testament to how long the Empire had lasted in the old days.

Now, however, Chedo was simply the largest city in the southernmost nation of Scande, though it was not the capital. That was reserved for Soma, which also lay on the Imperial Highway. However, at the time of the fall of the Empire, Soma had been abandoned. It was only afterward, during the aftermath and bloody civil war that fragmented the former mighty Empire, that Chedo had been rendered nearly uninhabitable, particularly the area of the Imperial Palace. Then a good portion of the people, and the leaders of the movement that had control of the area at the time, moved to Soma, settling the place. Soma had never grown to the size that Chedo still was, but the active parts of each city were comparable in size. Recently there had been some noise about moving the capital back, even to the point of building a palace to support the ruling class of Scande... but they hadn't moved it. Politically, Chedo remained only a representation of the old Empire, nothing more.

But Chedo, not the capital of Scande, was where the Ascents were bound. One is hidden among the lost Old World. The clues that Ladon had given Ryu about where to find the shrines that he needed to find were ringing in his head even three years later. Chedo had the Black Citadel: the abandoned portion of the Imperial Capital. Monsters roamed the streets and even inside the buildings such as the Imperial Palace itself. Not much was known about what happened on the other side of the guarded mid-city walls, but brave and foolhardy adventurers were known to brave the monster-infested streets to attempt to find things out. They had not, as of yet, been very successful.

All of this was common knowledge even as far away as the halls of Wyndia Castle, where Luna and Ryu had found the most promising place to start their search long before they had begun their journey. Both were confident about this assessment, and it showed in their strides as they made their way down the crowded Imperial Highway. The Imperial Highway was the most often used road in Scande, and the army made sure that it was safe for the common folk to travel along it. No monsters were allowed to stray too near the paved stones that even the ruling party travelled along when they needed to get somewhere. Thus, the day's walking trip was just as uneventful as the early day's sailing one.

The Ascents set up their tent to one side of the road, but within the protected area, and ate a repast of the freshest fruit and meat that they had bought in town that day. Once full, they settled down to a long and restful sleep.

The next day, they'd be able to reach Chedo if they hurried a bit. Their journey would really be underway when they managed to get there. And they would need all of their energy if they were to succeed at either of their goals. Ryu only hoped that being off the ship would give Luna the ability to sleep through the night again.