Ch11-3: Lunar Homeworld
The new Lunar Homeworld rose up around Cecil on every side. The expanse of wide, teal sky and soft stretches of stringy golden clouds. Tall, lush forests stretching as far as the eye could see, bursting with the scent and sounds of wildlife. The tall shimmering glow of the crystal-stone Lunar Fortress as it reached up to dizzying hights in all of its mind-bending majesty.There was also the humidity. The heat. And the buzz of tropical insects. The Lunar Colony had exchanged the cold reaches of the lifeless Red Moon for the balmy rainforests of a far away world. A place alien both to humans and Lunars.
Cecil should have been paying far more attention to the new world around him. He should have been in awe and wonder about the small groups of white haired children that gathered to watch as they made their way towards the tall Lunar Fortress. He should have been curious to hear them speak in excited tones of a language that he could not understand.
But all of this was lost on the Paladin. His mind was still back in that strange ethereal glade. Lost to the words that the girl Sparrow had spoken.
-You are the children of the Sygnus. The power of the heavens and the earth have been gifted, passed down to you. –
Maybe it was shock. Maybe it was denial. Maybe he just didn’t know what to do about the revelation. Being a Half Lunar was enough.
-But your power has been split… each of you bears only a half Sygnus. Perhaps that is why the Second Coming has not happened. The Darkstar is divided.-
Cecil’s green eyes wandered to study the face of his brother. Golbez had hardly spoken a word since the revelation. It was hard to tell what the Master Wizard was thinking or feeling… he was good at shelling himself away from things. Maybe it was his way of dealing with the gravity of it all, whereas Cecil could only fret.
-Full Sygnus can only be borne by one. A Sygnus-Half cannot hope to face down the power of a Dark Sygnus who has grown in power over many centuries.-
That was where his mind shut away the sound of the remembered voice. He lurched back from the insinuation that had been left unspoken. That only one of them could hope to inherit the power to face their foe. But to inherit the power of Sygnus meant to walk the lines of madness, to risk becoming a creature no better than the Dark Sygnus, Luccious.
Does that mean that if we can find no other way to transfer the power, one of us must… die…?
As if he could hear the very depths of Cecil’s thoughts, Golbez’s face turned towards him. Silence held fast in the light behind his eyes, giving away nothing. Leaving a cold prickle running over the Paladin’s body.
This is all too big. I’m a soldier. A captain. A Paladin. Even a king. But… a Sygnus? Wouldn’t Golbez be more suited to being something like that? I don’t know the first thing about that sort of power.
As the group followed FuSoYa up the stairs to the front gates of the Crystal Fortress, a young Lunar boy dressed in what must have passed as armor gave a curt salute. The ancient Lunar nodded once slowly before the boy scrabbled over to open the arched door for them. Not understanding a word of the exchange between the two, Cecil blinked a few times.
Then, leaning over, he chanced a question from his brother.
“Why do they have children guarding the gates of the fortress?” the Paladin whispered. Though it wasn’t as if the young Lunar could understand his words either.
Golbez mused for a moment before breaking his silence, though Cecil didn’t know if it was more out of being polite or because he really wanted to speak. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… shouldn’t they put someone of a little more stature to guard the front gates of the Fortress? Or is there so little danger here that they’re confident in the skills of a child?” Cecil expanded on his original question.
His brother responded with a quiet chuckle.
“What?”
Then a sniff as Golbez gathered up his words, “I’d say LoRaSe is probably one of the taller Lunars here.”
“You’re kidding.” Cecil’s brow furrowed. “He can’t be even five foot.”
“I am not kidding,” he replied with a faint smile. “Lunars are smaller-built people. And even though the majority that live here are still considered children by the society’s standard, it’s really about as tall as any of them will ever get.”
“I… didn’t know that.”
“You met Uncle Fu. Why are you surprised?”
“Well I just thought that Uncle Fu was short because he’s…” the Paladin lowered his voice again, “Well…”
“Old?” his brother supplied.
“I heard that!” the Lunar’s voice grated roughly back at his two nephews.
Cecil looked abashed. Golbez just offered an innocent grin.
“Troublemakers. Just like your father,” FuSoYa grunted as he turned the corner.
Rosa glanced back with a what-are-you-up-to face. Then seeing her husband just as puzzled, she took his hand instead. It was a good, comforting feeling. A feeling that reminded Cecil what it had been like over the past few years, sheltered within the peace after the great Crystal War.
Sure, there had been stress and a steep learning curve when it came to making the transition from soldier to king. But that was nothing he couldn’t handle. Nothing quite like this… with all the talk of legends and Sygnus and Patrons. Things that were better left to the old ages. Things that should have never come to the human world.
But they have come. And now we have little choice but to face these things the best that we can.
FuSoYa continued to lead them through the long, crystal-stone hallways. There was little in the way of decor along the walls… not that the Lunars had much choice in how to decorate. From what Cecil had been hearing, the colony had been lucky enough simply to sustain itself on the shelter that was build and the food that it could gather.
The last thing that they had time to worry about was how to decorate, I’m sure.
The current plan was to get to the chamber, there within the Fortress, where the Crystals of the Moon were now held. They would then attempt to secure the Crystals in hope of capturing Joran and reclaiming Incrytan… and organize an evacuation in case the worst should happen. So far, it did not seem that there had been any destructive forces at work there within the colony.
Not yet, at least.
The young guard that Golbez had called LoRaSe was now keeping pace alongside of FuSoYa. The old Lunar was speaking rapidly in the moon language. By the look on the guard’s face, he was given the instructions on what to do to begin the Lunarian evacuation. LoRaSe responded to some of the curt demands with a furrowed brow and worried intonations. But in the end, he stopped, gave a quick bow to FuSoYa, and trotted quickly back the way that they had come.
“Ben… what’s happening? What are they talking about?” Chase was half jogging to keep up with the long strides of the Master Wizard.
Golbez must have noticed the boy’s efforts. He reached down and carefully lifted Chase up, balancing him on one shoulder as if the child weighed nothing at all. “We are making preparations. It’s likely to be dangerous from here… I wonder if you should go with the rest of the Lunars.”
Chase clutched tightly to the green robes. “No… Ben! I want to stay with you!”
“I know you do. But if we can’t seal the Crystals in time, they may all be destroyed. All at once,” Golbez’s voice was deep and serious. “You saw what happened when only two were destroyed, right?”
The boy nodded.
“Well, this time, there are eight. And they are all in the same room.”
Chase gasped a little. But he didn’t stop clutching the green robe.
“Stop talking like it’s already happened,” Edge snapped from the other side. “We have a chance to stop it. And a lot of it is going to be in your hands… so don’t botch it.”
Golbez glanced over at the ninja with a grim face, “I guess that means you’re going to have to put your trust in me, yes?”
The Eblanian King gave a sniff. “Only because it’s the last ditch effort.”
“Thanks for the support,” the Master Wizard grumbled. He was becoming more and more used to the ways of sarcasm.
“I believe you can do it,” Rydia’s voice interrupted.
Golbez paused in his step, glancing over at the green-haired Caller.
“Don’t listen to a word that Edge says,” she continued, “He’s just jealous because he can’t get the spotlight.”
“That’s not true!” the ninja whined.
“Face it. It most certainly is,” Rydia waved a finger in his face.
An argument might have escalated at that point if they had not arrived at the Crystal Room. The moment that FuSoYa stopped, a call rang out over the hall and another young, freckled-faced Lunar rushed down the steps towards the group. The boy seemed to remember himself as he approached, giving a low bow. His eyes were wide and green when he straightened, staring with a pale look at the group of people that followed the old Lunarian.
“Humans…?” the boy said in an accented Common. The word was barely a whisper, his expression caught between disbelief, awe and slight fear.
“NaTu,” FuSoYa interrupted the boy’s momentary lapse with a stern but gentle tone, then continued in a long string of Lunar words. Something in the way that he spoke, even if Cecil couldn’t understand the words, indicated that this young Lunar in particular was one that their Uncle was fond of.
The boy responded with nods and wide motions of his hands, though his eyes flicked back now and then to steal a look at the group of tall strangers that had arrived in the hall. His tone was quick and urgent. Every now and then, Cecil could hear the word “Crystal” enmeshed in the strange flow of sound.
“What are they saying?” the Paladin whispered up to his brother.
Golbez had been observing the conversation with a keen eye. There was a troubled expression on his face. “The Moon Crystals have been reacting to something unknown, behaving erratically. This has been an ongoing thing, it seems. But has gotten much worse now. I assume they are having a bad reaction to the loss of the Blue Planet Crystals.”
“Is there something we can do?” Rosa asked with a concerned frown.
“Besides balance out the energies…?” the Master Wizard answered vaguely.
“Well, if we do recapture Incrytan, can’t you just… you know… remake the Crystals that were destroyed?” Kain looked over with gritty teeth.
“I… don’t know,” Golbez’s gaze dropped a little.
“What do you mean?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead, to tell the truth,” came the answer. “I’m not exactly the Crystal Master that my father was.”
“But you made Incrytan?” Chase pointed out.
“And look at what’s come of that,” Golbez murmured, half under his breath.
Cecil reached out and placed one encouraging hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right now, our Father’s people need us to fend for the Crystals here. Let’s concentrate on that first.”
His brother glanced up, lips pursed as if to fight back his surprise. But it reflected in his eyes. After a moment, Golbez nodded, straightening a little, looking ahead.
NaTu was pulling back on the handle of the door, opening the way to the Crystal Chamber. Even through the thin crack, a shifting light shown. Cecil could feel the energies, rising and falling. But unlike the calm peace he had felt from the Moon Crystals before, there was a sense of disarray. The crackling of random streams of light tracing over the lines of the walls.
Slowly, Golbez hoisted Chase up in one arm, then lowered the boy down to the ground. When the child glanced up with big questioning gold eyes, the Master Wizard ruffled his hair in what could only be a very human, affectionate gesture.
“Good luck, Ben,” Chase offered.
“I will do everything I can,” Golbez nodded. Then his face took on a look of determination as he and FuSoYa stepped into the shifting light and shadow of the adjoining chamber.