Fantasy Howl's Flying Castle (Finished! ---Whoo! (*＾▽＾)／)

[Zer0]

- Jade Palace -
" Land of Awashima "​

James was looking at Chenglei weird. He had never heard this accent before and was giving him a questioning look, and also at his drink too, wondering if something was in it that would make people talk weird.

But more importantly, this wasn't a dream. His sister had been prophesied to battle Valdanr and a bigger badder monster called Curse-Striker? Izzanagi was about to answer Chenglei, but James interrupted.

"But wait, there is an egg. There is this colossal egg in Paroosia, what does the prophecy say about that?" said James.

"We do not know. But that is strange and unbelievable, to have a hatchling speaking like an adult and casting ancient spells the way the Devourer and his servants used to." Izanagi rose. "Chenglei Zhou, James Pendragon, come with me. I have something to show you. It is an ancient scroll passed down from generation to generation. It is a record of the prophecy spoken by Guang Sho thousands of years ago."

Katsuya
OOC || Characters || Moments in Time
​

 

[Katsuya]

Chenglei listened in and his brows furrowed, looking worried. Then he stood up to follow the robotic looking royal. "Yes, of course." His fake accent came back on, acting like he didn't notice the sudden change.

*************************

Serena rode on Mizutsume with Johnny, frowning. In her hands is the bowl Hisaya is in, still quiet as ever. She sighed, her shoulders slumped with her head low. Then she peeked over her shoulder, her wildly blown blonde hair almost veiling her azure eyes, attempting to smile at Johnny as she didn't care about the pink summer dress she's wearing is billowing as she's wearing shorts under.

"Thank you for coming with me Johnny..." She yelled over the gusts of wind so he can listen.

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Johnny Caprice -
" Mizutsune's Back "​

"Y-you're welcome, Serena!" yelled Johnny back. He was covering his eyes with a hand and looking away, his face red. "Is it okay if y-you could wrap my jacket around the b-bottom of your dress?" he blindly offered her his jacket.

The dragons flew past the lands where rice paddies crisscrossed along the plains. Now that they've noticed it, it seemed only long dragons roamed the land of Awashima, and other larger species seem to actively avoid it.

As they soared across the sky, they began to see more signs of civilization, of different dragons and mechanized men not of Oriental origins living together, but rare were those who were as large as Mizutsune or Leviathan. Those few times they came into sight of the titans, one which had been sleeping in a lake of lava, it gave a roar of warning, and Mizutsune and her companions, flew far, far around to avoid a confrontation with it. It seemed that dragons were very territorial which was probably why they never saw a huge dragon around the shore where Leviathan rested.

It got colder as the sun set, but soon the dragons slowed down, circling an icy place where huge stone birds towered over snowy cliffs. Here Mizutsune let Johnny and Serena down before she changed into her human-like form, and led the way to where one of the statues stood. Here there was an engraving of a door etched with runes. One of Mizutsune's companions, the red dragon, stepped forward and knocked really hard.

"Announcing the arrival of Mizutsune!" he said grandly. "Historia, we have come to seek your council."

Some sounds were heard inside, the padding of bare feet, the ruffle of papers, and then engraving of the door lit up, and a smooth crack appeared on the stone. It was a door after all, only chiseled so seamlessly it seemed to have not been there at all. It opened, and there stood a person who was half-white smoke. She had long arms like the dragons in their current form, and was slightly hunched and walked on her knuckles like primeval man. It was definitely a she.

Historia approached them all, puffing out smoke. Her silhouette was the same one the Sea King had shown them yesterday. "Ah!" she pointed at Serena and Johnny excitedly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she yelled, jumping up and down, "It's you! It's the both of you! Mizutsune, are these ---" she began in perfectly fluent common tongue.

Mizutsune nodded; Johnny looked confused, but then suddenly drew back when the strange lady grabbed his and Serena's shoulders, his face going red again.

"Well, why are we standing here? Let's get cracking to the guardians, time to check the seals, and ---"

"Wait a moment. Serena, please show Historia Hisaya. This is my friend, remember Stinky? He has been corrupted, you must know of a way to change him back."

" . . . Mizutsune, this isn't the time for ---"

"Please."

"You just said please."

"And I will say it again. Please. He's suffering."

"Oh, alright, alright, come in." she invited them all inside. "So, you two must have questions." she said casually, her smoky head tuning to look at Johnny and Serena.

​

- Sea King's Shrine -​

"Lydia is herself now?" said Kenren cautiously.

"Yes, unless I overlooked something like the last time." said King Aelin pleasantly.

Hoot, said Sasha, perched next to Lydia's cheek and displaying herself for all to see as though to prove Lydia was indeed harmless.

Kenren looked into Lydia's eyes intently, then at her wrists which were free of the sealing cuffs which the Sea King removed himself because he thought she didn't need it. "Are you certain, O Sea King?"

"No. But I thoroughly checked."

"Alright. Lydia, ready to go to Awashima?"

It was the thirteenth day since Chenglei, James, Serena, and Johnny left. A long dragon they haven't met before came to the Sea King's shrine a few days ago telling them that he was here to carry them to the Jade Palace once they were ready. The dragon had bowed deeply to Lydia and Kenren, before coiling itself around Bowl Rock, flattening groves of trees and sending birds flying away when it did.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

When the long dragon arrived and bowed to Kenren and herself, she wasn't much surprised that it had bowed to Kenren, but to her, that was a little confusing because she wasn't sure why it would, though she returned the gesture a bit hastily because she didn't want to seem ill-mannered.

It took the coaxing of the Sea King to cause Lydia to remove her cuffs. While she may have been able to cast whether or not she was wearing them, she still felt a horrible pang of guilt at having tried to snuff out Kenren, even if it wasn't through voluntary action. She dragon had remained dormant inside of her, gathering his power to push out all at once at that moment she had launched the fireball at the oriental prince and the young witch was terribly upset with herself at not being able to fight him off because she had let her guard down.

She flinched slightly as Kenren examined her, looking away timidly after a moment, her fingers gently finding Sasha's feathers as she perched proudly on her shoulder. She paused a moment as Kenren asked if she was ready to go to Awashima before she nodded hesitantly. She still felt out of sorts and had actually taken to working on runes for another set of sealing cuffs. It would probably be a while before she mentally and emotionally felt whole again, felt like she was the only one in control of her soul.

"Thank you... King Aelin... for helping me," Lydia reached into her pocket. She still had her embroidery thread and before the whole incident with her falsely being healed, she had been weaving a bracelet for the Sea King. She didn't expect him to wear it, but she wanted to give it to him as thanks, "I... I made this for you... where I am from, we give them as gifts to our friends... I know it's not gold or jewels... but I hope you'll accept it," the woven article was a typical size for a Human and it was made out of various shades of blues and greens in diamond patterns with some silver accentuating the colors.

"Also... I was wondering... some of our friends that went missing when we crossed the Storm Wall... a dragon and a woman...." she had been looking away shyly though now her gaze turned back on the Sea King, her brow furrowing, "do... do you know what happened to them?"

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Sea King's Shrine -​

"Ahhh, nothing like the gift from the heart, as you children of men say." said King Aelin, receiving the gift with a friendly splash of water. "I find this gift the best, for it is priceless, beyond repayment. I have only very few of these, Beautiful Noble Forest --- which woman and dragon, where, and at what time?" he added, still looking at the gift distractedly.

In the background, Kenren was hollering orders for everyone to start packing up camp and preparing for their journey on dragon back.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Lydia blushed gently at the Sea King's acceptance of her gift, obviously pleased by his words. Having spent such inclusive time with him, she had come to realize what a gentle spirit he was and she hadn't thought he would decline her offering, but his reaction was delightful nonetheless.

She gave him a confused look as he questioned her so thoroughly about the two she had asked about, guessing that since he was likely aware of when they crossed as well, it might be a little easier to explain, "A white dragon named Levitas disguised as a wendigo and... well the woman with him, I don't really know much about her, she is a magic user and her name... well she has us call her Lady. They came across the Storm Wall the same way that we did and at the same time... well I think they crossed the Storm Wall, I don't really know," she looked to King Aelin hopefully, "they were in a steel ball like the rest of us, only theirs was much larger because of Levitas."

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Sea King's Shrine -​

"Ah, they fell into my waters and was almost eaten, but flew away into the flying metal boat. They are on the other side of the Storm Wall, on the boat. Not many of your kind seem to like them, but that was a week ago. It hadn't rained on the metal boat since." he said absently, letting the trinket fall into the water, he watched it fall on the other piles of gifts he had received on their first meeting, and he was smiling at it.

He was like this most of the time, chipper and serene. He's never serious and seemed to take things very slow and easy, as though there was no rush to the days at all. He even said that often he would spend weeks just "breathing" and looking at the same mossy leaf growing on the side of his shrine. He had spent two years once only looking at a flower flourish and bloom, and then wilt, leaving pollen that became two flowers. He never slept, nor did he seem to need to, and seemed content to stay in his well.

Though Lydia probably got the feeling already that who he was here was not where he only was, as he seemed to know things beyond the borders of the floating islands, the Storm Wall, and all that was known and unknown.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

"Eaten? By Leviathan?" She blinked a few times, wondering how the 'boat' flew away. Maybe through magic? She shook her head, "so they aren't on this side then? Rained?" it was almost like talking to someone who spoke in riddles. She smiled gently at him as she watched his actions. She liked the Sea King's calming presence, even if what she asked was a bit important and she didn't really understand his answer because it was kind of vague.

Part of Lydia wished that she could share books with the Sea King, she felt like he would enjoy reading but she didn't know how he would do it.

Lydia's shoulders drooped slightly, her finger curling over her lips as she thought before looking back to King Aelin, concerned that Lady and Levitas would be trapped and starve if not found, "can you... do you think... maybe could you guide them to safety...? So they aren't stranded?"

Zer0

 

[Katsuya]

Johnny is so weird but Serena grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around her waist, shaking her head in disbelief.

As Johnny and her were let down and following Mizutsume, Serena tilted her head to the side when the red dragon announced her arrival and said 'Historia'. She was going to try to smile at the smoking figure when she opened door by the statue but she tensed up when she grabbed her shoulder; looking very surprised. The blonde is pretty sure she never met this lady other than see her figure from the Sea King. So why is she acting all chummy with her and Johnny?! What's with that?

As Mizutsume asked, Serena presented Hisaya to Historia, frowning in worry. As she listened to the conversation, the blonde added "Please! Please fix Hisaya." So she was glad that the smoky woman is willing to do so now despite not wanting to, it seems. Which is weird but she won't question it...for now.

When the smoky lady let them ask, Serena's first question was: "Why do you have a smoky head? It's so cool~! How do you do that?..." If Echo or Renee was there, they would have smacked their faces with the palm of their hands. Then the blonde asked another question.

"Why did you want to take us to the root? Oh! I'm Serena Lock and this is Johnny Caprice. We came over to see you because Renee, another friend of ours, talked to manna trees and one of them told her to come look for you. Why is that? How are you going to heal Hisaya because we have another friend who's in a similar position just...less like a stone and more human- Not saying Hisa-chan isn't human but yea..." Serena is nervous about the whole thing. It's pretty obvious since she's rambling on. "and well Renee is also in trouble because of the dragon. Do you know of a way to find them?"

Zer0

 

[Zer0]

- Historia's House -
" Giant Stone Birds "​

"My head is always like this when I'm listening to the sky, it turns into smoke through ethereal transmogrification made possible by the cosmic force that dwells in all things, and guided by the age old arcane laws of manna conservation through my spellweaving which transmutes my essence into smoke, but really this is not smoke, it is my essence in ether and it is not really cold, I think?" she waves her hand into her smoky head. "I do not want to take you to the root, which one are we talking about? Glad to meet you Serena and Johnny."

"H-hi." said Johnny.

Historia's place was messy. Full of so many books and scattered parchment and seemed to be catalogued according to years. She passed her long fingers over the spines looking for something. "I do not know why a manna tree would tell your friend Renee to find me, does she have a message for me? Odd, they could have just sang it to me and I would hear it eventually. And, I do not know if I can heal, Hisaya, I do not know what is wrong with him other than Valdanr is encasing his soul . . . ." she muttered distractedly, now throwing books aside in search for something. The books were magically caught in the air by her smoke. "And, no, I don't know how to find Renee and them. Why did you lose them in the first place? ---Ah! Here we are!"

She blew the dust off a musty old stone tome and squeezed out of her library-like home and into a room that still had books, but had more space and was less messy. "Hisaya's old notes!" she showed them what Johnny and Serena would recognize as something that looked like an incomplete exorcism circle very similar to what Lydia and James had been working on ages go. "Just complete this, Hisaya, and you will be free. And then ask Mizutsune to cast the spell for you. Easy peasy."

Katsuya

- Sea King's Shrine -​

"They are not stranded. They are on the metal flying boat that shot you into Leviathan's mouth." said King Aelin. "But if they do get stranded, then I shall guide them." he smiled.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Lydia nodded and smiled to the answer, "thank you King Aelin," she gave a curtsey though the gesture and the thanks weren't enough for the gratitude she felt as she took a few steps back from him and waved her hand in departure before running to join Kenren, Echo, and the other soldiers, "Prince Kenren! Echo! I asked King Aelin about Levitas and Lady... he said they survived but they are on the other side of the Storm Wall."

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Serena just blinked at her response before nodding. "I see...and no, I-Hahah! When I said 'that's cool' I was saying that it's looks lovely." She smiled at the smoky lady, amused. Then she frowned confused about something. "Okay. What guardians are you talking about? You want us to meet them? The one I'm talking about is..um...S-Sasagea is his name right?" She looked at the entertainer for some confirmation.

"I heard from Renee that he was sick before, something about gross looking blights...and a giant dragon egg eating his manna...?" Serena thought for a moment and shook her head. "We didn't really lose them. It's more like they wandered off...again." One of these days James is going to tie them up and drag them everywhere with him just to watch over them. When Historia took out the same but incomplete spell circle, the violinist felt her bottom eyelid twitch.

"...Um...I don't think Hisaya can complete it right now, but James knows it! Hisa-chan taught him and Lydia how." She looked at Johnny and Mizutsume with a small determined frown. "We can ask him to finish it instead?"

Zer0

***********************

"Oh really? That's great news!" Echo smiled happily at the small witch, carrying the heavy equipment with ease. "At least they are alive and well...but I do feel bad for Levitas. He wanted to come here more than everyone to speak with other dragons." She still remembered that he wanted to talk with them about his potential and to teach him dragon-y stuff like how to breathe fire.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Sea King's Shrine -​

"Yes, I know." said Kenren, busily. "Your things are over there." he pointed at their things all clumped together in a net of plant fiber that had been tied on the dragon's back. "Everyone, let's get moving!"

"Yes, your highness!"

The prince turned back to Lydia as he offered his hand for her and Echo as he climbed on the dragon. "Their true identities have been discovered, but I have given orders to my men, they will not hand them over to the Order of Merlin." he looked at her eyes intently again. "You really are Lydia this time, aren't you?"

Roleplay Skittle

- Historia's House -​

"James and Lydia have already completed it." said Johnny who had nodded at Serena's inquiry about Sunny's true name.

"Why did you not say so?" said Mizutsune, incredulously, then left immediately. "The rest of you stay here. I will go and bring James Pendragon here." the stone doors slammed shut.

Historia just continued to answer Serena normally. "The seven guardians who've been guarding the Nameless One and his servants' cages for years. And yes, of course I want you to meet them since you are the real guardians and not they. And oh, Sasagea, he had a giant dragon egg eating his manna? No wonder he hasn't been singing as loud these past four hundred years, I thought it was quite odd he faltered one day. Humm, so . . . Hisaya, we are curing him first before meeting the guardians?" she said impatiently.

The dragons nodded. "That is Misutsune's wish."

"Honestly, her personal feelings are getting in the way of more important things --- no offense to you." she added to Serena and the pot that held Hisaya. "There is much more at stake than a friend or two and we are wasting time. Izanagi and Isanami have acted, haven't they?"

"Yes, there will be a council meeting of all the feuding leaders this week."

"This week?" Historia sat on her table and picked a dirty toe. "Don't you mean right now?"

"There have been no set dates."

"Well they better set something, or it'll be too late." she huffed. "Snacks?" she suggested to them all. "Might was well eat while we wait for her majesty." she ambled off somewhere to get food.

Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

Echo flinched at a very bad thought after realizing what Kenren meant about the Order of Merlin. Then she nodded thanks to the Prince when he helped her climb the dragon. She snorted but stayed quiet when Lydia answered.

Roleplay Skittle
**********************

Serena can already imagine James' face now, frustrated that Mizutsume keeps dragging him everywhere and annoyed that she does it without his say first...

'His angry face...yikes...' She thought before looking at Historia, listening in. Then she blinked. "Wait-! We're guardians? There's seven of us-? But-!? Huh? Hold on, you want us to meet seven guardians to replace them for what? You know what? Never mind, I'll wait until the meeting." Serena wasn't ready to know yet, whatever this huge revelation is.

"Yes, thank yo- Wait! Mizutsume is a royal too?!" Her mind is blown away right now. Too much information! Too much to store in her brain!

Zer0

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

Lydia nodded brightly to Echo before her expression became somewhat downcast. While it wasn't on the same scale, she knew what it was like to not have those around that easily understood you so her heart went out to Levitas for being the only one of his kind on the other side of the Storm Wall. She decided that if she came across any dragons of his kind, she would be sure to ask them all the questions that Levitas had wanted to, at least all the ones she knew of, "me too..."

She looked at Kenren slightly confused, how would he have known and why hadn't he told everyone else? Her brow furrowed slightly, she then realized that the 'metal boat' wasn't the Sea King's unusual term for the steel ball but for the warship which was why he had said something about rain, she guessed that he learned of the warship through the rain and by that, she came to the conclusion that Kenren was contacted by his troops still on the ship, though that still didn't answer her question about why he didn't tell everyone that the two were safe. Of course who was she to question royalty so she didn't ask him why.

She nodded as he pointed at their things, her brow remaining furrowed as the prince continued and bit her lower lip as she thought for a moment. She had hoped that they wouldn't be discovered, but she was glad that she felt she could trust the prince not to let them fall into the hands of people that probably wouldn't really look at them like people. Her gaze shifted from his offered hand to his face, her hand hesitating for a moment as she nodded her head, "y-yes... I am... I-I... I'm very sorry... about before... your highness... I... I didn't realize he wasn't gone..." she looked away sadly, it wasn't that she hadn't hurt things with her magic before, but hurting someone that was a comrade, even if at a higher station than her, wasn't something she was used to and it made her feel awful. After a moment's reflection, she took Kenren's hand to climb aboard the dragon.

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Zer0]

- Historia's House -​

Historia giggled. "You're a funny one. Didn't you notice the five dragons trailing her around?" she gestured some odd mismatched tea cups at them all. The tea cups seemed to be made of chisled stone. She came back with a jug of what seemed to be fermented fruit, the cups, and a plate of what looked like flat bread, or bread with no yeast so that it didn't rise. There were some berries, and dried fruits, and some very salty dry fish.

"Thank you." said Johnny politely and drank from his cup, he was quite thirsty, and immediately paused. "This is . . . very strong wine."

"Not really." said Historia, taking a sip. "Sit anywhere you like, but mind the papers and books."

Katsuya

- On the Back of a Dragon -​

Kenren suppressed a chuckle. "You're Lydia, alright." he smiled, pulling her up. "It's fine, I thought that may have been the case. Is everyone, settled?" he added once everyone had 'buckled up'.

After a round of loud affirmation, the dragon leapt into the sky. The Sea King watched them go until his shrine dwindled smaller and smaller, and it was nothing by a speck in the distance. The dragon had told them that they were going to the Jade Palace, home of Izanagi and Isanamy, rulers of Awashima. The journey was going to take most of half the day, and told them to wear something warm because it will be very cold by the time they arrived.

Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

A relieved smile crossed her features, she had been afraid he would be mad at her because of how she hadn't known that Valdanr was still with her so it was nice that he wasn't. It was also nice knowing that she was free of that dark spirit, despite the hole that he, among other things, had left in her heart. She nodded slightly as a somewhat somber expression overcame her face then as she settled in for the flight.

Fearing that she would get blown away through the great gusts that would be created by airborne dragon travel, Lydia dismissed Sasha, telling her not to worry, that she would call her again when they landed so that she could see James as soon as they were with him again. She didn't say anything more than that, but it was likely the little owl already knew anyway.

Watching the Sea King disappear in the distance was a bit sad for her. She had really come to like him, he was sort of quirky in a very subtle way and the feeling of having known him for a long time was comforting, like a trustworthy friend that is always there for you. She gave one last wave to him before he wouldn't be able to see the gesture any longer. She realized she was going to miss him and that made her sad.

Lydia brought her long black coat and scarf with her, which had thus far come in rather handy since the weather in some of the areas had been rather chill, and that would be good for riding at high altitudes with the cold wind whipping over them as well, so she heeded the advice and donned her coat and scarf so while the wind was a bit of an annoyance, at least it wasn't too uncomfortable.

Zer0 Katsuya

 

[Katsuya]

"I'm sorry. I just never thought that we were riding on a very super important figure while getting here." Serena deadpanned, her fingers itched to play her violin now but holding Hisaya is enough to have a grip over herself. "I mean I did that but still...I don't normally ride on a royal. With a royal, sure, but not on one." It's just something that went against her training to be Princess Mia's violinist.

Then she sighed and grabbed a cup and fish, pausing when she heard Johnny mentioning it being strong wine. So Serena looked at it and giggled. "I guess it's good that Echo isn't here to drink it right, Johnny?" She joked as she lifted the cup to her lips and sipping it, immune to being drunk anymore. She's used to drinking strong wines and hard liquor so she has to agree with Historia; It's not that strong...sort of.

It's quite sometime but Mizutsume arrived with a very fluttered and a very annoyed James Pendragon like Serena predicted. He reminded her of Sasha whenever she gets mad at him, being all fluffy with her feathers; only with James it's his hair and clothes that are messed up instead. One of the dragon went back to grab his things from the Sea King's shrine just in case he needed something.

It took all night for James and Johnny to recreate the huge spell circle with their wands after they, Serena, and the dragons helped move the furniture to make space. As for the oldest Pendragon, he wishes Lydia was here with him as the fruit of their labor is about to come to light and yet...she's not here to see it. There were moments that he would look where Johnny is, feeling like it wasn't the same without Lydia being there with him.

He misses her a lot.

In the next day, James and Johnny checked, checked and checked again in case something is wrong before Mizutsume could even use the spell circle and finally...

Finally Hisaya is free from Valdanr's grasp.

However when Serena started to ask how he was feeling, she noticed something and was alarmed. It looked like a string has been cut loose around the stone and she never has seen that string there before. Just when she was about to attach it back, the stone started to crumble. James swiftly used Spirit Garde to catch Hisaya's soul before it left them and somehow...somehow he kept Hisaya's soul in his soul.

Which felt weird, according to James when Serena asked him. That's when she noticed how James tends to switch his speech patterns. There's the regular James that sounded stoic and calm and then there's another speech pattern that reminded Serena of how Hisaya talked; like he would drag on his answers instead of simplifying them to a 'yes' or a 'no'.

"Yep! That's Hisaya alright." Serena chirped in amusement. She's happy to see him feeling better and asked all sorts of question like did he get anymore memories back or he knows anything of the evil dragon other than what they know now. If he was excited to be free. "Does it feel better, Hisa-chan? Or should I call you Stinky too? Heheh!"

But then James' body rejected Hisaya out and he fell unconscious, sleeping until the next day. Their third day of being in Awashima...

Meanwhile Chenglei stayed behind when Mizutsume randomly took James and he could just wave at the disgruntled teen. "Stay safe, little brother!" He yelled out before following Izanami. Once he saw the prophecy scrolls, the blonde oriental stayed silent, unable to respond as he listened to Izanami's telling of the legend. He froze when he noticed something on one of the scrolls and couldn't help but gaped openly. That's...wow......

His mind is blown...

*************

Echo held on tightly when the dragon flew, practically laying herself down against the dragon's body as she wasn't comfortable with flying in general. It's not like Seifer's fear of heights but she doesn't want to fall either. They arrived a little more than half a day later.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Jade Palace -
" Awashima, Evening of the 13th Day "​

The dragon that carried the prince, his loyal soldiers, the tiny buy mighty spellcaster, and the hammer mama, crossed a sea, and after gliding between snowy mountain tops under the light of a full moon, came upon the twinkling night lanterns of floating stone dragon city of Awashima.

There on a plateau overlooking the valley, sat a palace very much like the Oriental castles in the orients, yet more ancient in design. There were people moving about, and it was only when they landed that it was very clear that they were half arcane machine. A welcoming crowd greeted the newcomers, and when they had slid off the dragon's back, the dragon transformed, changing into the shape of a man, but not quite. He was unnaturally tall, with horns on his head and skin the same color and pattern of his scales. He had very long arms, and walked like primeval man. He called servants who immediately attended to everyone's luggage; Kenren's soldiers were stunned; Kenren on the other hand, held his usual stately decorum, and kingly grace.

"Echo Mello!" roared a dragon out of the blue, and something not quite an oriental dragon, just resembling one came gliding down from the night sky and landing awkwardly on the vast stone courtyard, flailing its taloned arms as though afraid it may come in for a crash landing, but it landed as soft as a feather. It shoved its giant head, as big as a house down, and nuzzled Echo with its snout. It's fur was fluffy. This dragon had sheep horns, familiar orange eyes, pink-blonde fur, and a tie --- yes, a blue tie that draped the crowd. It had a wolf-like head, but it's nose was definitely like a sheep's. It blinked its giant orange eyes at her, and grinned, a very familiar grin --- showing pillars of not-sharp teeth.

Somewhere in the crowd, James was standing nervously. He had spotted her before they landed, and had sweaty palms and a twisty stomach when he saw Lydia get down. He didn't know what to say, but he clenched the hanky she had given him in his pocket and with a look as though he was planning to storm a fortress, strode over. He got draped momentarily by the sheep dragon's blue tie, but ducked out of it, straightening up so quickly when he found himself just a few feet from Lydia that he jumped, and just said what he hoped was a cool. "H-hi." and raising his hand a like a school boy.

"Welcome, honored guests!" said one of the mechanized people. "Welcome to Awashima!"

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle Panzer

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

As the scenery whipped by, Lydia's green eyes were bright with interest as she surveyed the lands below, taking in whatever sights she could. She was in awe when they finally reached their destination and was obviously as amazed with this settlement as she had been with every other new city they had come across in their travels.

While she was not terribly surprised by the fact that the dragon transformed once they had all disembarked, she was a little interested in his unusual appearance. Her mouth formed a little 'o' shape as she watched him curiously for a moment before jumping almost literally out of her shoes as she fell back on her behind when a dragon in the sky suddenly roared. Sitting on the ground, her eyes large as she stared upwards, taking in the appearance of this dragon and his oddly familiar look, taking into consideration that nickname for Echo, "... JOHNNY?!" Lydia said in disbelief scurrying back to her feet before laughing as she watched Johnny-dragon and Echo reunite, feeling a tinge of sadness before movement beside her caught her eye and she turned to look, only to see James as he slipped out from beneath Johnny's blue tie.

The smile she had been wearing diminished slightly, but she didn't look upset, just like she didn't really know how to look. Her lips twitched slightly as she tried to put a little more effort into her smile, faintly nodding her head a single time, "hi..." while her demeanor remained cautious in a way, her voice took on a slightly cheerier tone, "o-oh... I have.. um... something to show you... and... someone that wants to see you."

Closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath, Lydia focused her thoughts and calmed her soul, thinking of her fond memory with James and her desire to see Sasha and without speaking the words, after a moment there was the sound of feathered wings as Sasha flew from her realm into theirs and straight to James. Lydia smiled kindly at their reunion before her attention was drawn away towards the individual that welcomed them to Awashima and she smiled in thanks and bowed her head slightly.

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[Katsuya]

Echo's doe like green eyes widened when she saw Awashima from the back of the dragon she's on, amazed at the ancient oriental architecture. The people living here are interesting and she bowed back at the people who welcomed them, smiling shyly as she will never get used to grabbing attention. "Thank you very much, Sir." She said.

The fawn jumped in surprise when a dragon yelled out a very familiar nickname, freezing as the dragon nuzzled her with his big snout. With Lydia, Echo ...well...echoed. "JOHNNY?! Is that you, my fluffy fluffy marshmallow?!" She hugged back, ears perking up high as her tail wiggled in her happiness to seeing him again. "I miss you!" She left kisses on his snout and nose. Serena tackled Echo in a hug, saying things like 'Oh how I miss you and your not funny funny dad jokes!' and 'You need to see this place! It's amazing!'

Her next victim is Lydia after Sasha was summoned and she tackled her into the ground with a tight hug, squeezing and nuzzling her head. "Lydia! I miss you too! How are you?! Feeling better? No more dragon in you right?!" She's happy to see her friends again.

Chenglei, who slid off of Johnny, stood among the welcoming party, staring the whole reunion with a pensive face. Then his ash purple eyes looked over at the calm prince before bowing his head as a 'Welcome back'. He was this quiet for the days they stayed in the jade palace as he observed everyone while they mingled and trained with the dragons here. He trained as well, learning new tricks and abilities. Then he ruffled Lydia's hair a bit, giving her a slight smile before walking away and help carry their stuff away.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Jade Palace -
" Awashima, Evening of the 13th Day "​

The fluffy dragon grunted in affirmation at Echo and Lydia, still grinning. "I miss you." he rumbled like an avalanche, nuzzling. Johnny nodded as Serena said this place should be checked out and nuzzled Lydia too with his snout in greeting. "What Serena said. Feeling better, Lydia?"

In the sidelines, James' expression had become careful as he took note of Lydia's reaction, but was happily surprised to see Sasha. He hadn't seen her in two months. Hoot! the owl flapped her wings joyfully, nibbling his ear. James laughed, "Sasha! I've missed you!" he cupped the little owl to his cheek in a hug as she puffed her feathers out contentedly.

Hoot

"Hoot." said James.

Hoot!

He smiled at her, petting her feathery head, then looked at Lydia saying, "And you summoned her without --- " but at that moment she was being tackled by Serena and nuzzled by Johnny. James coughed awkwardly, watching the girls greet each other. He looked relieved that Lydia was alright now, then looked unsure about joining in, so he ended up just clapping Echo's shoulder and greeting her with a, "Hey, Echo, Johnny's had a growth spurt.", then glancing at Lydia again (Sasha gave him a curious look), "I'll just, um, help Chenglei with your bags. Can I?" he added nervously to her, if she said yes, he'd go off to help the swordsman with the bags; Johnny and James greeted the rest of the soldiers they had become chummy with the past months and asked Kenren if they found his sister, but Kenren said that they will discuss it later. James looked like he wanted to argue, but the prince gave him a firm look and just let it be.

The mechanized Orientals smiled at the happy reunion, the one who greeted them introduced himself as Po, their servant and guide and bid them follow him to their quarters in the palace.

"I'll go ahead, need to change." said the fluffy giant dragon, who gave Echo a happy blink and a last nuzzle, before pouncing into the air, not quite flying like the real Oriental dragons, and up over the palace grounds, then disappearing behind the roof as they felt magic thrum and his sheep-horned head descended as he began to shrink.

Kenren was speaking to Po as his soldiers followed him in three neat columns, disciplined and head facing forward, but their eyes were looking around in wonder at the place, and one could see many questions in their eyes; James was with Chenglei, looking like he was thinking of something hard, and when they finally reached their quarters, Butters, Frey, Meatballs, Sorbet, Pond, that bushy whisker cat Johnny summoned weeks ago, stampeded towards the group to greet them and see how Lydia was doing.

"I'll leave you to your wonderful reunion, then, Prince Taisho." bowed Po. "If there is anything you need, our servants will attend to you."

"Yes, good work. Your hospitality is generous," said Kenren. There was already dinner spread out on the table. The prince dismissed his men who had their own quarters just like everyone else, and said that they can all eat dinner without him. He then turned to Chenglei once they were alone. "Situation report. What's been happening the past two weeks?" as usual the prince was expecting a detailed written report and some talk about the major events or issues if there were any.

Meanwhile, Johnny was showing everyone their quarters and talking enthusiastically about all they've seen here as they ate dinner --- though he said nothing about the important things until Kenren's soldiers left and it was only the prince, Chenglei, Lydia, Johnny, Echo, Serena, and James around the table.

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle

 

[Katsuya]

Echo raised an eyebrow at James, but she nodded. Her ears twitched. "Yes, he has. He's taller than you now." She joked, smiling at him.

Once he got everyone's luggage in their rooms, Chenglei gave Kenren his detailed report for the two weeks he and the kids are here as he talks about the situation. However there was something that's bugging the blonde and it's obvious to the Prince who knew him for a long time. With the way he's looking away, not focused at all with what he's saying.

"We visited a huge taco dragon and it had salty fish plate with flat bread and she was smoking..." Then he shook his head and tried again, telling Kenren that the kids visited the Aged Author and managed to separate Hisaya from the red stone; currently staying in James' body. If the Prince ever asked why he's distracted, Chenglei would just look away again with a worried frown, brows furrowed.

"...Some of the kids with you and I are in something a lot bigger than anyone anticipated..." He sighed before standing straight and continued to give his report. This time no weird sentences came out.

When the group was alone in the room with their dinner, Serena was swaying side by side, looking at James excitedly and wondered out loud when Hisaya will pop up again. She wanted to know if he remembered anything at all while Chenglei stayed silent, once again looking to the side. Echo is munching on seaweed that came from her miso ramen, sometimes nuzzling Johnny while she listened in and nodding at what he was saying.

Zer0 Roleplay Skittle

 

[Zer0]

- Jade Palace -
" Awashima, Evening of the 13th Day "​

Johnny leaned in and chomped on Echo's sea weed, stealing everything.

As everyone celebrated Lydia's riddance of Valdanr's soul and having their friend back to normal, the ones who had been here filled up everybody on what had been going on in Awashima the past thirteen days, from their successful exorcism of Hisaya and how his soul was now residing in James body for the time being as he recovers from amnesia, to meeting the Aged Author, and now Johnny and everyone else who wished to speak told them what happened ten thousand years ago and about the prophecy.

In one corner, James was speaking to Kenren in private about something, but by the look of his face it was obvious that he was very worried, and the only one currently able to make him that worried was a certain missing sister. The prince seemed to be calmly explaining to him something, but it doesn't seem to be helping.

Last week, Kenren, his soldiers, and no doubt Echo and Lydia, had seen Renee's arrow signal in the sky, but the prince ordered them not to reveal their presence. His scouts who spied on the couple had confirmed to him privately that the sealing cuffs were gone, they could do magic, and that a black baby dragon was with them. They were acting normally and seemed to be taking care of it like it was a human child.

After that Kenren deemed it unsafe to bring them here. Valdanr, through Lydia, plus Seifer, plus Renee can wipe them out and wreck who knows what kind of havoc if they knew what was going on, and so he prohibited them from making fires and they all hid their camp until the couple moved on. As far as he knew, he had deemed them under the dragon's influence and capable of casting their destructive magic. He wasn't going to take chances, and it was a good thing he didn't as the dragon almost killed him through Lydia.

They couldn't hear, but James was upset they fired at her to kill. He didn't argue though, he knew the prince's life was more important than theirs, he had an entire country depending on him after all. Still James was glad the Sea King brought everything under control and thought of giving him something one of these days too apart from swearing off peeing in the water forever in respect to him.

"And that's why we're the seven guardians in the prophecy." said Johnny as he attempted to steal another grub from Echo's ramen. "The people in the scroll look too much like us to be coincidence."

Katsuya Roleplay Skittle

 

[Roleplay Skittle]

The young witch had a feeling that her so called cute behind was going to be bruised by the end of the day when Serena tackled her to the ground as she was happily watching James with Sasha. She yelped before laughing and her eye closest to Serena's nuzzling squinted closed and she returned Serena's hug, "you're so silly Serena, I wasn't gone that long, "she was honestly touched that she had been so missed and she nodded her head slightly, "I'm better... I still feel kind of weird... but he's gone. It's just me in here."

She smiled brightly and nodded to Johnny, surprised by his nuzzling. She looked a little somber for a moment as she glanced back to James and Sasha before her gaze drifted towards the ground and once Serena had gotten off of her, she rose to her feet, wincing slightly as she dusted her bottom off. Her somber expression continued but it was shortly replaced after she had followed along with the group and encountered the summons that quickly checked on her. She assured them she was well again and individually greeted all of them, even the bushy whisker cat who was decidedly not like Empress which made it a lot more pleasant.

Giggling as Johnny stole Echo's seaweed, she glanced to James curiously as they were informed that Hisaya was now sharing his body. Her mouth quirked into an awkward smile, there seemed to be a lot of soul sharing going around. Lydia never said anything about almost killing Kenren but her attack being thwarted by King Aelin so if anyone heard about it, it wouldn't have been from her. Even though she had apologized to the prince and he had given his forgiveness, she was still incredibly ashamed over the ordeal. She stayed silent for the most part, only listening to what everyone else was saying, her eyes mostly remaining on her plate as she seemed to pick and poke at her food, which wasn't anything unusual for her since it was an ongoing occurrence since the first group had left the Sea King's shrine.

However, as they were told that they were guardians from a prophecy, she set her utensils down and stared at Johnny like he had just ate his own hat, her face pale and her eyes wide, "th-th... no..." she shook her head, her voice filled with disbelief, she quirked an awkward smile and snorted, laughing like she thought it was a joke, "I-I... th-that's not possible... th-there's other girls that look like me... I-I-I'm just Lydia... n-not a guardian," she shook her head again and looked at her plate.

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