They made their way around damaged buildings and scaffolding. It was apparent that some time had passed since whatever catastrophe befell the city, and their arrival. Red and Pinzu helped some of the injured get to their destinations, and healing them if possible. Romel and Solaris made themselves useful with a bit of light construction as the 4 of them made their way towards the royal palace.

They stared at the broken and charred outer gate as the guards approached. They were recognized from their last visit, though confused as to why Solaris was actually there. No explanation was given. They made their way into the damaged palace. As they entered the main courtyard, they surveyed the damage. The walls were cracked or broken entirely on the right, the left was partially burned. They continued closer to the throne room to see that part of the interior of the palace had been completely destroyed. Traces of blood could be seen on the walls and floors.

They entered the throne room and saw a very nervous King Isolad sitting on his throne. He was quickly surrounded by a dozen or so armed guards. He cowered in fear from his throne.
"What's going on here?" Red asked. "Last time he treated us with such hospitality."
A guard raised his sword, pointing it at Solaris. "He destroyed half of the city soon after you came here claiming he was dead!"

"What?!" Red exclaimed.

"Siralos!" Romel replied to them all.

"Why should we believe you?!" shouted the guard.

"For starters, cuz you'd have probably died already if that really was Siralos." Romel yelled back.

The remainder of the guards drew their weapons and stood trembling, but more or less ready for a fight. Pinzu handed Romel his staff and stepped forward, stopping just out of reach of the guards.

"Siralos is the inverse incarnation of Solaris. He wields dark and fire magic, as well as the same basic skills as Solaris, as well as some additional ones which we have not seen. Siralos is the result of the explosion I was told you witness during their last trip here. He is the embodiment of Solaris's energy, and the dark energy of Eber and the blight. Solaris here was resurrected though the power of the Flame Keeper's guardian, Quasar. I suppose it would be difficult for you to believe us, but if we did mean you harm, after what we've been though, you'd have already fallen."

Romel laid his sword and staff on the ground, Pinzu's as well. Red followed his lead, laying her bow and sword on the ground. Solaris did the same, laying his weapon down beside him.

"I don't exactly remember you, but I do remember pieces of this city. I can only assume it was Siralos, or an invading army that would cause something like this." Solaris said to the king. "We had an encounter with him as well. We ran, since I am apparently not the same as the Solaris you once knew.  From all accounts, I am considerably weaker than my previous self. My apologies."

"I suppose it can't be helped. You may take up your weapons." The king replied.
"But your highness..!" The same guard shouted.

"Renard, that's enough." I saw their sorrow during their last visit. That is something that can't be faked so easily, if at all." He turned to them. "As you have seen along the way here, we are rebuilding. Our resources are scarce, but you are welcome to whatever you may need. Renard, show them to their rooms in the east wing. It's one of the few undamaged places left in this city."

"I was going to ask: how did you survive Siralos's attack?" Romel questioned.
"He just walked through the city destroying things. There didn't seem to be a reason for it. He wasn't after anyone in particular, not that we could tell at least."

Romel looked at Solaris. "Can you still sense his presence Sol?"

Solaris stood still, seemingly in thought. He raised his arm in the direction of Azidon. "That way, near Azidon I believe."

"We have to do something!" Red shouted.

"We can't. Even if we left now, and even with an airship, we wouldn't be able to make it in time to do anything for those who are there." Pinzu responded. "We can hope that our haste though town the last time was enough of a hint to Neil to prepare."

"I warned him about Siralos, and asked him to do something. Not sure how it went though, or if they could do anything at all." Solaris said.

"Then we must have faith in Neil and his preparations." Pinzu said "Now, about those rooms?"

Renard showed them to their rooms where they retired for the evening, exhausted yet again from the days of travel, and the half day of work. Their exhaustion was the only reason any of them were able to sleep.

They all woke up the next morning and ate a fairly modest breakfast in the dining hall of the palace, modest for a royal breakfast at least. The king explained himself. "I have been sharing much of the food with those whose fields were destroyed by the recent attack. I myself am useless with reconstruction efforts. It's the least I could do."

"It isn't our place to judge you your highness. Is it ok if we stay for a few days? We can help rebuild for the duration of our stay." Pinzu said as he looked at the contents of the table.

"We were also sent by a phoenix to ask what we could do to help the situation of the world. Since we are however accompanying Solaris, I would assume that our task will be to aid him in his journey." Romel said.

"Your help would be much appreciated. I shall send a guard with you to reassure some of the town's folk. You haven't been here long and already there are people who dislike your presence. As for my official instructions to you, I haven't exactly decided."

"Well, we were looking for the Moon Guardian." Red replied. "I suppose we could just continue our search. You wouldn't happen to know of their whereabouts would you?"

The king scratched his head. "Moon Guardian?"

"Here we go again with the explanations" Romel sighed.

Red picked up the conversation from there. "Yes. It's a being who is like Solaris here. Their task is apparently to help correct the imbalance in the world. We went over this entire kingdom seeking knowledge of them, or their whereabouts."

"Actually, Sol and I went to the elven kingdom too. That didn't go too well." Romel added.
"Aaanyways, we had just left the Moon Garden in the beast territories before we came here. Apparently the Guardian had already left."

King Isolad seemed noticeably surprised. "You went to the Moon Garden to found out about a Moon Guardian? A party was sent there with a task, you didn't run into anyone while you were there did you?"

"Not unless you count the talking phoenix which told us that the Moon Guardian had left already. That bird is the one who suggested we come see you."

One of the guards near the door stepped forward and spoke. "Pardon the interruption your highness, but there appears to be a report pertaining to the subject matter of this conversation. It's from the party that was sent to that area. Shall I have it brought to you?"

"Yes, at once" replied the king.

A few moments later the guard returned with the report. The guests sat and finished their breakfast while he quickly read it contents. He finished reading and looked around the room.

"I apologize for my rudeness. It seems as though we are speaking of the same thing, merely from different sides. This 'Moon Guardian' you speak of has been found, and apparently released from an orb which sat on a pedestal in the garden. According to this report, this Moon Guardian is a girl. She's short and has long white hair, and golden-yellow eyes." He looked over at Solaris "Apparently they are similar to yours then Solaris."

"Sounds like the same person I saw once in Alpis as well" Romel added.

"And it also sounds like that dream you had isn't an ordinary dream. She appeared there too, did she not?" asked Pinzu.

Solaris's jaw nearly hit the table in a state of shock. He seemed frozen as thoughts and memories came back to him. He regained the aloof expression he had when Romel first met him, and sat silent for the remainder of breakfast.

Once breakfast was finished, they all set out to help around the city. Renard included. Red and Solaris and Renard, who was assigned to go with them, went one way, Pinzu and Romel went another. They assisted in moving rubble, healing some of the injured, and various construction projects. They made their rounds of the city and met back up near the village square. A damaged statue stood in the middle of the square. It was actually cracked on one side, which they hadn't noticed, that is until crumbling could be heard.

They looked up to see the statue falling towards them. Solaris would've easily been able to escape, however, he still seemed a bit stunned from breakfast. Everyone ducked and prepared for the impact.

"Ice Pillar Strike!" A familiar voice could be heard, followed immediately by the sound of rocks, or something like them, colliding.

They looked up to see that the statue had been pieced by 2 very large icicles, and had been knocked over into an empty section of the town square. They turned their attention in the other direction. Their eyes widened at the sight. Eber stood there, still misty from the ice spell he'd just cast. He looked a lot less evil than their previous encounters, but it was obvious from that display, that he still packed quite a bit of power.

Red and Romel drew their weapons, Solaris backed away, remembering their last fight, and Pinzu readied his staff, not knowing exactly what was going on. Renard simply ran back behind the broken statue.

Romel stared at Eber with eyes filled with hated, as did Red. "Why you no die!?!?" Romel yelled as he charged at Eber.

Eber jumped back as Romel charged. It was quite a leap as he ended up at the edge of the village square. Romel stopped and glared at Eber, just as Eber was surrounded by about half a dozen relatively armed towns people.

One of the villagers yelled out "I saw what that man did!" pointing at Solaris. "And now you're after this man, who just saved you? You deserve to die! This man has done nothing but help ever since the attack!"

Romel yelled out, "This man KILLED my friend!" even though he was resurrected, my best friend DIED because of him. I'm not going to forgive him for that, and Solaris isn't the one who attacked the city!"

Red lowered her bow. "How the hell did we become the bad guys?"

Renard stepped from behind the pillar. "That's quite enough. This isn't the same man who attacked the city. I was sent by the king to make sure this didn't happen, both of you stand down at once!"

Romel stood shaking from pure anger. "This man should die!" he shouted as he struggled to maintain the grip on his blade.

Pinzu spoke up. "If this guy was strong enough to actually kill Solaris in the first place, I don't think our current weapons would be enough to fight him. It would be best if we stood down. We don't want to cause a bigger fuss than we already have. We may be here for a few days at least."

"But…But..!" Romel stood there, still shaking from anger, now with tears in his eyes.
Solaris finally stopped cowering in fear and walked to his side. "I remember that last fight. I don't think this is the same Eber from then, or he'd have attacked us after letting us get hit, not save us and dodge your attacks."

"Sol makes a good point Romel, Pinzu too. We aren't gonna win this if we choose to fight." Red said as she dropped her bow.

Renard drew his weapon. "If what these people say is true, then I must arrest you for the crime of murder. I'll have to ask you to come with me." He said, pointing his sword at Eber.

Eber motioned for the crowd to disperse, and obediently followed the guard's directions. They all returned to the palace, picking up more guards in their escort group along the way.

As they walked, Romel muttered to himself "Why can't I just kill him now?"

"For one, we're under a royal escort. You would also be charged with the crime of murder. You would surely be put to death." Pinzu stated.

Red Added, "Also, as Pinzu stated before, We probably can't kill him with these weapons. We've all lost our strong weapons, except for the staves which you both possess staves I don't think you're enough of a mage to fight entirely as one Romel."

They finally arrived at the palace and were all brought before the king. The situation from the town square was explained.

The king asked Eber. "Do you wish to try to disprove these people of what they've said of you?"

Eber shook his head. "No, it is true. I had a fight with Solaris While under the influence of the blight, and that fight resulted in his death, and my unconsciousness. I claim no excuses for my actions, but ever since I returned to normal I've felt more remorse than you could imagine. If the punishment for my deeds is death, then I suppose I am to die."

Renard spoke up "Well I brought him in as part of my duties; however I did witness him save us all. I would most certainly hope that counts for something."

King Isolad scratched his chin and looked over at Solaris. "What do you think Solaris? After all your life was ended because of him."

"Eber is a very powerful person, and so long as we was roaming this world with such power, and using it for evil, then I would suggest a life of imprisonment, since I'm not exactly a fan of killing. I do not wish for him to die, nor would I want my words to be what has him killed. Aside from that, I'm not even sure if you can kill him. His power is said to rival mine, thought at the moment, he actually seems to be aware of his powers and abilities. He is one of the only links to my past that I know of; I would like to speak with him to see if he can answer some questions I've had."

The king nodded "Very well, you shall all be escorted by guards for the duration of your stay in this city. Should either of you raise weapons to each other, or try to render him a punishment on your own, you shall be imprisoned."

Everyone looked at Romel, It didn't take him long to notice. "Why the hell is everyone looking at me?!"

Red looked him in the eyes "Cuz had the townspeople not showed up, you'd have killed him, or tried at least."

"You drew your weapon too!" Romel replied. "You were gonna fight!

"I was going to defend myself, that's for sure." Red said.

"You were gonna split his skull with an arrow!"

"Prove it." Red said as she twirled an arrow in her hands.

"That's enough! I would've hoped that a lord of Azidon manor would be better behaved. Leave my sight at once; I have other matters to attend to other than watching petty disputes."

Red and Romel were escorted to their rooms by guards. Pinzu snickered "it's just like sending children to their rooms as punishment. I never thought I would see it happen to adults."

The king stared down at them all from his throne. "As for the remainder of you…"

"Why do I get the feeling something is about to be said that will be strange" Pinzu said, scratching his chin. They all looked up at the king.

"My instructions to you and your party Solaris, are as follows: proceed to the elven kingdom after your stay here. The elven capital of Aglarost has the biggest library in the world. Go there and do research on this Moon Guardian. The library here may also provide some information as well, though part of it was destroyed."

"I believe I've been there once before. The trip didn't go so well I'm afraid. We kinda had to leave in a hurry." Solaris said while staring at the floor.

"Very well, I shall have word sent to the Queen about your visit and intentions, and ask that you be pardoned for whatever it is you've done there." He pointed to a guard "Send word to the elven queen of their arrival, do so at once."

The guard nodded and ran off. The king continued, seemingly a completely different person as he was now giving out orders left and right. "And as for you Eber, your punishment shall be community service. You are to assist Solaris and his friends for the duration of their stay here. You shall all remain under constant escort so that nothing foolish happens."

"That, my good sir would be why you had the feeling you just had." Eber said, turning to Pinzu. They went to their rooms for the night, though Eber was in a room quite far away from Romel's, for obvious reasons.

They assembled in the dining hall the following morning for breakfast and, as could be expected, Red and Romel were exactly happy with the news of their new party member.

"WHAT?! YOU'RE KIDDING ME…I'LL KILL HIM BEFORE I WORK WITH HIM!" Romel yelled.

King Isolad raised an eyebrow and pointed to the guards at the door "That can be arranged you know." The guards drew their weapons.

"Oh, this is a ton of horse shit! Fine, I'll work with him, but if he tries anything funny..."

"That's why I'm having guards go with you everywhere." The king replied.

"Not like you have a choice Romel. Just calm down, Solaris is the one who would have to do something, should it be needed. You can't kill Eber anyways." Red reminded him.

Everyone else continued sitting and eating, paying little attention to the scene. "These eggs are delicious your highness." Eber commented as he stuffed his face. He looked across the table at Solaris, who was also stuffing his face with eggs. The 2 began eating at a faster pace, as if in a contest with each other. The contents of the table were soon reduced to empty bowls and baskets. Eber merely grinned and pat his stomach.

"I suppose we're going out for another day's work." Red said as she started towards the door.

"Guess so." Romel said as he prepared to follow her out.

"Hold on a moment Romel. Leave your weapons here. Eber is to accompany you, as well as a few guards, of course." The king commanded.

"Your highness, may I ask what you are trying to accomplish here?" Renard asked.

"Entertainment, perhaps?" He replied with a sly smile. "I want to confirm something. You are to accompany those 2 as well, take a dozen guards with you."

"But… As you wish." The conversation ended there and they all to their leave. Romel, Eber, Renard, and the company of 12 all went on their rounds of the city, as did Red, Pinzu, and Solaris.

Romel managed to contain his anger, though being at constant sword, spear, and arrow point most certainly had an influence in this. All went well until the end of the day. A construction task on the southwest edge of town near the end of the day put them particularly close to their previous battleground. Romel and company weren't there long enough to pay it attention last time, but the blight was returning to the area that was cleared by Solaris's explosion. This became apparent to Romel when a creature appeared at the edge of the forest near the city.

The creature stood shorter than most, and in its former state, was something similar to a mouse. It had 3 eyes, an extra in the middle of its forehead, enormous claws, and teeth which were far longer than they should've been, extending well outside of its mouth, coming to an end at razor sharp points.

They dozen guards took combat stances and prepared to engage the beast while Eber and Romel helped the villagers in the area ran to safety. They returned in time to see the demonic rat gnawing on the leg of one the dismembered guards. They stood in horror at the pile of bodies around the creature, as it slaughtered most of the guards in mere minutes. Renard tossed Romel an extra sword, just as the rodent was upon him. He'd hardly managed to raise his sword to defend by the time the creature had lunched at him.

Romel lowered his guard after a moment, realizing he'd not been torn in 2. The creature lay before him, dying, pierced by 2 large icicles, much like the statue in the town square. Romel looked over at Eber, who didn't appear to be finished just yet. Eber stood with his feet planted, as if bracing for something.

"You know, despite the influence of darkness, and being stuck in a blight infested area for who knows how long, you'd think I'd have gotten used to seeing these things. I'm still not used to them, and I still hate them." Eber told Romel, while summoning dual Frost Fang.

You could've summoned and dual-wielded 2 of those things the entire time?!" Romel said in shock.

"Yes, but, this one isn't for me. You'll need stronger than that toothpick weapon if you want to fight of creatures like this." Eber said, and tossed him one of the weapons. "Careful, it's probably quite cold."

Romel stared at the weapon stuck in the ground to his side. It had an icy aura around it. He casts frost guard on himself, and picked up the weapon. "Uhm, thanks?" He sounded quite confused.

"You deal with any that I miss; I know there will be some. Seems there are quite a few of these things lurking on those woods. That fire spell should come in handy too.
Romel just stood there, dumbfounded, then angry. "How can you talk like we're allies, like nothing has happened?!"

"We'll discuss this after we deal with these creatures. There are still 4 close by."
Eber sent a storm of icicles into the wood. Screeching and roaring could be heard as the frozen daggers pieced their marks. Eber, did in fact, miss 2 enemies, who were lured out by the commotion. They headed towards the city, where Romel was waiting. The killed them off with the sword, and Infernal Gale.

Renard stood and watched as the 2 laid waste to all that opposed them. He dropped his weapon, realizing his utter powerlessness to stop either of them. Romel turned in Eber's direction. "Well, you've saved my life, twice now actually. I still haven't forgiven you though"

Eber unsummoned his weapon. "I wouldn't expect you to, nor Red, and especially Solaris. I'll apologize to him as many times as necessary, to you and her as well. It pains me day in and day out since I woke up in this city, to know that I killed a close friend of mine. I want to cry tears of sorrow and joy each time I see my old friend."

"Wait, did you say…old…friend?"

Eber nodded and began walking back to the palace. Romel and Renard followed. "I guess that's enough work for today." Eber said, looking back at them. "There's quite a lot you seem to not know, about many things. I'll discuss these things at length with you another time, should you feel the need to keep around."

"Well, we're under the king's order. We're stuck together… partner. " Romel said, sounding forced.