Ishida stood on the deck of his ship, cruising gently through the silent waters.
He took a deep breath, inhaling large quantities of the sea air. A cool afternoon breeze began blowing from the west.
There was not a single cloud in the sky nor was there any land in sight. Hundreds of kilometers away from civilization, he felt mixed feelings of fear and excitement— along with an uplifting peace of mind he had never felt before.
Of course, if he and his friends did not find the great sea city’s treasure vault in time, his hometown would be burnt to ashes. But if they did… perhaps he would find out the truth about what happened to his father.
Ishida and his companions were locked up in a small, damp cell on the flying ship. If it weren’t for a window that let in the dim moonlight, the cell would have been completely dark.Ishida stood leaning against the mossy wall on the opposite side of the window. He stared at the blue crescent moon that seemed to be very close— close enough for him to touch it.He reached his hand out in vain, trying to grab hold of the moon in the cloudy night sky.Sitting next to him was the girl he rescued a long time ago, with her head down and her eyes closed— at least they seemed to be closed.
Ishida did as he was told and immediately went to free his friends. He told them that the pilot who had taken him to “fix the engines” was his elder brother.Soon, the Piletan pilots and prison guards were awake. When they saw three prisoners running down the hallway, they instinctively jerked out their guns and started a shooting frenzy.BANG! BANG! BANG!Clink clink clink!BANG!CLICK!Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!BANG! BANG!
As the three brave adventurers were flying over the Gulf of Cessabit, Ishida spotted something very unusual. It was a long, yellow strip of land, perhaps a sandbank or a shoreline. Ishida took a closer look with his binoculars. He saw a sandy beach with coconut trees blowing in the gentle breeze and round pebbles scattered all over the place. “How is this possible? We’re about to fly inland!” Ishida said in dismay. “Ajens is a sea city, it can’t be on land!” “Maybe we flew over it when it was hidden beneath some clouds,” Rhina suggested. “We might have to fly lower.” “No, we’re already flying low. And Ajens is a huge floating island. No cloud can be large enough to hide it. Besides, Takao said that we need to fly a h
At the same time, the Piletan captain anxiously paced the decks of his warship.He watched uneasily as the suspicious plane with the Piletan star painted underneath its wings circled above them in the air.One part of him wanted to shoot the plane down or at least order the people flying to land for a thorough investigation.Another part of him was reluctant to do anything, for the aircraft had the seal of a well-known Piletan admiral painted on its fuselage.Therefore, the captain dared not open fire. Instead, he foraged through the containers in his cabin, in search of something that would help him contact the pilot.“Captain Paxis, is this what you are looking for?” a sailor abrupt
Ishida opened his eyes and found himself back in the amphibious aircraft port at the center of Piletus City. That...that was just a dream? he asked himself. But it felt so real! “Alright, everyone!” the young man cleared his throat. “I’ve finally figured it out!” “What are you talking about?” Jameck asked. He was obviously confused. “This city may have once been the capital of the Ajenian Empire, but half of it’s missing. I am now going to prove it,” Ishida proclaimed, sauntering towards the edge of the lake and crouching down on one knee. Ishida cupped some water into his han
“This can’t be good. We shouldn’t be leading them to King Rexius like this,” Rhina stated. “Think of all the horrible things they would do if they found him!”“Calm down, I know what to do,” Ishida responded confidently. “Jameck, can I borrow that hat of yours for a while?”“Huh? What are you going to do with it?” the child asked in suspicion.“Well, you’ll find out in a minute.”“No! Answer my question first!”“I’m going to use it to temporarily blind those pilots who are following us.”“But this hat belon
“I can’t see them anymore,” Ishida said to his friends. “They must have lost our trail by now.”“Then we shall proceed to Del Cealus,” Phillipo declared, taking a right turn.The adventurers soon found themselves hovering above a vast sea of white clouds. Then, a large amount of fog came out of nowhere and began circling them.Philippo stopped moving forward and flapped his wings to hover above the clouds. The thick fog made it impossible to see beyond his snout.“What’s going on, Philippo?” Rhina asked. “Where did all this fog suddenly come from?”“This is it. We have arrived,” the flyi
A small gap in the clouds around the tallest mountain revealed a bright golden light. Ishida flipped to another page in his notebook and read the text on it.If what his father had written was correct, the mountain in the middle was made entirely of gold and was the residence of King Rexius. The mount was called “Nawarat,” literally translating to, “Light in the storm.”“Where...are we?” Jameck asked, breaking the silence.“At Del Cealus, my friend,” Phillipo answered coolly as he touched down onto the grassy ground.Ishida got off and proceeded to help Rhina dismount. Jameck had a difficult time getting around, as most of the grass stalks were taller than him.
There once was a saying in the land of Medietus: “What is neither possible nor impossible is neither achievable nor unachievable. All of it simply depends on the individual’s point of view.”That night, Ishida had a dream. It was nothing like any dream he had ever had.Ishida found himself standing on the balcony of a seaside house at dawn. He was staring out at the dark ocean, watching as wave after wave lapped on the shore.Seagulls flew by in the unlighted sky above him. A breeze gently shook the leaves of nearby palm trees. A bright yellow sphere was rising from the mountains, illuminating dark clouds and giving light to everything.Rays of light emerged from the calm waters, lighting up the area an
Something seemed off about the Ajenian king’s appearance. At first, Ishida and Rhina could not identify what it was.The king was in a luxurious robe…did he have a crown? Yes, he did. Was he holding a scepter? Almost— he was holding a staff. What was the problem, then?Ishida was the first to figure it out. When he did, he let out a cry of terror.“What is it, Ishida?” Rhina asked.“The king!” Ishida shrieked. “The king’s an old man!”When Rhina saw the king’s long white beard, wrinkly face, and messy white hair, she, too, let out a terrified cry.“What?” Kin
As the wooden door was slowly opened, a flash of golden light flooded out of the small opening in the door and engulfed the entire mountaintop.Finally, when the door had fully opened, Ishida and Rhina had the opportunity to gaze upon the grandeur and opulence of the reception hall.“Welcome to the Great King’s palace! Welcome to the Great King’s palace!” a multitude of voices chanted. These were the voices of King Rexius’ servants, who were all half-fish and half-beaver.The reception hall was brightly lit by crystal-like chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling and were covered by thick, red carpets with golden edges that extended up the stairs and onto the second and third floors as well.
“Bring it on!” Ishida and Rhina said in unison.The Guardian nodded. “As you wish— let’s get started. The question may sound simple, but it is far more complicated than you can imagine. The question is: what is the purpose of your search for Ajens?’ I repeat: this question is far more complicated than you think.”Ishida turned to Rhina. “I have the answer. You know it too, don’t you? Do you want to say it?”Rhina shook her head. “I know what the answer you’re thinking of is, but I think we should think very carefully before answering.”Ishida ignored Rhina’s advice and said to the giant, “The purpose of our journey was for us to have a talk wit
Lieutenant Monte’s agent was surprised to find his boss in Rexia Castellum shortly before sundown. It was at the least favorable moment that the lieutenant spotted his agent, clad in an all-black suit and relaxing in a cafe.The lieutenant was unsurprisingly furious. He ordered Sarem and Alamein to wait outside and stormed into the cafe. He trashed the place, turning tables over and smashing several chairs to oblivion.The owner of the cafe and the Del Cealans who had nothing to do with the matter took flight and rushed out the door in a stampede. With no one else around, Lieutenant Monte was free to let all of his rage explode onto his indolent agent.“Agent Lazy-Head!” Lieutenant Monte yelled in rage. “I did
Ishida and Rhina were journeying down the steadily declining slope of Mount Siwalai, walking hand in hand. They had journeyed past the meditating sage of Mount Siwalai, making as little sound as possible as they went. The sun was now about halfway between the uppermost part of the sky and the horizon. Below them was a valley in which a vast lake stood in between the feet of Mount Siwalai and Mount Nawarat. The lake’s water was clear blue, enriched by mineral deposits that came flowing down the slopes of the Holy Mountains every spring in the form of melted snow: water. The two travelers said nothing to each other. They simply smiled and continued down the grassy slope of the mountain. “Lake Azure,” as Ishida called it, was soon within an arm’s reach
It mustn’t be forgotten that far beneath the clouds, during the climax of the journey of the two young explorers, one of the largest wars the world had ever seen was raging on the continent of Piletus.When Rhina was trapped underground by the avalanche, an emergency assembly was held in Piletus City, with all the Piletan generals and admirals summoned to the palace of Emperor Khartoum the Seventeenth.There, the leaders of the Piletan military forces began arguing over whose strategy should be put into effect and about whether the Piletan forces should be saved to defend the capital or used to launch a counter-attack on the rapidly-advancing Medietans.General Iskenderson, who was the highest-ranking general in the Imperial Piletan Army, sat at the emperor&rs
Ishida had not regained his consciousness, but he was still breathing and his pulse was not fainting.Rhina went around searching for the “snow raft,” only to find that it had been smashed to pieces by a huge boulder that was brought down the mountain with the avalanche.She then tried to find a log to use as a new “snow raft,” but all of the logs on the mountainside were either splintered, cracked, or much too large to pull.Rhina had been trapped underground for about three hours, and she was now running behind schedule. It would only be a matter of time before the sinks under the horizon and the darkness settles in.Rhina lifted Ishida onto her back, and, with a miraculously renewed and empower
The opening of the cave was less than ten meters away. The avalanche, meanwhile, continued to increase its already inconceivable speed and was just a few hundred meters away from the two travelers.Five meters to go! Rhina continued pushing forward. She was not about to give in to Mother Nature. A few seconds later, her vision was obscured by the huge clouds of snow that rushed ahead of the avalanche.Even though she could not see beyond her own nose, she remained calm. Three meters!Soon, Rhina could feel the opening of the cave with her own hands. She lifted Ishida from the “snow raft” and promptly threw him into the cave. She was about to rush in as well wh