The door to Lina’s cell opened and Gatti came in with her food. A part of the right sleeve of his armor was stained crimson.

"You’re hurt," Lina said.

Gatti looked at Lina. "It’s nothing," he said, then turned to walk away.

"Wait…" Lina called. She clasped onto her charm which was glowing brightly.

Gatti looked over his shoulder. "What?"

"What’s your name?" Lina asked.

"That’s for me to know and for you to find out," Gatti said.

Lina opened her hand to look down at her glowing charm. She the looked up at Gatti. "Do you know a boy named Leiren?"

"Leiren? No," Gatti said.

Lina’s heart sank. "Oh…never mind."

Gatti walked out of Lina’s cell, locking the door behind him, then strode back to the barracks.

"And where in the name of Gaea have YOU been?" Chesta asked.

"Doing my duty," Gatti said. He sighed. "It feels empty without Katomi around…"

"Really…. Speaking of Katomi…" Guimel said, walking up next to Gatti. "What were you two talking about earlier?"

Gatti punched Guimel. "I’m not telling you! I’m not telling ANY of you!" he said, glaring at everybody.

"Geez, Gatti! You don’t have to get so worked up about it!" Dalet said, holding his hands up defensively.

Gatti let out a sigh. "Sorry," he said.

"Man, Gatti! You can land a pretty good punch!" Guimel said, rubbing a bruised cheek.

"Thanks…uh…I didn’t hit you TOO hard, did I?" Gatti asked.

"Technically, you did. But don’t worry. I’m as right as rain…I think," Guimel said.

Gatti gave Guimel a lopsided smile, then walked to his bed and sat down. "I wonder who Leiren is," he thought aloud.

"What?" Chesta asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just thinking…" Gatti said.

"About what?" Chesta said, cocking his head.

"Just…what a prisoner asked me…"

Chesta’s eyebrows rose. "A prisoner? Well, what did the prisoner ask you?"

"If I knew a boy named Leiren…" Gatti said.

"Leiren…Leiren…" Dalet said.

Gatti looked around. "Does anybody know who Leiren is?"

The Dragonslayers shook their heads. Gatti sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes closed in frustration.

"Who’s the prisoner?" Viole asked.

"Just…the girl who was captured two weeks ago," Gatti replied.

This amused the Dragonslayers.

"Oooh! Gatti!" said one.

"So…were you visiting HER last time you were gone?" said another.

"Is she pretty?" asked another.

"What’s her name?"

"Do you like her for her looks or personality?"

The questions kept coming and coming until Gatti couldn’t take it anymore.

"QUIET!"

The questions abruptly stopped.

"To answer the first few questions in order, no, I wasn’t visiting her the last time I was gone, I don’t know if she’s pretty or not because it’s dark over there, I have absolutely NO CLUE on what her name is, and I DON’T like her! All right? Satisfied?!" Gatti said.

The Dragonslayers nodded, though they didn’t understand a WORD of what Gatti had just said. The Dragonslayers Second-in-Command (Author’s note: I am not sure about this, I’m just assuming it, and I like the idea because Gatti is one of my favorite Dragonslayers) lay down on his back, an arm over his eyes, and sighed.

"Do you need…advice on how to get a girl to like you, Gatti?" Dalet asked.

Gatti bolted up to a sitting position. "And what in the name of Gaea gave you THAT idea?!"

Dalet made a sly grin. "Well…let’s just say that you’re not a good liar, you’re acting weird these days, you’re missing often, you don’t eat all of your food these days, plus the fact that you look all…lost," Dalet said, ticking off his fingers at the mention of each reason. "Now, do you need advice?"

"What do YOU know about women, Dalet?!" Chesta said.

Dalet glared at Chesta. "At least I know much more that YOU do!"

"Prove it!"

"Hey, Viole was good friends with Katomi. Viole, why don’t you give Gatti advice?" Guimel asked.

"I do NOT need advice on how to get a girl to like me!!! All right?!?!?" Gatti yelled. He got up and stalked out of the barracks.

"Well somebody got off the wrong side of the bed today…" said Chesta.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Augenta clung onto the Vione. When Katomi (or rather: Mekhasa) had slammed down on her sub-android, she had leaped out and used a hook tied on a cord to stop herself from falling. Slowly, the Bachonarish princess made her way toward an opening then climbed in, finding herself in the hangers. "Androids…" she muttered to herself as she observed the guymelefs. "Odd androids…"

The princess soon made her way into a hallway, and started looking around. "Lina…where’s Lina?" she muttered. She kept walking, around the empty halls, careful not to be seen. Her right hand lay on the hilt of her dagger, ready to strike.

Footsteps approached, and Augenta hid in the shadows, her hand clasped tightly on her dagger hilt. The footsteps came closer and closer, then suddenly…stopped. Augenta, slightly puzzled, scanned the hallways warily. Slowly and carefully, she made her way through the shadows toward where the footsteps came from. She looked around…nobody was there.

Suddenly, somebody yanked at Augenta’s arm, put it against her back, and slammed her against the wall.

"Who are you?" the stranger asked.

"Princess Augenta of Bachonark. I demand that you let me go!" Augenta said coldly.

The stranger leaned forward a bit. "Are you from the Mystic Moon?"

"Mystic Moon?! What do you mean? I am from Exidaea!" Augenta said. She felt cold metal press against the back of her neck.

"Do you know of the boy named Leiren?" the stranger, Gatti, asked.

Augenta’s eyes widened. "What do you know about Leiren?! You’re not an Exidaean! Neither do I believe you are related to Kara, the woman from Earth!"

"I’ll take that as a yes. Now, who is he?"

"He’s the renowned Arunian Warrior. One of the group of Peacekeepers who brought peace back to the Hybrid Empires. Why do you ask?" Augenta said.

"Where is he?"

"He’s dead! What do you think?!"

Gatti loosened his grip on Augenta’s arm, but kept his sword blade in place. "Dead?"

"Yes. Dead. Gone for good. Now let me go!"

Gatti pulled Augenta off the wall and shifted his blade so that it was pressed against Augenta’s throat. "Come with me," he said, then led her to the prison cells.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lina ran her fingers over her charm. It was starting to glow brightly again as the door to her cell opened. She looked up as Gatti and Augenta came in.

Augenta, seeing the purple stone, sighed in relief. "Are you Lina?"

Lina blinked. "Yes…how did you know my name?"

"I’ve been looking for you…" Augenta said.

Gatti looked at Augenta, then back at Lina. "Well, Lina-or-whatever-your-name-is, here’s a girl who knows Leiren," he said. He sheathed his sword and shoved Augenta forward.

"Oh…well um…thank you for your…uh…assistance…" Lina said. Why is he helping us? she wondered.

Gatti didn’t say anything. He walked out, closed the cell door, then leaned his back against it.

"So…you know about Leiren?" Lina asked.

"Yes. I only heard of him, though. He died thousands of years ago…in Exidaean years that is…" Augenta said. "The Skyreaders say that he would return to us one day when the peace is disturbed. I wonder if he’s among us Exidaeans right now…maybe he’s with the others, hidden…"

Lina nodded slowly. "I had a vision…I saw him. There was a great battle between the mechanical giants. One of them…a blue one…the pilot was Leiren…he looked at me…I looked at him…" Lina trailed off as she looked down at her hands which were clasped together on her lap.

"Really? Was it like one of our androids? Or the odd androids the Gaeans use?" Augenta asked.

"Guymelefs," Gatti corrected.

"So that’s what they’re called!" Augenta said.

"I’d say…the more…uh…humanlike ones. And that would be the guymelefs, I think…" Lina said.

"A blue guymelef pilot…hmm…well, I guess you’re talking about him and his little gang," Augenta said, jerking her thumb back at Gatti.

"You mean…Leiren is among them?" Lina said.

"Probably…" Augenta said.

"Quiet! Someone’s coming!" Gatti hissed.

Augenta hid in the shadows and Lina froze in place. The three heard footsteps approaching. Coming closer and closer…