Part 43: Byuu's Journal: Entry Twenty-Three

5th month, 20th day, 1st year of Kahna's Revival



When we carried her on board, Yoyo wanted nobody but Palpaleos. She wasn't willing to answer any questions, so we had no choice but to let her rest.



Matelite... seemed to need some time to himself. I decided to check on everyone else so that he could have his time and Yoyo could rest.



Taicho, who knows him best, thinks it's all about Palpaleos....



and Sendak concurs. It's not hard to believe considering some of the things that Matelite has tried to pull on me.



I suppose it all comes down to jealousy. If you think about it, Yoyo and her father were never that close, especially since she didn't want to use her gift according to his wishes.




Stories like the one Matelite told certainly seem to point toward him being a second father to her. Some of his earlier comments seem a bit less perverse now and a few others are somehow even more disturbing.



Even surrogate fathers have to learn to let go.



I decided to visit the women's quarters first, although from what I heard I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to do that again.



Jeanne's appraisal of Donfan only strengthens my worries. The last thing I want to see is bits of Donfan flapping all over the place.



The mental images she insists on creating are probably going to end up giving me nightmares at this rate.



Talking to people like Lukia makes me realize that not everyone has seen and heard what I have. I can't be as optimistic as that: I just hope everything works out somehow.



Diana had some extra serious gossip for me...



That somehow involved Melodia losing a pair of panties. When I first heard it I thought it was trivial. I lost a sock last week, and that's not a subject of gossip.



The truth was considerably more perverse. There are only four lancers, with Zora's son impossible to imagine and Donfan kept locked behind the bar...



I can't exactly see Reeve doing anything either, so I think I'll have to hear his side of the story.



On the up side, I was able to tell Zora that her son was actually doing a very good job for us. It's nice to be able to do something positive.



Frederica is much the same as always. I'm starting to wonder if she's so much sick as a hypochondriac.



My personal life keeps getting more and more interesting, but I think that might have to wait just a bit.



Speaking of personal lives, Ectarina spends her time muttering about sweet wine and how happy she is. I'd hate to break this to her, but I don't know that Hornet even noticed who the bottle was from.



With my business done in the women's quarters, I went to find Reeve. He was hiding in a corner twitching. I'm inclined to believe his protestations of innocence.



As with his previous problems, Frenze was the root cause. It's troubling, since I think he's gone way past proportionality. That's the kind of prank that could get someone stabbed.



Still troubled, I heard Gunso talking about how his life is nothing but scratching. I've pretty much given up all hope in regards to him. There might not be enough water in the world.



Things started to look up talking to Barclay. At least he seems to be feeling pretty happy.



To further lighten my mood, the Mini-Devils had kicked the item shop salesman out of his shop and were running rampant. He was doing his best to continue his business from the counter.



Finally, talking with the Dragonkeeper helped me put everything in perspective. After a talk with him and a visit with the dragons, I was ready to talk to Yoyo.



Palpaleos was stationed between Yoyo and the door, as a second line of defense. I managed to get past him to ask Yoyo about our next destination.



Her manner of dealing with the Holy Dragons has changed a great deal. She even mentioned it herself.



Although it could also possibly be that the Holy Dragons are distracted with the effort of opening the door.



Since nothing in life can be easy, the door had to open in the one place we least wanted to go.



That was enough to bring Palpaleos from his guard position to chime in with a warning. The news from Granbelos hasn't been good.



Gudolf apparently staged a state funeral for Sauzer, despite the minor problem of not actually having his body.




I'm sure that the methods he used were underhanded and probably would have resulted in anyone else being hung.




Palpaleos seems to feel that the best thing that could happen would be for us to end the Granbelos Empire. Quite a turn for the former head of Granbelos' military.



With that information I headed out to give Hornet our marching orders. However, Yoyo followed and made an announcement to the crew at large.



Reactions were mixed. I think Matelite isn't the only one that Yoyo has driven to distraction. According to that crewman, there's about 9 more people out there in a similar state.



Once we were all assembled she started to explain what had been going on between the dragons. It's a bit of a jumble, but the thing I remember most is the revelation that at the time of the ancient war the Holy Dragons were pretty much children.



Spoiled children who enjoyed toying with those weaker than them. Although children may be a relative term. How long does it take a dragon to mature?



Bahamut seems to have been a bit of an outlier, and I wonder what could have impelled him toward compassion toward humanity.




The reaction of the Holy Dragons makes a certain amount of sense now. Trapped and alone away from their homes, little more than children, and with Bahamut as the sole focus of their anger and resentment. Little wonder that they despise him, even if we feel his motives were purer.




It's possible that this entire experience is actually forcing the Holy Dragons to finally grow up. They've been isolated and anti-social, but now they have to work and live together.



About that time Palpaleos had to start philosophizing about the futility of war.



You could see the inevitable collision coming by the look on Truce's face.



The idea that someone he had recently been fighting against considered a conflict that had been such a large part of his life trivial overrode any analytical thought as far as Truce was concerned.



Palpaleos tried to say that it was in pursuit of a dream, which didn't improve the situation at all. Truce claimed that reason was just as trivial.



Cue Truce storming out of the room..



Followed by Palpaleos, hopefully going to two separate destinations. Yoyo followed after him, with Sendak asking a parting question. He didn't get an answer.



I don't know how important the answer would be... unless Sendak suspects something important is hidden in the exact method that was used to end the war.



I followed after Truce to try and calm things down, but he seemed to be over it already. His focus was more on how Rush should know better than to be that broken up over the princess, a sentiment I heartily agree with.



Rush was off in the men's quarters, hiding in an alcove. He wanted to talk about his feelings, so I let him talk for a bit and told him to cheer up a bit.




Turns out he'd been holding out on me. It's a little bit weird that he decided to hand his good luck charm off to me... suddenly concerned, I went to check on my hiding spot.



Only to find that Clue had been at it and had actually ate my entire stash! He finished it up by snatching the newest one from my hand and... well, this is the result. I don't know what to make of it, but we'll see how he does. I'm a bit bummed, but at least now I don't have to worry about being caught out.



DamnShip shook suddenly, and I rushed to the bridge. Gudolf wasn't content to let us simply fly in to the hole in the sky.



Taicho appeared to have some reservations about relying on Palpaleos, although I have to say they're probably a bit slow in coming. We've been fighting against Granbelos forces for the last few battles, after all.



As uneasy as they might be around each other Rush, Truce, and Palpaleos are much more similar than different. It must be nice to not be able to think about anything and just fight.



Our forces assembled to take the fight to Granbelos.