Soleil had only ever heard of Ryuulong from the various novels and history books she had read about the famous city, but seeing it in real life was a surreal experience.

The gates opened up to a massive central street, lined with market stand after market stand. People from all over the Litian Kingdom gathered at Ryuulong to sell their goods or for tourism. Today seemed to be no exception, it was late morning and the streets were filled with people from everywhere. She could even pinpoint some demon stands around, selling Darkian artifacts they had picked up on their travels.

The main street had three lanes, forming the east, south, and west entrances and they all met at a massive central fountain where two sculptures of serpentine dragons poured out water from their mouths. To the north, the central street led to an imposing staircase which then led to the Ryuulong Palace. Built on top of the biggest hill in the Ryuulong province, the palace was said to be built to reach the dragons. Dragons were now long extinct, but long ago, these creatures roamed the Ryuulong province alongside humans.

The palace, built in an intricate architectural complexion of wooden posts, beams, lintels and joints, was wider than it was tall. The rooms of the palace, rumored to be 36 rooms to be spiritually close to the dragons of old, surround the center of the palace, an open garden said to be on par with the mystical garden qualities of the nature capital, Jaeyon. The Garden of Dragons, as the history books labeled it, is said to be where Mirza, the first king of the Litian Kingdom, tamed the first dragon.

Soleil is more than elated to be here, she’s practically bouncing up and down as she looks at the various stands. Of course, she’s not trying to get scammed so she’s only looking, not buying.

Kaiyo watches the girl get so excited about Ryuulong with crossed arms and the expression of a tired parent. The benches around the fountain were his home now. A little girl watches him curiously from the other bench. She valiantly waddles over to Kaiyo and points at him. “Puppy!” She says confidently. Kaiyo didn’t know whether he found it endearing or whether he wanted to strangle the toddler.

“Puppy!” She says again, more sure of herself.

Soleil decides to show up right as the little girl says that. She kneels in front of the toddler, “Aww, isn’t she cute?” Soleil smiles brightly at Kaiyo. Kaiyo scoffs, “Sure. But she’s dumb.”

Soleil rolls her eyes, “Nonsense, she’s just discovering the world around her, right?” She smiles at the little girl who now points at Soleil, “Ribbon!” She says excitedly.

Soleil grins, “Yup, and I’m about to figure out its secret.” The little girl’s eyes widen at the word secret. Soleil nods in reaction, “Yeah, isn’t that exciting? I’m on an adventure!”

“Adventure!” The little girl repeats. Kaiyo finds himself smiling at the innocence of the conversation. Soleil was hiding her solitude quite well. Multiple times over the three days travel, he had caught her hiding tears to herself or being solemnly quiet for long periods of time, as if she was thinking deeply about what she had learned about herself and about her current situation.

The mother of the toddler appears, bags in hand, and she apologizes for the little girl’s antics and thanks them before leaving with the girl in her arms.

“Well,” Soleil says, waving at the little girl who was doing the same, “Should we head up to the palace?”

Kaiyo stands, glad the torture of waiting was over, “Yeah. You nervous?”

Soleil tugs at her sleeve, “Yeah… I mean what if they don’t believe me? I’m sure there’s plenty of people that show up saying they’re me.”

“You have the ribbon, you literally have divine proof of your existence.”

“That’s true…” They begin walking up the staircase in silence. Silences Kaiyo was long used to by this point. He was just an escort after all, once he deposited her at the palace, he was free to go and to let fate run its course. As much as he had enjoyed the trip -- and loved being away from that stupid teribble no good very bad desert sun -- he knew this was only a finite amount of time.

The staircase seems infinite but it finally comes to an end where they’re met with the palace guards who brandish their naginatas as soon as they see the duo arrive. “Halt! No visitors allowed!”

Kaiyo saunters over, “Calm down, Mr. Guards, we’re here to see Lord Yamato Orel.”

The guard looks menacingly at Kaiyo, “And you think I’m just going to let you in?”

“Well… I have something important to tell the Lord, it can’t wait.”

The two guards exchange looks before howling in laughter, “This demon thinks he’s so important he can just waltz up here and request to see Lord Orel! You're a funny one, demon, I’ll give you that. Now scram.”

Kaiyo turns around and winks at Soleil, this was all according to plan. He takes a breath, closing his eyes, sensing the aura of the trees around the entrance, right in plain view of the guards. With a flick of his finger, a noise emanates from the nearby wood, attracting the attention of the guards. With another quiet flick of a finger, vines erupt from the wood, distracting the guards.

“Oh Goddess, I sense the aura of a person in that wood, they probably caused those vines to shoot out!” Kaiyo yells out innocently, pointing at his own work.

The guards gulp but begin to head over to the wood, giving Soleil and Kaiyo enough time to make a run for it and bolt through the large entrance into the main building. They hear the guards screeching behind them to halt, but the duo run from room to room. Kaiyo senses the royal aura of Yamato Orel in a large conference room and they burst the door open, causing the Lord and his guest to stand up, weapons at the ready. Not the greatest first impression.

Behind, guards had already caught up, invading the room and surrounding Kaiyo and Soleil. Kaiyo takes the opportunity to shapeshift, surprising all the guards and effectively intimidating them. It was the first time Soleil had seen Kaiyo shapeshift and she was surprised to see that, unlike regular wolves, he was twice as large as one, and sported red fur that matches his hair. Kaiyo growls, causing the guards to step back.

“What is the meaning of this. Who are these people. Guards, how did you let them sneak in? Arrest them immediately!” Yamato barks out.

“WAIT!” Soleil shouts as loud as she can. She takes her ribbon out of her hair. “Please take a look at this before you rashly decide to arrest us. My name is Soleil. Soleil Orel as it seems.”

A hush falls over the room. Yamato can’t believe what he’s hearing. He walks over to Soleil and delicately takes the ribbon from her hands. Upon seeing the runes, he tells the guards to stand by, leave the room, and close the door behind them. Kaiyo shifts back.

Yamato falls down onto a cushion, an elbow on the large coffee table, a hand clutching his temple. Lord Yamato was an imposing man on first look, what with the bushy black eyebrows, spiky ponytailed hair, and small goatee, but what stood before her right now was an incredulous man. He stands back up and embraces Soleil.

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Soleil melts into the hug, the embrace of a relative she’d never thought she’d be reunited with. Yamato lets go too soon. He looks at her with soft violet eyes, “I never thought I’d see another Orel ever again.” His voice is deep, sincere, and oh so relieved. “I’m sorry that you can’t meet your parents, Soleil, but I hope that your uncle is enough to fill the gap just a little.”

The smile on Soleil’s face reaches up to her ears, “I’m elated… Uncle.” She grins at the word. Family. Real family was in front of her. Not that Ezra and Gramps weren’t family, but there was something mystical about actually sharing genes with someone.

Ezra… With the help of Yamato, she could find him, and apologize a million times for the mess she caused.

Yamato realises his surroundings, “Ah, my apologies, please, let’s sit down altogether.” He directs Kaiyo and Soleil to the other end of the table where the other man was still sitting. Kaiyo and Soleil sit down next to each other, while Yamato headed off to a side room.

Clad in silk robes, sashes around his chest, and a sirwal, the man was adorned in a variety of jewelry from earrings to bracelets to necklaces. The robes were of the deep royal blue color of Hariq royalty. His eyes, aged, yet still wise, acknowledges the duo in the room. “Greetings, your highness, I am Sayid Yong. I was the captain of the guard of your father, and I’m currently the leader of Hariq and the nearby province. Now, if I may, who might you be, demon?”

Kaiyo rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, “Uh… Kaiyo Fen, my Lord. I help out at Selene’s Salvation Spa if you’ve heard of it, it’s on the outskirts of Hariq.”

Sayid lets out a hearty laugh, “Ah yes! My men love the place, my son has been planning to go for ages, but hasn’t found the time. Tell Selene she has my approval. I’ll have to pay it a visit one day, too.”

Kaiyo nods feverishly, surprised that the Hariqan leader had even heard of the spa. He couldn’t wait to tell Selene when he got back.

Yamato comes back into a room, holding in his hand a pair of amber colored gauntlets. He sits down and presents them to Soleil, “These are for you.”

Soleil looks at the gauntlets peculiarly. She grabs them and puts them on, expecting the gauntlets to be too big for her. Instead, the parts of the gauntlets magically mold and adapt to her hand. They felt lightweight, as if they were a part of her body instead of a normally heavy piece of armor.

“These gauntlets were gifted to the royal family by the Goddess after the Dividing War,” Yamato explains, “They’ve been passed down through generations and generations. Each time, the gauntlets adapt to the fighting style of the wielder.”

“Huh? They’re weapons?” Soleil had always used a hunting bow, this was going to be new.

“Well,” Yamato chuckles, “Instead of explaining it to you, I’ll let you experience it. Come.” He rises from his seat. His trio of guests follow him out a sliding door into the Garden of Dragons. Kaiyo and Soleil can’t believe their eyes.

The trees, ranging from full bloom cherry blossoms to maple trees and wisteria trees, all added to the mystical aspect of the garden. Small paths littered the scenery, all following small river paths, with small two feet long bridges to travel over the river. A variety of songbirds fluttered about, chirping happily. It all seemed so serene and alive.

In the center of the garden, surrounded by water, with only a small bridge to bridge the gap, was a rectangular land of dirt, but in that dirt was a magical circle inscribed with runes.

Yamato guides Soleil to the spot, but doesn’t go there himself. Sayid and Kaiyo stand off to the side. Kaiyo feels awfully like an outsider; he looks around, trying to figure out if he could sneak off. Would Soleil care?

Soleil stands in the middle of the magic circle, “What am I supposed to do?”

“The royal family, when gifted with the gauntlets, usually start going on a pilgrimage at around age 18 to pass the trials of the 12 tribes of the Litian Kingdom. The first trial is always the Ryuulong Trial. If you meditate on this spot, your soul will be transported to meet your ancestors and discover your destiny.” Soleil doesn’t quite process everything, nor did she quite feel like completing 12 trials when there were much more important things at stake. She honors Yamato’s feelings for now and sits down cross legged in the middle of the circle. She closes her eyes, and feels everything around her.

From the outside, Kaiyo sees the air begin to flow around her. He closes his own eyes, he senses Soleil’s aura and… others. Floating around her, there were four other crimson forms.

“Do you see them?” Yamato asks the demon.

Kaiyo nods, “Four other auras… Incredible.” Never before had he seen a lifeless aura float around.

On Soleil’s side, she had moved on to a plane where the sky reflected on the floor like a mirror. All around her was a blue sky with white puffy clouds floating about. In front of her, she sees a massive white serpentine dragon appear before her.

“The trial of the dragon,” a voice, grand, deep, echoes in her head. “Follow the lead of your ancestors and defeat me.”

Soleil looks at her gauntlets and looks back up at the majestic creature before her. There was no way she was capable of taking a dragon down. She couldn’t even stand up to that Darkian mage.

Up above, she could vaguely see shapes, people, floating above her, assessing her.

The dragon lets out a roar and readies its stance. Soleil stands at the ready, but her mind and her body aren’t in sync.

The mystical creature flies forward, it’s long, snake like body, sending a spiral of air towards Soleil. Soleil keeps her stance, protecting her face with her arms raised up, as the dragon recedes and stands back in front of her again.

“Fight. Come.” The voice echoes again.

It looked like she didn’t have much of a choice. Soleil swallows, her ancestors were watching. Would they know she wasn’t raised like her? She was agile on her feet, due to chasing down a number of chickens in her younger days; but she didn’t hit very hard, Ezra was the one good with close fighting.

Soleil grins to herself, what was she thinking? Gramps would reprimand her for comparing herself to Ezra. She could do this just as well as he no doubt could.

The dragon would get a fight then.

Soleil lunges forward and halts completely, right underneath the mouth of the beast. The gauntlets adapt to the wielder, Yamato had said, so it made sense that they could change to the wielder’s needs right?

Her hypothesis comes true. The gauntlets shine, transforming into a bow radiating of light. She quickly shoots an arrow right in the underbelly of the beast, before continuing to rush forward, sending more arrows along the way, all the way through its tail.

The dragon, hurt by the arrows, lands, it’s tiny claws leaving ripples through the strange sky-shaped ground. Now behind the beast, Soleil climbs on top of it, running as fast as she can up its fine. As she reaches the top of its head, she uses it as a jump off point and looks back at the dragon’s satisfied face. She shoots two arrows in successions as they bleed through the creature’s eyes and she lands on the floor, a satisfied ripple at her feet. The bow transforms back into the gauntlets, snug around her hands.

It wasn’t over though. The dragon stands before her, its wounds completely healed. Soleil assumes it's an illusion at this point, this entire plane of existence was no doubt fake.

A spirit comes towards her, her form fluttering. Soleil couldn’t make out who it was, but the spirit had to be one of her ancestors.

“Harness the power of the dragons in the gauntlets and use its strength to defeat it.” The spirit says in what appeared to be a hazy male voice before its ghostly hand touches her gauntlets. The gauntlets glow a hue of turquoise blue.

“Use the blue flames with the punch of the gauntlets.” The spirit’s will was Soleil’s command. She looks at the dragon and with a flick of her hand, demands it to attack first.

With a powerful roar, the dragon lunges forward for a bite that could eat Soleil alive. She readies her fists, and, wills the blue flames to erupt around her hand before jumping above the beast right as it attempts to bite her. Blue flames glowing, she strikes the beast with a satisfying skin to scale contact that sends the creature downward to the ground.

Satisfied by the Soleil’s showcase, the dragon appears to smile at Soleil. “Good. Your ancestors may speak to you for a couple minutes. To explain your destiny.” The beast disappears, fading into the endless sky.

Soleil turns to face the spirit that had fluttered down. It was now accompanied by another hazy figure.

“A good first showcase of your skills,” the same hazy masculine voice speaks. “You’re a beginner, it shows, but there’s potential to become a great fighter.”

“Ah, thank you,” Soleil bows, grateful that her ancestors seemed to approve of her fighting style.

“I’m sure you have many things you want to know,” the new spirit says in a hazy feminine sounding voice. “But there’s only so much we can say.”

Even now, Soleil begins to see the sky around her distort. “Please, tell me. Tell me what I must do.” Soleil pleads with the spirits. Voices begin to speak to her incoherently.

“Seek the pendants.”

“Bring balance to our continent.”

“Restore the peace of the two countries.”

“Defeat Cethin.”

“Find the World in Between.”

“Bring balance.”

“Red. Blue. Green. The pendants.”

“Nemesis.”

Sentences become mumbled words echoing in her mind, before the sky around her completely disappears, and she opens her eyes to the Garden of Dragons once more.

Sweat radiated on her temple. She feels the aftermath of her acrobatics in the plane. The voices had put a strain on her mind.

She stands, the words still echoing, unable to leave her head.

Soleil had a lot to think about.