Keele and Melody arrive. Marron calls out, "Balonsa!" (Or something...I'm not exactly sure what her name is supposed to be...|^_^|;;) Suddenly a huge dragon lands in front of them, with an unconscious Reid strapped to its back! Marron climbs into its saddle and flies away, leaving Reid's worried friends on the ground.
Reid awakens several hundred feet in the air. Once he's done freaking out, Marron introduces herself again and tells him that she has need of his talents - he's now her partner. Reid is not especially excited by this news.
Back on the ground, Melody discovers a flyer which Marron dropped in the struggle. It's an advertisement from the island city of Pearl about a huge sea monster which has been ravaging their shipping lanes. Queen Alice (Exsushia) promises a huge reward to anyone who can kill it. They rightly assume that Marron is headed for Pearl and start off in that direction to reclaim their kidnapped friend.
Marron and Reid arrive in Pearl in no time, thanks to Balonsa's speed. Queen Alice gives them a room in her palace to prepare for the battle. Reid tries to escape while Marron's in the shower, but she comes out in a towel and catches him. She promises to help him forget his useless friends and drops her towel.
She's wearing a bathing suit underneath, you dirty-minded silly-heads. |^_^|
So anyway she grabs Reid and drags him off the balcony. They fall several floors into the Queen's swimming pool. Once he finishes freaking out again, Reid decides that Marron is insane. But then she bursts out laughing at his expression, and Reid is so good-natured that he can't help but laugh too. They slowly begin to become friends.
Later Marron apologizes for kidnapping him and commends his bravery - when she attacked them, Reid chose to protect his friends rather than jumping out of the way. She sincerely asks for his help in defeating the sea monster and promises that once it's dead, she'll help him find his friends again. Reid agrees reluctantly.
That night, Reid awakes to find her crying on the balcony. He tiptoes away, knowing that for some reason there's more at stake than just money in this job.
The next morning Farah, Reid and Keele arrive in Pearl. Upon seeing some of the destruction the sea monster has wrought, Farah promises the people that she and her friends will kill it. But the people ignore her, instead clustering around Melody, whose bright clothes and dark skin make her look like one of them.
Obtaining a raft, the three sail out of the bay and begin to debate how to attract the beast. Keele opens a book and tries to figure out what kind of monster it is, but Farah gets impatient and just chucks a big rock over the side. The monster attacks and they summon the craymels to help.
A lively battle ensues. Keele casts a flying spell so that they can all hover over the water, and there is much crashing and near-missing and water spraying everywhere. The Craymels kick some arse, and they think they've won.
But it turns out that this monster is a sea jaguar - a creature that only grows stronger the more you hit it. Even bigger and badder than before, it turns and makes straight for the bay, obviously intending to do some serious damage to the city. The fighters can't stop it. Farah realizes that she's screwed up big-time.
Then, out of the blue - Marron and Reid appear, riding Balonsa! Using a special double-bladed attack, they kill the monster with one blow.
The two groups meet up back at the dock, and Marron bids Reid goodbye and gives Farah some cryptic advice about "revaluing herself" before she can really save people. I don't think that part translated very well.
Everyone collects their reward and has a big party that evening, though Farah is still thinking about what Marron said and doesn't seem to be having any fun.
Marron checks into a hotel and runs into Colina, who has apparently followed Reid to Pearl. She also meets Claudia, the hotel's owner/operator. The day has, once again, been saved by our intrepid heroes.
But what lies in store for them tomorrow?
Find out next time on TALES OF ETERNIA! |^_^|
