Maeyune waited until Master Jorin Toru had ascended the steps to meet her.

Jorin was a man of average height with a narrow but strong build. He favored the temple's gray day robes, and maintained his long gray hair in a queue. With a mouth turned downward in his usual frown, his face bore evident lines of continuous scowling.

Before retiring at the end of the dragon-alien war, he was known as General Jorin Toru. He had been a loyal advisor to Chiyan's father, the former king.

When news had spread that a baby girl possessed the life force of the Moon God, the king had instructed Jorin to raise her into a warrior. She was to eventually lead his armies and fight for Suolan. And from the first days when Maeyune could walk, Jorin had trained her to prepare for an unforeseeable future.

Despite all her youthful years of bearing hate toward him and her pre-determined destiny, he was the only father she had ever known.

"What happened?" he asked when he reached her.

"The Iron Prophet attacked, but we were able to subdue them, Master," she answered, frowning. "However, they were carrying poison pills. We could not stop them."

The scowl on his face deepened. "Hmph," was all he muttered, but Maeyune knew he was churning through his thoughts. Time and experience had taught her well not to use her power to read private thoughts. At some point in her recent years, honor had finally pushed out temptation.

"His Majesty is requiring our presence inside, Master," she said.

Jorin nodded. "Very well then. Let us not keep our new king waiting."

The rest of her Aegis Team and the temple guardians remained outside while she and Jorin entered the palace. They traveled into the throne room and through various halls before they encountered a small group of palace guards outside Chiyan's library. The guards allowed them entry.

Before they entered the large room, they heard Chiyan's loud, but controlled voice. "How were those automechs overtaken?" he asked.

General Loni and Deiyu sat on either side of him at the longest of the library's tables. In the center of the table sat a small, flat disk. It was a transmission device that emitted a large holographic screen. On the screen was an older man Maeyune recognized, the king's master of government, Master Den.

They all turned as Maeyune and Jorin entered the room.

"Maeyune, thank you for the speed that you demonstrated against the enemy," Chiyan said, gesturing for them to sit. "Without your presence, there is no doubt Suolan would have suffered a fate similar to Nomenia's."

She bowed her head to accept his words. She formally bowed to Master Den on the holographic screen before taking a seat beside the general.

Her brow furrowed in consternation as she offered her observance. "Those were Nomenian drones, Your Majesty."

"Yes," he replied, folding his hands on the table. "After killing the Nomenian king, the Iron Prophet has confiscated most of Nomenian weaponry and technology. It is only a matter of time before the rebels can fight no more.

"It is a terrible misfortune for the world," the new king continued, "to witness the birth of a new terror shortly after the Dragon-Wobeck war."

While they discussed the matter of the overridden automechs and their concerns for the Nomenian technology, Maeyune's thoughts ventured off.

The Wobeck. They were the race that had travelled from another world.

Many temple guardians were the first to have learned their name, whispered to them in their visions from the dragon gods. After the war, the planet of Vaius experienced a new era, one where temple guardians were no longer alone in bearing magic.

The world gave birth to a new power, a power that gave humans the ability to convert their own life force—their soul—into celestial energy. It allowed them to conjure one of the four worldly elements: wind, water, fire, or land.

It was an ability transferred from dragon to man in order to continue the responsibility of guarding the planet. Many children born after the war were granted such elemental strengths. Other children who had survived the war, like Clover and Aerylis, awoke one morning to feel new energy flowing in their veins.

The children who received the dragons' abilities were thus given the title celestial. With the dragons gone, celestials had essentially become the world's last line of defense.

However, unlike her teammates and the rest of the world's celestials, Maeyune bore both the powers and soul of a god.

She was one of two vessels.

General Loni's emphatic voice drew Maeyune's attention again.

"What we require are updated automech models," the Suolani general remarked, his composure as rigid as the king's. "We have spent far too much of our time and expenses on training the celestial army and not enough on our technological resources."

"May I remind you, General, that you were saved by celestials only moments ago," Jorin said.

General Loni gave Jorin a cold stare. "With Nomenia under their rule, the Iron Prophet now has access to both Nomenian technology and energy-inhibiting capabilities. The Suolani celestial army will not stand a chance against that kind of force."

Nomenia, the world's largest technological producer, lacked celestial energy. Without that power, elemental magic did not exist in Nomenia. Thus, they had focused all efforts on becoming the leader in weapons development.

Two years ago, the Iron Prophet had murdered the Nomenian king and had replaced him with one of their leaders.

Maeyune remembered the reports of the first Iron Prophet attacks that had begun over two years ago, right before the Nomenian king's assassination. They were a faction that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, ravaging ancient temples that contained the raw energies of the heavens.

The Iron Prophet foresaw a future where all humans equally wielded the power of the gods. But in contradiction to that unity, they were willing to annihilate all who stood in their way.

They seek power for only the powerful, Maeyune thought with disdain.

Bera, the easily accessible nation directly south of Nomenia, had become the Iron Prophet's primary target. Like Suolan, Bera was a country rich in celestial energy. Bera had already endured twenty years of rivalry against Nomenia. Ever since the dawn of the celestial era, it had become a battle of magic versus technology between both countries.

After a brief silence, King Chiyan began, "Aside from discussing the events that transpired this evening, there is a more pressing matter that I must divulge—particularly to you, Maeyune, and Jorin."

He glanced between the two. "Two months ago before my father's passing, the Beran Council sent an emissary to Suolan to negotiate a treaty of alliance. Of course, my father naturally declined the offer."

He continued speaking through their surprise. "For twenty years, my father refused to trust the Berans. But now the Iron Prophet, with the Nomenian army under their control, has become the ultimate threat. They have brought their terror to our shores, and now, we have no other choice but to reveal our hand and intervene. I will not allow my father's distrust to jeopardize the safety of the Suolani people.

"I have sent Master Den to Bera as my delegate," he said. He gestured to the holographic screen where Master Den nodded in affirmation. "The Beran Council and I have finally settled on a fair negotiation. We will be securing an alliance between Bera and Suolan within this coming week."

Maeyune could only feel the thrum in her chest as she forced herself to remain in the conversation. Her heartbeat grew louder in her ears.

An alliance with Bera.

That can only mean one thing...

The king watched her and smiled. "Maeyune, you were right. We should have acted years ago. I believe it is time that we finally joined forces with the Berans and their Sun Goddess incarnate."

It took a long moment before Maeyune registered his words. Her lips parted in shock, and she could only stare back shamelessly.

What...what did he say?

Her thoughts were numb. But as the seconds passed by and the king waited for a response, her head began to spin. She did not know what to say, for she could not find any words.

The Sun Goddess incarnate. Her counterpart.

Was it true? After all these long years and endless waiting, was it really true? 

She knew almost nothing about the Sun Goddess's incarnation. All she did know was that twenty years ago, Yunra the Sun Goddess, had chosen a baby boy in Bera's great desert sands to carry her life force.

"I-," Maeyune began, but did not know how to finish.

Jorin had not spoken a word. She saw that he was not as surprised as she was, but rather serious in his composure.

She met Deiyu's calm eyes. Deiyu would have been in the city when the Beran emissary had arrived. He must have known all along.

The king continued to smile at her. "Once the transmission ends with Master Den, he will be informing the Beran Council of my decision. In a week's time, you and your team will be traveling to Bera where Master Den will represent me at the signing and introduce you, as per the treaty agreement."

Maeyune's head was still dazed from the news.

Chiyan stood from his chair and nodded to them all. "Please take heed of this momentous event. An absence of friendship has kept the energies of the world unbalanced. As much as our people worship the moon, we must also celebrate the sun. With this alliance between our great countries and both the incarnations, we will destroy the Iron Prophet and return Nomenia to its people."