The journey had been long; too long, thought Tavia in exasperation.  As she watched Alena and Ragnar curl up in a corner of the wagon, and heard Cristo mutter something about an "ungrateful wench of a princess," she tried once again to recall  what it was that had brought her to this chaotic realm.  Despite her fond memories of childhood days passed blithely away with Celia - ah, Celia!  could Tavia ever forgive herself for the death of her closest friend? - she knew, deep within her, that a completely different life awaited her after they defeated Necrosaro.

     In a remote corner of the wagon, Taloon was trying to separate Ragnar and Cristo, who were brawling on the floor.  It wasn't working.

    If we defeat Necrosaro, Tavia reminded herself.  She curled herself up into a little ball and tried not to think of the battle ahead.

    Suddenly,  Tavia felt the wagon grind to a halt, Doran cheeping and chittering furiously.   "Hey!" she heard Brey holler.  "What in Rubiss' name is going on out there?"  Tavia peered out from under a flap of Ozwarg hide and saw another wagon, nearly identical to their own.  An elegantly armored man with hair the same shade of green as Tavia's was walking towards them, a gleaming replica of the Zenithian Sword drawn and ready to strike.

    Alena, who had been intently, if not bemusedly, watching Cristo and Ragnar fight over her, suddenly reached out and clawed Cristo's shoulder.  "You moron," she said, "how many times do I have to tell you it's over between us?"

    Cristo glared.  "That hurt!"

     "Good.  Now let's see what all that commotion was about," Alena said.

     "It could be a trap," Nara remarked from her space on the floor, where she had spread out her tarot cards to tell Mara's fortune.  "Better be careful."

    "Of course," said Tavia, reluctantly getting up and leaving the wagon with Alena, Ragnar, and Cristo.  The green-haired man lowered his sword when they approached, a glimmer of recognition in his eyes.

    He immediately ran up to Tavia and gave her an overpowering hug.  "Rydia!  What are you doing here?  I thought you were rebuilding Eblan with Edge!"

    Tavia glared at him.  "Who the hell are you?  And who's Rydia?"

    The man returned Tavia's puzzled look.  "You're not Rydia?"

    "Of course I'm not Rydia, whoever she is.  Now who are you, and what are you doing here?"

     Ragnar drew his sword, which glimmered like a Metal Babble even in the dim light of the path to Necrosaro's lair.  "He's an imposter!  Let's get him!"  Alena flexed her fingers, fidgeting with the long, orangey-gold talons on each hand, while Cristo raised his splendid Mirror Shield.  "Come on, Tavia," said Ragnar, bloodlust in his eyes.  "I don't know who this man is, but he's obviously not supposed to be here."

    "I believe you're mistaken there," said the stranger.  "You are the imposters, for we are on our way to defeat Necrosaro.  Now, pull your wagon aside so we can pass, or we shall be forced to take extreme measures."

     "If you're not the imposters," said Tavia, wanting to avoid a battle at all costs, "then who are you?"

    "I am Cecil, King of Baron," he said, "and I have journeyed here to rid this world of evil."

    Alena doubled over with laughter.  "Cecil?  What kind of silly name is Cecil?"

    Tavia gave her a withering look, and Alena retreated to Ragnar's side.  "King of Baron?  That kingdom does not exist in this world," she said.

    "He must be lying!" Cristo hollered, unsheathing his sword.  "We must defeat him, before he can take word back to Necrosaro!"

     Tavia looked back and forth between Cecil, who looked exceedingly confused, and Cristo, who was out for blood.  This is all too improbable...  She finally turned to Cecil and asked, "How many people are in your party?"

    "Nine.  Eight, actually...eight people and one dragon."

    Cristo abruptly put his sword back in the scabbard and looked curiously at Cecil.  "Strange...that's the same number of people - and dragon - as in our group.  But enemies never travel in groups that large...makes it too difficult to effectively ambush people.  So..."

    "Why are you here, Cecil?" asked Tavia.

    "It was all a game," he said.  "You see, Rosa - my wife - and I get bored sometimes with life as rulers of Baron.  Although it took us many years to bring peace to our world, sometimes there is an absolutely insatiable desire for adventure.  So we came here, where Rosa was kidnapped by Necrosaro."

     "Interesting plot twist," said Alena.  "Wasn't Rosa Necrosaro's girlfriend?"

     Cecil shook his head emphatically.  "He liked to think so, but in truth he was merely using her for her ruby tears.  Ever since we used the SandRuby to cure her before, her tears turned to rubies.  I hope to find her and take her back to Baron, where I'm sure the healers can do something for her.  And if that means having to defeat this world's Ruler of Evil, then so be it."

    From inside Tavia's wagon, there was a barely audible sniff.  "It's so romantic," the muffled voice of Mara said.

    "Give me a break," replied Nara.

    "Why don't we all go together?  With a team this size, it would be much easier to defeat Necrosaro," said Ragnar.

     "Makes sense to me," said Cecil.  "All I want to do is get Rosa back to Baron.  I know your companions, but who are you?" he asked Tavia.

    "I am Tavia," she said, bowing politely.  "I would be honored to have you join our quest."

    Tavia's wagon again screeched to a sudden halt, and she felt the wagon rock as someone climbed in.  "Mara!  Nara!  I've been looking everywhere for you!"

    A well-built man with long, dark hair came in, a falcon perched on the shoulder of his red jacket.  "I have news of your father, Edgar," he said.

    "Orin?" Nara asked.  "Is that really you?"

     "Yes, Nara.  Orin the Falconer, at your service."

    "You never told me he was a falconer," Taloon said pointedly to Nara.

    "That's because he wasn't.  Orin," said Mara, "you've got a bit of explaining to do."

     Orin sat down and prepared to tell his saga.  The falcon put its head under its wing and went quietly to sleep.  "I got tied up on Earth for a while.  You see, they had a nuclear war there, and..."

    "Nuclear?  Earth?  What in Rubiss' name are you talking about?" Brey demanded.

    "Um...they split atoms, and...um..."  Orin was faced with eight very puzzled looks.  "Well...it would have about the same effect as a gigantic Explodet cast over the entire planet."

    "Ah," they all said, and went back to listening to Orin's story.

    "I journeyed to Earth, looking everywhere for news of Edgar, and came upon eight palaces, all controlled by the evil Ruth..."

     "A dragon?" asked Alena.  At the sound of the word "dragon," Doran cheeped approvingly and beat his wings against the ground.

    "Of course not," replied Orin.  "Who ever heard of a dragon named Ruth?"

    Alena shrugged.  "I guess you're right.  Go ahead with your story."

    "I restored the eight gems to their altars, and the healing of Earth began...but I still had no news of Edgar.  Finally, though, I was told that he had become king of a splendid kingdom called Figaro."

    "What kind of a dumb name is that for a kingdom?" Ragnar asked.  "Honestly, I don't understand some planets."

    "That's all very nice, Orin," said Mara, "but where does the bird come in?"

    "When I got to Earth, most of the creatures inhabiting the planet had been destroyed.  Cutrus here was the only one that hadn't been used for evil by Ruth.  I learned how to control him, and he helped me survive the journey through the eight palaces."  Cutrus squawked, shook himself off, and dropped back to sleep.

     "Well, it's wonderful to know that Father's alive," said Nara, "but we're on our way to Necrosaro's lair.  Are you sure you want to be here?"

    Orin gave her an indignant look.  "As long as your leader says it's all right, I would gladly accompany you to the battle with the Evil One.  I'm sure that Cutrus and I could be of some help."  He looked over at Tavia, who was intently studying her ragged, broken fingernails.

    "Sure, why not?" Tavia said, knowing that these things were really out of her hands.  Besides, the more help they had, the better.

     "I will not disappoint you," said Orin, and Cutrus squawked his approval.

    Cristo shook his head.  "Thank Rubiss we haven't."

    "Quiet!" hissed Ragnar.  "We're almost there, and we don't need you giving us away, Cristo."

    "Why don't you stay out of this, you big oaf?" Cristo replied.

    "Do I have to make you shut up, or will you do it yourself?"  Ragnar's eyes flashed angrily, the soldier looking even larger as he stood up to make his point to the eternally outspoken Cristo.

    Alena glared at Cristo and bonked him over the head with Brey's staff, which had been resting against her seat.  "Cristo, for Rubiss' sake, shut up!" she whispered.  Cristo whimpered and retreated to Tavia's side of the wagon.

    "That looks like the place," said Brey, leaning out the window to see a throne covered in the darkest red leather.  The throne, however, was bare.

    Tavia jumped out of the wagon, with Cecil close behind.  "What's going on here?" she asked.

    The two wagons were bathed in a bright, almost holy light, and something shimmered in the air before them.  It grew darker and darker, and at last transformed into a young woman.  Her hair, while having a slight greenish tinge to it, was a deep violet, and her eyes twinkled sea-green.  "You're too late.  We already killed Necrosaro," she said matter-of-factly.

     "But...that's impossible," said Cecil.  "We are the destined heroes."

    "That may be, but we still killed Necrosaro already.  I'm sure there are lots of other places that need heroes, though.  Maybe you could apply at one of those.  I hear they're looking for people in Skara Brae."

    "All right, who are you?" Tavia asked.

     "You should know me, Tavia.  I am Keyla, Princess of Ishmeria."  Alena suddenly came bounding out of Tavia's wagon, her fiery claws ready for action.

     "Once again you have proven yourself quite the upstart, Keyla," said Alena.  "First Chaos, now this."

     Cecil murmured to no one in particular, "What the hell kind of name is Ishmeria?  Now that's just silly."

    Ragnar and Cristo emerged from the wagon, weapons drawn.  "Wait a sec...that doesn't look like Necrosaro," said Cristo.  "I'd say she looks more like Tavia."

    Meanwhile, Keyla and Alena were reliving old memories.  "Remember when we took the Adamant to the dwarven blacksmith?" Alena asked.  "Remember how you grabbed Excalibur right out of his hands, before it had even finished cooling, and ran out the cave with it?  Then you left me with that cursed sword, the Masamune..."

     "I thought we had established that the Masamune was most definitely not cursed," said Keyla.

    "For crying out loud, Keyla, we found the thing just a couple paces down from Tiamat in the Temple of Fiends.  If that's not cursed, I don't know what is."

     "Wait a second," said Cecil.  "You're all wrong.  Rosa found the Masamune on the moon."

     "You stay out of this," said Alena.  "I think you're a bit confused."

    "Of course I'm confused," Cecil replied.  "Excalibur was my sword, and Rosa gave the Masamune to Edge long ago.  What are you arguing over?"

     "She stole my sword!" Alena yelled.  "And thanks to that cursed Masamune, I no longer have the strength to wield a sword - all I can do is use claws."

    "Out of all of us, if it was anyone's sword, it was mine," said Cecil.

     Ragnar stepped up to Alena's side.  "You never told me about this," he said.

     Alena gave Keyla a furious look and said, "I didn't think it was worth the effort."

    Keyla narrowed her eyes.  "You see, Alena and I were both knights on a mission to destroy the four elemental fiends..."

    Tavia shook her head and went to sit back down in the wagon.  It was going to be one long night.

    Democle's gold eyes twinkled mischievously as he answered the door.  "Tavia...there's someone named Keyla here to see you.  Says she needs a treatment for Fire Claw wounds..."

Ever notice how so many video game characters have the same names?  It gets even worse when you start naming characters after other characters, as we did in Dragon Warrior 4.  I based this on Dragon Warrior 4, 8 Eyes, Final Fantasy 1, 4, and 6, and Gemfire...with some in-jokes based on other stuff.  I'll let you figure those out for yourself.