Chapter two… finally… I'll be honest; I've had it done for over a month now. I've just been lazy and didn't want type it up yet. I had gotten busy with some things, getting ready for school and my nee-chan coming down being some of those things. *Curls up in corner and dies* Forgive me… ;A;

I do not own Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Square Enix does) or Masa (Yumi does).

[xXx]

Edge, Faize, Lymle, and Reimi had followed Masa and her two body guards to their kingdom, having been told what was wrong with the lands, the world, even. The geography had been slowly but surely started to become unstable. The temperature changes were horrendous as of recently, the nights ungodly cold and the days almost unbearably hot; the lands that had once been bustling with plentiful life, both of animals and of vegetation, were nothing now but dry deserts and barren wastelands; the rivers and oceans were beginning to run dry; and landslides were occurring more often, more violently. The end of Shamalay was drawing near, according to Masa sadly. The end was near and they could not do a thing about it except pray to their deities, the Muah, to save them. "It's all in the Prophecy, the one created by our ancestors," Masa told them, the gates to the kingdom appearing in their vision brightly in the night sky.

"The Prophecy?" questioned Edge, his brows knitting together. "What does it say?"

Masa's walking slowed to a stop, stopping her guards and the four man crew of the SRF – 003 Calnus as well. She closed her eyes and sighed through her nose gently, her eyes moving behind her eyelids as she searched for the exact words of the Prophecy that had been told throughout history for generations upon generations. She finally found the words and began to recite them verbatim, "Once they strike, the Children of thy Sun, our wilting moons will merge into one, neither appearing, neither showing themselves to a soul living upon the dying earth. The earth will shed her tears at this and bring forth thy death, both of world and of spirit. The end will draw neigh." She then opened her eyes and looked back at the others. "That is the first half of the Prophecy. Nobody in this day and age knows the second half of it. It was a century ago when the Children of the Sun first appeared, as the Prophecy had foretold. They had destroyed the second half in attempts to make it fade and never come true." She then smiled softly. "Of course, there are always rumors. Especially amongst the older families that had ancestors who gazed upon the second half. A rumor of such always somehow includes two Demigods who are descended from Muan blood arriving to the world and they save it. Of course…" She glanced away. "It's only a rumor."

The rest of the walk to the gates of the kingdom was engulfed in a pregnant silence, Lymle trying to fight off her exhaustion as she rode the back of her demon hound Cerberus in order to keep up to the others, Faize looking about with observant lilac eyes, taking in their surroundings, Reimi feeling nervous, her hand occasionally reaching up to the back of her neck to cup it or to shakily rub it, and Edge appearing to be in deep thought, muling the words of Masa in the back of his mind but not too far back so as to stay alert. Masa's guards were like shadows, following after the Queen, hands on the hilts of their swords in case of an emergency, and the Queen herself felt weak and tired, fatigue beginning to take its course through her from being out so late at night.

They all soon arrived at the gates, much to the joy of Masa and company, the guards along the top of the wall rushing to and fro to open the aforementioned gates. The gates creaked open slowly and then opened entirely, revealing the beauty of the kingdom to them all. Buildings were strewn to and fro, people bustling about like it didn't matter what time of day it was, their energy high and spirits unbothered, lights illuminating the dark skies above. As they made their way through the kindgom to get to the palace that laid at the heart of it all, Edge decided that it was time to break the silence that coiled around the small group.

"This place looks so beautiful," he noted with a bit of awe in his voice. "It's so lively compared to the outside… has the time of the world not affected it here?"

"Time will indeed affect it," replied Masa, "but not the time of the World. The time of the Queen's life span determines the time of the land here. Our current Queen in quite young and is a very generous young woman from what I have heard from the people. She is also much like her late mother, by hearsay…" Her voice seemed to have sounded mournful at the mention of her mother, the Queen that had been before her.

"So the appearance of the kingdom within the walls corresponds with the age of the Queen?" Faize questioned, a bit amazed.

"It's Symbology, 'kay?" yawned little Lymle. "Lots and lots of master Symbologists spent lots of time making Life Symbols, right…?"

Masa smiled softly. "No, no, Symbology is not the Magick that is used in this case," she told the young girl. "It is the collective power of the soul and the faith of the people." They finally arrived at the palace at last, the guards once again rushed to and fro, opening the doors and allowing them inside. Marble floors, stone pillars, pots of magnificent flowers, and a long, purple velvet carpet was what greeted them on first sight. The carpet led to a small set of stairs and then to three thrones, all of which were empty.

"Now that we are under the protection of Sanctuary and the Palace of Royals, I must reintroduce myself," smiled Masa warmly, turning to the Calnus crew. "I am Masa, Queen of Shamalay."

[xXx]

Two weeks had passed since that day. Steel was hard to find in the available mining deposits, even harder to smelt it from ore to an ingot. Edge had helped to the best of his capability, speeding up the process slightly. The seposits were becoming easier and eaiser to find thank to the destruction (done in secret, of course) of two twin Grigori, dubbed 'The Children of the Sun' by the people of the kingdom, that had been sucking out the life of the world. Masa had noticed that the lands were becoming revitalized, the life returning almost as if it had never left.

Queen Masa was getting for bed, the sun almost completely set over the neighboring mountains, when there was a slight shuffling sound outside of her chamber doors, followed by a soft crinkling of parchment sliding beneath the crack of the aforementioned doors. The young woman looked at it thoughtfully before walking over and picking up the foldded letter delicately. She unfolded it, a dusting of pink over her cheeks and a small smile on her lips as she read what was written.

'Queen Masa, I, Captain of the SRF-003 Calnus, Edge Maverick, request to have a personal audience with Your Highness. Signed, Edge Maverick.'

The young woman giggled softly at the formality of the small letter, smiling gently as she shook her head. She folded the letter back up neatly before she put it away in a drawer. She then left her bedroom chambers, the two guards who had stood watch at her doors smiling as well as they followed her.

[xXx]

Edge was wearing much lighter clothing than his usual heavy armor, his eyes a little groggy from the lack of sleep, shadows beneath them, his hair ruffled but somewhat tamed, having been comber through lightly with his fingers. He wanted to talk to Masa, to let her know what he and his crew had done, to show her the peeking twin moon, Ellai, who had been in hiding while the Grigori were there. He felt that the moon's appearance would be the ultimate relief for Masa. After all, the late appearance of the shy moon had been on of her biggest concerns.

"Have you been waiting for me long, Captain Maverick?"

Edge turned his head tieredly, smiling at the young Queen who began to sit beside him. Her guards stood at salute, quiet as they did so behind them. "Not at all," he assured her, their hands brushing together gently yet briefly. "And please, Your Highniss, call me Edge." He yawned gently, shaking his head.

"Then call me Masa," smiled the Queen, laying her head against his shoulder. "By the way, you don't have to be so formal with me. Especially in a letter."

The blond Earthling blushed slightly, glancing away. He smiled and looked back at her. "Well, you're higher up on the social ladder than me, Your High- I mean, Masa," he said. "I have to talk formally. It is rude otherwise." He reached up with his hand, the back of it glowing gently, the symbol just barely visible, tucking a lock of his hair that had fallen in his eyes behind his ear, only to have it fall back into place.

Masa reached up and took the faintly glowing hand into both of her own. "No, no, we aren't far apart on the social ladder at all, I assure you," she told him, stroking the symbol lovingly with the pads of her thumbs. "The lower classes consist of farmers, the poor, the beggars, and the peasants. The middle classes consist of commoners, workers, and others. The higher classes are nobility and royalty. You and I, we are in the higher classes. After all, your presence has helped the land and her people. You saved us from the powers of the Children of the Sun. All of us."

Edge blushed slightly then smiled. "I wasn't alone in doing so," he told her. He then glanced up at the sky and grinned. "Hey, look…"

Masa did as he said to and her eyes widened, a smile forming on her lips. Ellai had finally shown herself, peeking out nervously behind Nitid. She turned back to Edge. "Thank you, Edge… you and your crew, all of you… thank you…"

Edge merely nodded, offering her a kind smile. He blushed when Masa leaned up and pressed her lips to his cheek, blinking in surprise when she giggled.

Thank you ever so much, My Muan Prince…

[xXx]

DONE! XD Finally~. :3

I love you, Yumi-chan~. *hearts you forever*