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PART I - THE BEGINNING

SPACE CENTURY 342

CAMINEET ON PALMA

The rays of sunlight from the Algol star glinted off of the armor of two of Lassic’s guards as they hauled a barely conscious man out into the street.

“Scum! Do not sniff around in Lassic’s affairs! Learn this lesson well!” sneered one of the guards as they dropped the man into the street. He shuddered once, then was still. Laughing, the guards turned and headed back the way they came.

“Nero! What happened! Don’t die!” cried the voice of a young girl. The man rolled over as the girl came running up to him. He reached out his hand, then wavered. The girl grasped it, tears running down her cheeks.

“Alis, listen!” Nero whispered. “Lassic is leading. . . our world to destruction. I tried. . . to discover his plans. . . but I could not do much. . . by myself.”

Nero coughed, and blood trickled out of his mouth.

“I have heard. . . of a man with great strength. . . named Odin. Maybe the two of you can stop. . . Lassic.”

Nero was gasping for breath now. Alis grasped his hand tighter, knowing that she was hearing Nero’s last words.

“Alis. . . it’s too late. . . for me. Be. . . strong...”

The light slowly faded from Nero’s eyes. Slowly Alis let his hand drop to the ground. Alis sat there in silence, then grasped Nero’s short sword. Slowly she bowed her head.

I will make sure that my brother died not in vain! Alis silently vowed. Watch over and protect me, Nero!

* * *

Time passed.

Alis kept her promise to Nero. She rescued a muskcat by the name of Myau, who had been Odin’s partner - until he and Odin had been separated during Odin’s hunt for Medusa. When Alis and Myau finally found Odin, they discovered that Medusa had turned him into stone. Luckily, Myau was carrying the cure for Medusa’s curse - a medicine called Alsulin - around his neck.

Once Odin had been cured, Alis told him about Nero’s last words and asked that he join her on her quest, and that he teach her what he knew about combat. Odin agreed, and together they set off for the spaceport.

Upon reaching the spaceport, the group booked passage to Motavia. When they reached Paseo, Motavia’s capital city, they went to talk to the governor. He suggested that they find the ancient Esper, Noah, who was an old friend of his. Noah had gone into hiding after Lassic had tried to have him killed.

The group located Noah in a hidden cave outside of Paseo and told him of their quest to destroy Lassic. Noah agreed to accompany them for the remainder of the journey, and he offered to teach Alis the ways of Esper magic. Alis accepted his offer, and together they returned to Palma.

Upon their return to Palma, they discovered that the only way to reach Lassic’s Air Castle was to climb the highest mountain on Palma, Baya Malay, and use the AeroPrism, which would show them the way. Unfortunately, the only known AeroPrism was on the mysterious ice world Dezoris. Now the group was being hunted by Lassic’s troops, so commercial spaceflight was out of the question. The only way to reach Dezoris was to rescue the political prisoner Dr. Luveno and his robot assistant Hapsby. Dr. Luveno owned a small spaceship called the Luveno, and perhaps he could be persuaded to loan it to them for the remainder of their journey.

Once Dr. Luveno and Hapsby had been rescued, Dr. Luveno gladly agreed to loan the Luveno to Alis. With Hapsby as the pilot, the group set out for Dezoris.

The path to the AeroPrism was not yet clear, though. A group of Dezorians had the AeroPrism, but would not give it to Alis unless she located the long lost Eclipse Torch, a holy artifact held sacred by the Dezorian people. However, with Noah’s help, Alis was able to locate the Eclipse Torch and return it to the Dezorians, who in return gladly gave her the AeroPrism.

Upon returning to Palma and reaching the summit of Baya Malay, Alis held the AeroPrism up to the sky. With a blinding flash of rainbow light, Lassic’s Air Castle appeared in the sky. However, they still had no way to reach it.

It was then that Myau told them that if he was to eat some Laraema nuts, he would turn into a magical flying creature, and he would be able to carry them to the Air Castle. Fortunately, in their quest to find the Eclipse Torch, Odin had found some Laraema nuts and held onto them. Myau ate the Laraema nuts and flew them to the Air Castle.

After passing through Lassic’s personal defenses, the group reached Lassic himself. Lassic challenged Alis to a one-on-one battle. It was an epic fight - Alis used everything that she had learned from Odin and Noah to fight off Lassic’s dark power - but in the end, Alis struck the blow that sent Lassic to his grave. Nero’s death had been avenged. All that remained was to return to see the governor of Motavia, who had asked that they return when they defeated Lassic.

When they arrived at the governor’s mansion, however, they discovered that the governor was missing. A search of the governor’s office revealed a hidden passageway that led to a chamber buried deep under the mansion.

In that chamber the group fought their final battle. The governor was there, held prisoner. The evil that had controlled Lassic and that now imprisoned the governor, Dark Falz, had been waiting for them - the governor was just bait to trap the group. Enraged that Alis had defeated Lassic and put an end to his plans, Dark Force had attacked with all of his might. In the end, however, Alis struck down Dark Falz and freed the governor. Alis’ quest was over, and the Algol Star System was free.

* * *

ONE MONTH AFTER NERO’S DEATH

PASEO, CAPITAL CITY OF MOTAVIA

Slowly Alis stepped out of the govenor’s mansion into the heat of the Motavian day. The light from the Algol star glinted off of the sand dunes that covered the planet. Odin, Myau, and Noah followed at a respectful distance.

Alis stood in silence at the entrance of the mansion.

Nero, she thought. You have been avenged. Lassic is dead, and the evil that controlled him has been destroyed.

“Alis?” Odin said. “Are you alright?”

Alis looked at him.

“I’m... I’m alright, Odin,” Alis said.

“Why didn’t you want to become queen?”

“I’m comfortable with who I am. I don’t want to be queen.”

After defeating the evil creature that had been controlling Lassic, Dark Force, the govenor had been freed from his prison. It was then that he had told Alis of her true heritage - Alis was the heir to the throne of the Algol Star System. She and Nero had been hidden away after Lassic had deposed their parents and come to power.

The group began walking toward the spaceport, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, upon reaching the spaceport, Noah turned to the party.

“This is where I leave you,” Noah said. Alis hugged Noah.

“Thank you, Noah, for all of your help. We couldn’t have succeeded without you.”

Odin shook Noah’s hand, and Myau rubbed up against his leg. “Where are you headed?” Odin asked.

“To Dezoris. Something about that planet beckons me. My time here on Motavia is done.”

“I will be leaving as well,” Odin said.

“Where are you going, Odin?” Alis asked.

“I’m staying here. I’m going to head down to Uzo for a while. After that, who knows?”

Odin grabbed Alis in a bear hug. “Thank you, Alis. Without you, I’d still be a stone statue deep in that dungeon,” he said.

“I’ll miss you, Odin.”

“What about you, Myau?” Noah asked.

The cat-like creature’s tail twitched. “I’m staying with Alis,” it said. “Where she goes, I go.”

“What about you, Alis?” Odin said. “Where are you going?”

“First, I’m going to return to Palma,” Alis said “to return the Luveno and Hapsby to Dr. Luveno. Then I think I’ll return to Camineet.”

Suddenly Alis froze in place - then she dropped to the ground!

“Alis!” exclaimed Odin.

Noah quickly kneeled down next to Alis. She was curled up on the ground, rubbing her arms and shaking. “Alis, what’s wrong?” Noah asked. Suddenly Noah winced and put his hand up to his head as if fighting off a headache.

“I feel so cold...” he whispered.

“You feel it too!” Alis exclaimed.

“What is it? What’s happening?” Odin said.

“It feels like. . . a great evil. Like when we were in the presence of . . . Dark Falz.” Noah whispered.

“Impossible! We killed Dark Falz!” Odin exclaimed.

Noah shook his head. “It’s passed - it has gone.”

Slowly Alis stopped shivering and pulled herself up into a sitting position.

Alis looked up at Odin. Fear was clearly visible in her eyes.

“I don’t think this is over,” she whispered. “In fact, it feels like... it’s just begun...”

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