#the prediction for karin is also very ridiculous not gonna lie

[claire-starsword]

Bloodline of the Sacred Dragons - Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3: Wind and Light crossing the plains

The Pao Plains were wide plains in the northeast of West Rune.

In this land lived tribes of nomads scattered about with no fixed settlement. The name "Pao" was a word for their tents, shaped like upside-down spinning tops. They lived moving around with the seasons, much like the cream-colored flowers blooming through the plains.

But there was a big difference between the largest tribe in Pao Plains and the other, smaller tribes.

That tribe moved through the plains from west to east periodically with a giant machine, the Pao Train. It carved deep wheel tracks with its overwhelming size while serving as a merchant caravan, crossing the ocean of grass. That was a scenario only possible in those wide plains.

Bleu's group had arrived at the Pao Train. It was stopped at the western edge of the plains, full of shops lined up, selling ornaments and food and more from the east. While having their attention constantly grabbed by the tents of the foreign bazaar they weren't used to, the group headed to the car spearheading the train, where the queen was.

Armed soldiers stood guard by the entrance of the car.

Bleu and Wendy presented to them letters addressed to the queen. The two letters carried the signatures of Otrant of Manarina and Zylo of Bustoke.

After waiting for a while, an aide of the queen welcomed them in.

The soldiers who came accompanying Wendy waited outside. Of the people following Bleu though, not a single one stood outside quietly. They all followed him inside as if it was the natural thing to do.

The inside of the train had an atmosphere much like that of the dwarves' secret passage. The walls and floor were made of metal, and a light with no warmth shone from the ceiling. Two long tubes of different widths ran through the car's sides, connecting with the other cars.

The group walked with composure through the wide corridor, where doors to compartments of all sizes were spread out neatly.

Guided by the aide, they arrived at the doors to the room where Queen Koron awaited.

"I've brought the people of the Shining Force."

As if answering to their words, the doors slid to the sides on their own.

Though it was due to Bleu being there, all the others felt strange about being referred to as the Shining Force.

With her back turned to two mysterious shining pillars, Queen Koron sat quietly at her throne. Her young face was both calm and grave, and her voice was clear.

After a couple of questions about the content of the letters, she gladly allowed them to stay.

"Why would I deny a request from the Shining Force? We will be departing tomorrow, and taking you along to Uranbatol."

Bleu expressed his gratitude to her. Looking at his face, she seemed confused all of a sudden.

"Sir Bleu, is anything troubling you perhaps?"

He took a while to answer. "No. It's nothing…"

"If anything is making you anxious, I can give some small counsel."

"Bleu, Her Majesty is also a prophet. It wouldn't hurt to take up on her offer," Krin suggested.

"Though I don't know how much my words will help you. It's best if I am frank about this. Because my predictions do not decide the future, they merely point out a path to be taken."

She smiled humbly. It was a warm smile that melted away Bleu's tension.

"Then, I'd be honored," he asked while bowing his head to her.

Nodding slowly, Koron got up. Her skirt rolled out in waves from how it stood over the throne. Her arms spread out to the sides. The light shining behind her made shadows dance over her lavender dress as if it was a screen.

She raised both hands to her head. Her pale arms became exposed up to the shoulders. Her hair, scarlet like fire, waved slightly over her shoulders, back and chest. Finally, as if grasping something, she slowly brought her arms down. Still as if holding something, she placed both hands gently over her heart.

"Young Sacred Dragon…" With closed eyes, she began to speak, "if your heart is lost in the east, turn your eyes to the north. Your bonds are not to be severed. One of closed eyes and open mind might be of great help to you. At the end, you will find the true form of what binds down your heart. Something ancient will be lost, and at last you shall find your true manual. A new bloodline will start from there."

With her eyes still closed, Koron turned her head to Karin.

"Maiden with a noble heart, your determination will save many things, and then might save one more."

She then slowly turned to everyone else.

"You who follow the Sacred Dragon in his journey, time will save you from the flames, and in one time flames left unextinguished will save you. Within the flames, you'll find the book that should be burned. Unbreakable harmony will call forth the Shining Dragon."

Koron finished her speech, and opened her eyes again. But, she squinted at if facing a bright light. Her eyes suddenly stopped at Camallia. As the priest somewhat met her gaze in response, Koron said nothing.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty. I'll take these words to heart."

Feeling that Koron was tired, Bleu decided to leave for now. He was struggling a lot to understand the meaning of her predictions, but figured he could take his time to unravel them.

He and the others excused themselves, and the queen asked an aide to give them a tour of the Pao Train.

As they bowed to her and left in order, Camallia felt eyes on her and stopped.

She turned around and questioned Koron, who didn't answer at first.

Saying that they would go on ahead, Karin closed the door.

"Do you need anything of me, Your Majesty?" Camallia asked courteously.

"Maiden of a foreign land, there is something I want to ask you," Koron said with a grave voice. The tubes of light behind her grew brighter, and Camallia narrowed her eyes, dazzled by them.

"Proud maiden, this pride of yours, who is it for?"

Her question rang through the room.

"My pride is for my own sake, and also, for those I love and respect."

Camallia answered with unwavering confidence.

"Then, swear on that pride, that you won't follow through with things you don't believe are right."

"…I swear."

While answering, Camallia wondered how far had this prophet seen through her.

"To them, you are someone very important. I hope that they too become important to you. Until the day you take back your true form, learn what you must learn, maiden of a distant world."

"Is that all?" Camallia asked in return.

She showed with her gaze how there were only the two of them currently in the room.

"Will that be all?" She asked again, and Koron gently nodded.

"How will you answer to the trust placed upon you?"

Koron threw the honest question at the girl in front of her. Camallia was forced to recognize who was included or not in those words. Her gaze went to the queen. Suddenly, she understood. Koron was using that person's eyes to look into that person's own mind.

"…I'll trust him."

Camallia bowed deeply to Koron.

"Please excuse me, Your Majesty."

With that bow, she left the room.

>To next part

Translation notes:

Yes, "pao" (包) is tent/yurt in japanese. Somehow I hadn't learned this one yet.

The color of the flowers in the plains is actually given as "bisque", which i did not know was a color, and at least six people agree with me that it isn't very well known. Japanese readers have the advantage of looking at the kanji and getting hints that it is a light orange/brown, so i changed to a more well known "cream" to allow english readers to also get by without stuffing their noses on a dictionary. That delight is mine only.

In case you didn't know or remember, because I always forget, there's art of Koron in the game's manual:

As you can see she was already good with the lightworks. The game says that she sees the future by reading the minds of the Pao Pigs they raise. I'm not sure that's what the novel was going for since it seemed something she did by herself, but who is to say. Also, the novel apparently extrapolated her psychic abilities, as she read the mind of someone else related to Camallia.

She's also brown-haired in the illustration as opposed to a redhead, but her sprite in game (shared with Karin and Krin) does have red hair.

Curiously, she would also get scarlet hair in the GBA version: