Hey everyone! (Geez I really need to think of a better way of starting these A/Ns. Maybe, "Welcome all Dracanoids, Mewmans, and humans!" No, that's lame. Hmm, I'll think on it.)

We're back! It's been quite a while since Keyblade posted BMB part 1, but in that time I wrote chapter 15 of my story Quest for a Broken Star and hammered out this 20,000 word chapter! (Whoa, that's even longer than one of my full stories!) Yeah, it's a long one. It's a bit information-intensive, but it's cool information and it helps build the world, so… yaaay…! And we finally figure out the mystery of Opaline's… erm… rudeness, what Skylar's been hiding, and what exactly happened during the Blood Moon Dance! Also, the chapter is called 'Tribunal,' so there definitely gonna be something about that! Like I said, it's long. So find somewhere comfy and get reading!

The one solitary review:

Xzbro - Hehe, yeah it's back! And now it's back again! It might seem like the story's on hiatus, but it's actually just us being slowpokes. :P

Why are you still reading this? Go on and read the story!

Chapter 19: Tribunal (The Blood Moon, Part 2)

Draclord Dimension, Gemnia Kindgom, Bijou Castle

Several days ago

A white-haired girl gazed through the five-inch-thick glass at the comatose form lying within. Seeing her, the blurry memories rushed back in an uncontrollable torrent.

The woman behind the glass hadn't moved for months.

It had all started when she had suddenly collapsed, muttering about a pain in her skull. She was taken into the hospital ward, where five doctors had worked through the night to treat her. But when everyone woke up in the morning, she and all the doctors in the room had fallen into the same comatose state she was in now. Then they put her behind the thick glass, so that now the only way for the white-haired girl to see her was through it. Everyone who had gone in to check on her or run tests had met the same fate as the doctors, but from remote testing they had determined that she wouldn't last more than two more weeks.

The girl couldn't talk to her, couldn't touch her, couldn't get close enough to even see her clearly. All she could do was stare through the glass. She had half a mind to risk it all just to be close to the woman inside, but she knew that if she too caught the disease, her kingdom would have no successor and would surely fall into disarray. That's why she had to stand strong and unaffected. For her kingdom. That responsibility was really the only thing keeping her going anymore. Well, that, and the support of the blue-haired girl next to her.

The girl in question wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her. "I'm so sorry about your mom, Opa, but would you maybe just consider—"

So softly that the blue-haired girl could barely hear, Opaline murmured, "Not right now, Skylar. Not right now."

"Yeah. Okay." Skylar sighed. "Okay."

Skylar really did hope that Opaline would eventually tell Amalia what had happened. Everyone in Draclord knew that the Queen of Gemnia had succumbed to a likely fatal, unrecognizable disease. But Amalia had left just before all the kingdoms were told, so she hadn't heard the news.

She didn't understand.

Maybe if Amalia understood, she'd be okay with being friends with Opaline again. Maybe things could go back to how they were, when they were all happy together.

So later that night, Skylar took out a scrap of paper and scrawled a note on it. A note that would never reach its intended recipient.

Earth, Diaz Residence, Star and Amalia's Bedroom

Present day

Skylar was the first up that morning, as she always rose with the sunrise. She shook awake a groggy Amalia and exclaimed, "Wow, Amalia! This bed is like sleeping on a cloud! And trust me, I've done that a few times."

Star was immediately awake. "Whoa, you've slept on a cloud before! What's it like?"

"Oh, loads of times! They are pretty comfortable, but you wake up all wet and soggy."

"Well, I guess my bed is better than a cloud then, huh?" said Amalia triumphantly.

Skylar shrugged. "Yeah, I'd say so."

"So, what do we wanna do today?" Then Star gasped, suddenly out of bed. "My egg! I mean, my elder dragon!" She raced down the stairs and through the back door into the backyard.

They had decided to keep Star's Kushala Daora and Marco's Valstrax in the backyard with Ratha and Saber. So far, no one had killed each other yet.

"Wait, So where exactly did these come from?" Skylar asked as she caught up with Star.

"We were all battling an adult Valstrax in Draclord, then after we defeated it, we were flying back home when we saw these eggs! So, we took them home with us, and they hatched!" Amalia explained.

"Wow! They're so cute! What are their names?"

"Oh right, we haven't named them yet!" Star exclaimed. "What about… Marco Jr.! Or Amalia Jr.! Oh, I know, Ratha Jr.!"

Amalia laughed at Star's suggestions. "No, Star, elder dragons are born with a name. It's just up to you to figure it out."

"Oh. How do I do that?"

Skylar perked up. "Oh, this is so cool! You have to be touching her, and just think about a name. It should just pop into your head. If it does, that means that the elder dragon recognizes you as its mother!"

"Whoaaaa!" But Star couldn't help but wonder, "What if it doesn't pop into my head?"

Skylar frowned. "Well… I don't think you need to worry about that! You'll be fine!"

So Star slowly reached out toward her Kushala Daora. When her hand was about five inches away, the elder dragon stretched its neck forward to nuzzle her hand. Star grinned. "Hey, big girl! You're so cute, aren't you?" The baby elder dragon let out a sort of growling purr as Star rubbed her head. "What should I call you, girl, huh? What's your name?" The baby Kushala Daora purred again. After a moment, Star started, "Wait, I think there's something…. S… Sa… So—Sora! Yeah, I think it's Sora!

"Whoa, that's a cool name!" Amalia exclaimed.

"Hey, Sora, how are you, girl?" Sora let out a happy little yelp, and Star felt her dress rustle in some sort of wind. But she couldn't feel any wind. "Whoa, what was that?"

Amalia explained, "When Sora gets older, she'll be able to create wind barriers. But for now, she can only blow little gusts."

"Wow, that's so cool! Now let's find out the Valstrax's name!"

Skylar frowned. "I wouldn't suggest—"

But Star confidently extended her hand to Marco's dragon. The Valstrax inched closer to her, examining her hand curiously. Then its jaws opened wide and snapped closed around where Star's hand had been just a moment before.

"Aaaaaaah, what's he doing?!" Star shouted.

"That's what happens when the elder dragon doesn't recognize you as his mother," Skylar explained.

The Valstrax tackled Star to the ground, clawing at her. Star managed to parry his swipes with her wand, but the elder dragon had her pinned, and she knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer. She shouted, "Super Strong Rainbow Shield!" which conjured a magical rainbow shield. Even so, she could feel the shield breaking as the Valstrax attacked it.

"We need Marco!" Amalia shouted over Star's screams. She turned to run inside, but Skylar grabbed her. Then she conjured a fluffy white cloud and climbed on, Amalia sitting next to her. The cloud flew them up to Marco's open bedroom window. The two girls climbed through, shouting Marco's name.

He was up in a karate stance immediately, and Sylph rose from Marco's nightstand and flitted to his shoulder. "What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Your Valstrax is attacking Star!" Amalia shouted.

Skylar dragged him to the window. "C'mon, out we go."

"Wait, what? That's like a thirty-foot drop!" Marco protested.

Skylar pushed him over anyway.

The two girls, joined by Sylph, jumped back onto the cloud with Marco and glided down to the ground, where Star's shield was cracking under the Valstrax's weight. Sora had joined the brawl, scratching at the Valstrax's back as best she could.

"Do something!" Amalia shouted at Marco.

"What do I do?"

"I don't know, something!" Skylar shouted, as if that would help.

Feeling dumb, Marco whistled. It got the elder dragon's attention, and he stopped tearing at Star for a moment. Star called off Sora.

"Here, good boy, come here," Marco cooed to the baby elder dragon, just saying whatever came to mind. "Leave her alone. Come here."

The Valstrax slowly detached itself from Star and slunk over to Marco.

Marco held out his hand as the Valstrax approached him. He nuzzled Marco's hand, while Marco murmured, "Good Valstrax. Good Valstrax. Good Jecht."

Skylar was the only one who heard him. "Wait, what did you just say, Marco?"

"I said, 'Good…' I mean, 'Good… good Jecht?"

He pronounced it somewhere between the word jet and a sound like he was coughing up a hairball.

"Amazing," murmured Sylph.

"Awww, Sora and Jecht! So cute! I bet they're going to be best friends!" Skylar drawled, as Sora and Jecht bared their sharp teeth and hissed at each other.

Amalia frowned. "Yeah, we'll see about that."

Marco and Star went to calm their elder dragons, leaving just Amalia and Skylar. Skylar knew this was her chance to spill everything, to tell Amalia about Opaline's mother, and how the loss and the stress of preparing to be the next queen had gotten to Opaline, and how they could hopefully all still be friends. Yet, somehow, when she opened her mouth, something else came out: "I want to go see Cressa."

Amalia tilted her head as if wondering why Skylar would ask that question. Skylar wasn't sure herself, honestly, but after being restrained by Opaline for so long, it felt wrong to admit that she missed the former Princess of the Bow. Amalia drew Skylar out of her thoughts with her response. "I don't know if we'll be able to find her, but we can try."

Skylar tried to recover. "Yeah, it's just… I mean with all the weird stuff that happened at the Blood Moon Ball, I figured you three probably want to know what's going on. And Cressa's the former Princess of the Moon and everything, so maybe she would know something about the Blood Moon Bond."

Marco appeared beside Skylar. "Yeah, that'd be a great idea!"

"I know plenty about the Blood Moon Bond, if you're wondering," Sylph suggested from Marco's shoulder.

Marco turned to look at the little wind spirit. "Right, like you knew plenty about Star's sleep-spelling."

Sylph huffed and crossed her arms.

"So, how do we find her?" Skylar wondered.

Star walked over to them, brushing her hands off. "Well, last time we checked, she was at the bottom of the ocean somewhere in the Oceania dimension."

"Whoa… how do we get there?" Skylar wondered.

"Sally made us all giant air bubbles last time," Amalia explained.

"Awesome! Then let's go!" Skylar honestly couldn't wait to see another of her old friends again.

"We don't know if she's still there," argued Marco. "She said she's been moving a lot."

"True," concluded Amalia. "But it's still worth a shot."

"Sally!" Amalia shouted, waking Sally, who had still been asleep.

"What is so important to wake me up at this ungodly hour of the morning?" she grumbled.

Amalia frowned. "It's nine o'clock!"

"Exactly."

"We're going to see Cressa again, to see if she knows anything about the Blood Moon!" Star explained excitedly.

"Right, and you'll need my magic bubbles to go underwater."

"Exactly," Amalia copied.

Sally groaned and rolled out of bed. She groped for her grimoire and flipped through it. She murmured something under her breath and snapped her fingers, making a steaming cup of brown coffee appear in her hands. She took a long sip, then looked up at Marco, who was giving her a questioning look. "What?"

"Isn't it weird drinking things made of magic? Like… there aren't any actual coffee beans in it or anything, right?"

Sally shrugged. "It has a bit of a magical… essence, but I rather like the flavor."

"I don't know," Amalia argued, "I've always preferred real food."

"It is real!" Sally protested, finally finishing her mug and setting it down. "Now, let's go!"

Unknown Location, Oceania Dimension

The five teenagers soon plunged into the ocean, encased in large bubbles. Amalia sheathed her sword, which she had just used to cut the portal, and determined, "We should be in roughly the same place we portalled to last time. Now, which way did we go?"

But in the never ending expanse of blue surrounding them on either side, it was impossible to orient themselves.

After a while of thinking, Marco finally suggested, "I think we went down, since I remember seeing the sea floor. Plus, there might be landmarks on the sea floor that we can follow."

"Right, but which way is down?" Star asked.

"That's… a really good question," said Skylar.

After some more deliberation, Amalia was eventually the one to find the solution. She pushed her sword out of her bubble, and it began to rise—no, it was actually sinking, which meant that Amalia's up was actually down….

"Follow the sword!" Amalia shouted, reorienting herself and swimming after it. Skylar, Star, Marco, and Sally dove after her.

The sword finally found the sand, kicking up a plume of it into the water as it settled to the bottom.

"Then… didn't we swim through a kelp forest?" Star remembered.

"Yep." Amalia frowned. "But I don't see it."

"Wait!" Skylar interjected. "I think I see a little speck of green over there!" She pointed, and when Amalia looked in that direction, she thought she might have seen the same thing. Or maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her. Either way, Amalia couldn't help but swim toward it, hope blossoming inside of her. She followed the rest of the path naturally, as if she had swum it a hundred times. But when she got there, there was nothing.

Just a huge crater in the sea floor that Cressa's house had once occupied.

She swam down to it in search of something, anything, but there was nothing but sand.

"It's gone," she breathed.

"Wait, are we sure it was here?" Skylar asked.

After a moment of thought, Sally, Amalia, Marco, and Star all nodded.

"Okay, just making sure. So… now what?"

Amalia sighed. "Now, we go back."

Back at the Diazes' house, Amalia and Skylar sat on Amalia's bed, while Marco and Star took the other.

"It's too bad we can't see Cressa," Star sighed. "It would've been really fun to see each other again."

"Yeah," Skylar agreed. She was more disappointed than the rest of them—Crescenta had pretty much been her first friend, and Skylar hadn't seen her since King Gibbouso had died months ago.

"Of course I miss her just as much as you do," Amalia added, "but I was really hoping we could ask her about the Blood Moon. It's just… I don't really know what to think about it all."

"Yeah, tell me about it!" agreed Marco. "I've never danced with two girls before—much less under the light of a moon that—what does it do exactly?"

Skylar responded, "I don't think this is technically correct, but I heard that it supposedly destined the two who dance under to become a couple."

"So what does that mean for the three of us?" Marco wondered.

"No idea. That's why we should probably try to figure out a way to contact Cressa."

"Hmm… maybe I can find some sort of tracking spell," Star thought aloud, bending over to look under her bed. She pulled out her giant book of spells and began flipping through it.

Meanwhile, Skylar began curiously looking through the things on Amalia bed. She found a bunch of stuffed wyverns, forgotten books, and other Amalia stuff, but then she found an arrow. It only had the fletching, but no arrowhead. The shaft was short and jagged on the end, like the other half had been snapped off. After a moment, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Wait! I think I found something!" Star shouted. "It's a tracking spell! You just need something that belonged to the person we're looking for."
"But we don't have anything of Crescenta's, do we?" Marco lamented.

"Actually…" Skylar said slowly, holding up the half-arrow. "I think we do."

Amalia saw it first. "Oh, right! Cressa's arrow! Star, do you still have the other half?"

Star pulled the other half of the arrow out of her bed, which had the arrowhead on it. "Yep! Right here!"

"I should be able to put the arrow back together. Here, let me have it."

Star handed over her half of the arrow. Amalia put both of them on the floor and aimed her sword at it. She muttered something unintelligible, and the two halves rose into the air and spun around until they became a blur. When they stopped spinning, the arrow was whole.

"Perfect!" Star said happily. "Now… the spell says to use the person's name, then the word 'tracking,' then the object, then the word 'spell.' So…" Star pointed her wand at the arrow, which had now fallen back onto the floor, and shouted, "Cressa-Tracking Arrow Spell!"

The arrow rose into the air once more, spun a few times like a compass needle, then shot off toward the wall. Everyone began to chase after it as it zipped around the room. Then Star grabbed a hold of the arrow just as it cut a portal for itself and flew into it, dragging Star along with it. Star just barely managed to shout, "Hold on to me!" before getting pulled in. At the last possible moment, she felt Marco's hand grab her arm. Then Amalia and Sylph grabbed onto Marco, and Skylar latched onto Amalia, and they all tumbled into a portal.

Amalia was surprised to find herself in what looked like Draclord. She was barely able to identify it as a Dianarian city with its sleek, tall white buildings before the arrow began pulling on them again. They raced along the street for about a minute until the arrow abruptly changed its angle, rocketting them into the air at about a sixty-degree angle to the ground. Screaming, they all tumbled into the sixth-floor open window of an apartment building, onto a carpeted floor. They rolled until they crashed into a coffee table, snapping one of the legs and breaking most of the glassware that had been set atop it. And looking down at them in surprise was ex-Princess Crescenta Luna.

"What was that?" a female voice called from another room.

"Oh, it's just Amalia, Skylar, and… some other friends. I think they're here for the Tribunal," Crescenta called back, albeit rather quietly. Then she turned on the four teenagers who had just fallen into her living room. "You are here for the Tribunal, right?" she asked.

"What Tribunal?" Amalia wondered.

But Skylar gasped. "The Tribunal! I completely forgot that was today!"

Amalia now turned on Skylar. "What Tribunal?"

"I thought someone was supposed to tell her about the Tribunal," Crescenta said. "She could even be testifying!"

Skylar released a sigh of frustration. "I was supposed to tell her about the Tribunal at the Blood Moon Ball!"

Amalia started to grow concerned. "Skylar. What's the Tribunal about?"

Skylar spoke to the floor, not willing to meet Amalia's eyes. "That's what was in the letter—"

"I thought you told me that the letter just said how you wanted to be friends again!"

"Yeah, and you said that you 'needed more time,' or something." Skylar sounded hurt.

"Well it's not helping that you're lying to me!"

"I'm not lying, it's just… the note did talk about how I still wanted to be friends, but it also talked about this."

"What is 'this'? Tell me what's going on here!"

"I… I think it would be best if you heard it from Opa."

Amalia's face turned red from anger. "I don't care what that b*tch Opaline says, or does, or thinks!"

Ironically, only Crescenta's tiny, whispered comment was able to bring her out of her rage: "Kyla's right."

Amalia deflated at that.

In the silence that followed, Skylar turned to Crescenta. "I've missed you so much, Cressa." She tackled the former Moon Princess in a hug, and they held each other tightly for a while, whispering to each other too quietly for Amalia to hear. After a long time, they finally pulled apart.

"Where were you?' Skylar whispered through tears.

"All over," Cressa replied. "Jungles, deserts, some place called Mewni, even underneath the ocean."
Star excitedly, drew a breath, probably about to mention that she used to live in Mewni, but Amalia elbowed her, not wanting her to spoil the touching moment.

"Amalia said she saw you. Why didn't you visit me?" Skylar continued softly.

"That was a bit of an accident. They found me when they were exploring, and a Pink-Spotted Shark attacked us, so they portalled me out and took me back to Marco's house. My mom forbade me from seeing any of you—she was furious when she found out I was with Amalia. But I'm so glad to see you now. I promise I would have visited if I could."
Skylar wiped her eyes. "I know."

Silence ensued, which Star eventually broke: "So, um, we actually had something to ask you about, Cressa."

Crescenta cringed slightly at the name but covered it with a smile. "I can try to help."

"It's about the Blood Moon," Marco explained. "Would you know about that?"

"I know many things about the Moon, including the Blood Moon. What do you wish to know?"

When no one responded, Amalia finally said, "Well, Star got invited to the Blood Moon Ball by her ex-boyfriend, so we all went, but when the light of the Blood Moon started shining through the skylight, it was like… like I was in a trance. I felt like I had to go see where the light was coming from. Then I found Star and Marco there in the middle with me, and Sylph told us we had to do the Blood Moon Tri-Waltz—"

Crescenta let out an uncharacteristic snort. "The Blood Moon Tri-Waltz is a myth. No three people have ever danced under the Blood Moon's light before—at least, not in recorded history. Really, very little is known about the Blood Moon, since there's only been five of them in all of recorded Draclan history, including the one yesterday."
Sylph crossed her arms, offended. "Then how do you explain Marco, Star, and Amalia all dancing under the Blood Moon together?"
"That's never happened before because the Blood Moon only ever chooses two souls, which are then led to the skylight to dance beneath it, in that sort of 'trance' you mentioned, Amalia.

Did all three of you feel this trance?"

Star and Amalia nodded, but Marco said, "Um, no, actually."

Crescenta stood in thought for a moment, murmuring to herself, before she finally asked Marco, "Then why did you go into the light?"

"Star dragged me into it, and that's where we found Amalia."

"So that means…" Crescenta began, "that the Blood Moon chose Star and Amalia, and Marco simply interfered."

"Wait!" Star exclaimed. "You're saying the Blood Moon bonded me and Amalia together?"

"Well, yes, it chose you two to be bonded." Crescenta replied calmly.

"Wait," Amalia added, "so does that mean that Star and I are destined to be… you know…"

Both girls blushed, and a weird feeling churned in Amalia's gut. It definitely wasn't disgust; it was just, well… she'd never really considered it that way before. Star seemed to be having the same feelings.

But Crescenta was shaking her head. "No, that's also a myth, that the two people bonded by the Blood Moon are destined to be 'romantically intertwined.' It is usually a romantic bond, but it isn't always romantic. For example, 1334 years ago, two Cornball players from Mewni danced under the Light, and from then on they were destined to be Cornball teammates for life. Besides, Marco altered all of that by dancing with you."

"Wait, Marco interrupted, "wasn't Sylph also under the light of the Blood Moon?"

"Yes, but, as a spirit, I don't have a soul. Not like you do, at least," Sylph explained. "The Blood Moon doesn't affect me. Plus, I wasn't dancing."

"Although, you did interfere with the Blood Moon by encouraging them to all dance together," Crescenta reminded her.

"Oh, whatever," Sylph harrumphed.

"So… what's actually going on, then?" Skylar wondered.

Crescenta thought in silence for a moment. Just as it began to feel awkward, she finally said, "Microchemistry has a good example. Everything that exists in the multiverse is made up of microscopic particles called atoms. An atom has a nucleus that contains most of its mass, but there are even smaller particles called electrons that circle the atom. However, it is impossible to pinpoint the location of an electron because it moves so fast that it is actually everywhere around the atom at once. In two or more places at the same time.

"But two atoms can combine—to form a compound like water, or mythril. When they do, one or more of the electrons breaks off and starts circling around both nuclei, like in a figure-eight. This electron holds them together, since it surrounds both of them, everywhere at once. But three atoms can never engage in one bond. There can be multiple bonds between more than two molecules, but three atoms cannot all share one electron. That can all be applied to the Blood Moon Bond. So, under logical circumstances, Star and Marco would be bonded, and Marco and Amalia, and Amalia and Star, in three different bonds. But I suspect that this situation may fall into the realm of illogic.

"This is all hypothetical from here on out, but remember how I said that electrons travel so quickly that they are in many places at once? Imagine that the electron is circling two atoms, but it is moving so fast that it is actually circling a third atom at the same time. In other words, there is only one bond, but it is in two places at once, linking the first and second atom, and the first and third atom, at the same time. Now, imagine that same one bond in three places, linking each of the three atoms to the two others, so that now the second atom is also linked to the third one. That completes the cycle so that the atoms are all bonded to each other.

"In this situation, Marco, Star, and Amalia are the three nuclei of the three atroms, and the Blood Moon Bond is an electron circling them, bonding them together. Normally, the Bond would circle the two people who danced under the Light, forming a single bond in one place. But since three of you danced under the Light, the Blood Moon figured out a way to make one bond, moving so fast that it is in three places at once, connecting the three of you to each other."

Marco, Amalia, Star, and Skylar took a minute to let all that settle in. Finally, Amalia asked, "So, what exactly does that mean for us?"
"It means that your souls are linked to each other's; they are connected and will not be able to drift apart. Any more than that, no one but the Blood Moon itself knows."

The ominous mood was broken by Crescenta's mom—former Queen Satellia Luna—opening the door and walking into the room. Her skin was a deep olive color, which contrasted sharply against the cascade of golden hair that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. Her eyes were stormy gray. Right now they were alight with enthusiasm, but behind them was a weariness of experience and troubling times. She wore a flowing strapless dress the same gold color as her hair. The fabric twirled and ruffled as it fell down to her waist, where a flared skirt fanned out to rest in a circle that skimmed the ground beneath her golden-heeled feet. The whole look was a bit overdone, though Amalia suspected that the former Queen was indulging herself after living for months in nearly-inhabitable places with less-than-royal clothing.

She was calling out, in a voice soft and smooth as a feather, "Crescenta, dear, I…." But she trailed off when she noticed the four extra people in the room, especially Star and Marco. "Who are they?"

Crescenta stepped in front of them. "You know Skylar and Amalia, and the others are Amalia's new friends: Star, Princess of Mewni and Marco… erm, Resident of Earth."

Satellia Luna directed her gaze toward Marco. "Ah… I am not very familiar with Earth or their political systems. Is a Resident a high-ranking position?"

Marco nodded smugly. "One of the highest, if I do say so myself."

"And I suppose you're all here for the Tribunal, then?"

"Um, yeah I guess so," replied Amalia.

"Then I… suppose you four can stay here until the Tribunal. I'm going early to make some… arrangements. I will see you there, Crescenta." She spun, causing her ruffled skirt to twirl, and strode out the door.

"Does you mother always act that… strange?" Skylar whispered to Crescenta.

"Strange, yes," Crescenta replied. "But not like that."

"It's just… I've been wondering, after avoiding Draclord for so long, why is she suddenly willing—excited, even—to come back for nothing more than a Tribunal?"

"I have been wondering the same thing myself." Crescenta shrugged. "Ever since… since we left Draclord, she has seemed… lost. We have been back in Draclord for three days now, and since we got here, that lostness has gone away. Like she has a purpose again. I just have no idea what that purpose could be."

"Probably something to do with the Tribunal," Skylar supplied.

"Right, when does that start?" Amalia asked.

"It starts in just over an hour, and it is being held in Bahamut," Cressa told her. "We should probably leave soon to meet up with Opa."

Skylar and Amalia shared a look.

"Oh, right…" Cressa sighed. "We should still see her, though. She can tell Amalia what's going on."

"Yeah, we'll have to go through Gemnia to get to Bahamut anyway," Skylar added. "Let me call her."

She pulled out her compact and walked into another room. Amalia cringed, hearing a lot of screaming coming from the other line. She couldn't help but wonder if Skylar regretted staying the night with her. But when Skylar returned, she looked okay, although her hair wasn't crackling with quite as much energy as before.

"Opa says she's already in Bahamut. She said she'll meet us in the Grand Plaza. And, Amalia? Can you promise me you'll try to keep an open mind?"

Skylar held Amalia's gaze, giving her no choice but to sigh and say, "I'll try."

"But how are we going to get there?" Marco asked. We don't have any wyverns or anything…"

Amalia held up her sword. "No, but we can get one."

"Oh, right. Portals."

"You'd better come too, Cressa," Skylar added. "I don't think we'll be able to take Ratha into the city."
So Amalia cut open a portal, and the five friends walked through into the Diaz backyard. They had just untethered Ratha when Judge Magister Gabranth rushed outside. "Princess Amalia! I've been looking everywhere, trying to to tell you about the upcoming Tribunal!"

Amalia turned to him. "Oh yeah, Cressa and Kylar told me. We were just getting Ratha to fly us there."
"Very well. I must be there early, so I will see you then."
"Okay!"

Gabranth turned on the spot and disappeared.

"Whoa, how did he disappear like that?" Star asked in amazement.

"He used a special device called a Beamer that teleports him straight to Bahumat, bypassing the security force fields that keep normal dimension-hoppers out. They're given out very sparingly and guarded closely. Even then, the Queen can disable them in times of crisis."

"But why don't you have one? You're the princess, after all."

"Well, like I said, they're guarded very closely, but with my going to school and everything, it would be all too easy for it to fall into the hands of some unexpecting Earthling, so we decided it would be best if I didn't take it to Earth. Plus, I'm supposed to stay on Earth, so I'm not really supposed to be going back to Draclord at all."

"But you'll be allowed back for the Tribunal, right?"

"Yeah, all the royals are required to be there, and my banishment to Earth is more of a parenting thing than a legal thing. Now let's get going!"
But something had caught Star's eye. "Wait… can we take Sora and Jecht with us?"
Amalis frowned. "They're babies, so I don't think you can fly on them, and even if you could, they would be way slower than Ratha."

"But they can fly along with us, right?" Star pleaded. "Please?"

"Yeah, and they would get to see where they came from," Marco added.

Amalia sighed. "I don't see why not. Now come on, let's get on Ratha!"

They all mounted the Rathalos, and Star and Marco beckoned their baby wyverns to either side, Jecht on the left and Sora on the right.

"Cressa?" Skylar prompted.

Crescenta unslung her bow, withdrew an arrow headed with purple flames, and shot it straight out, ripping open a vast hole in space large enough for Ratha to fly through easily. Ratha tucked his wings and began to run, shaking the ground as his legs pounded into it, faster and faster until he leapt into the sky and opened his wings, trailed by Sora and Jecht. He beat his wings once, twice, and then they were engulfed by blackness.

Somewhere in the Realm of the Sword, Draclord

They were suddenly high above the ground, racing through the cold, crisp air, Amalia's hair whipping behind her in the wind. The ground was far, far below them, just a blur of color, and she could feel the moisture as they skimmed the clouds above them. Sora and Jecht yapped happily as they dove, twisted, and spiraled around them. Ratha kept on plodding forward through the sky, snorting in annoyance every time Sora or Jecht flew in front of his face.

Eventually, a city came into view below in the distance. Ratha swooped down right in front of the gleaming golden gates of the bustling town. The five dismounted Ratha, and Star and Marco coaxed the elder dragons to the ground, since they were still flying around in circles happily. On the bright side, they seemed to be getting along better now.

Once they had their wyvern and elder dragons calmed down, they approached the gate, in front of which stood two guards that Amalia didn't recognize. One had icy blue hair, while the other's was vibrant orange. They opened the gates, and the orange one said reverently, "Princess Amalia, Princess Skylar, Princess Crescenta, you may pass.'
They walked through with Ratha, but before Star and Marco could lead their elder dragons through, the ice-blue-haired one stepped in front of them.

"No, they're with us!" Amalia assured the guards.

But the blue-haired one was having none of it. "Even so, Princess Amalia, these two teenagers are in possession of a young Kushala Doara and Valstrax. The same species as the eggs that were reportedly stolen a few weeks ago. They must be taken into custody and questioned."

"Oh…" Amalia was at a loss for words. They had found the eggs on the way back from battling an adult Valstrax, and Amalia hadn't known they were being monitored, so she had let Star and Marco keep them. Ishtar had mentioned something about the missing eggs a while ago, but Amalia had forgotten completely. "I vouch for them," Amalia tried.

The orange-haired guard looked ready to cave, but the other guard cut him off. "If I remember correctly, you were banished from the dimension just after your fourteenth birthday."
"It's more of a grounding than a banishment," Amalia complained.

"Either way, I think Okita Dalmasca should have the final word on this. I will be taking them."

Amalia sighed. She knew that her mom would pardon them immediately, but she had no way of saving Star and Marco from being arrested. And the guards wouldn't bother the Queen so close to the Tribunal, so Star and Marco would probably be stuck with security until after it ended. Which, yeah, that would suck for them, but…

That meant Amalia would be stuck all alone with all of her old friends, including Opaline, for a whole hour.

Star smiled to Amalia, even as she was being handcuffed and led away. "We'll be fine, Amalia! Go rock that Tribunal thing!"

Marco looked more sympathetic, as if he understood Amalia's situation. "Good luck," he mouthed, before the blue-haired guard beamed them away, leaving his companion to guard the gate.

"Wow, he has a Beamer?" Skylar said.

Amalia frowned. "I'm surprised, too. Now, where are we?"

She looked at the city around them. They seemed to be in a marketplace with stores of every color lining both sides of the walkway, each seemingly trying to compete to be the brightest and most inviting at the same time, which resulted in a bizarre arrangement of colors and decorations. Draconoids bustled up, down, and across the street in every direction, and Amalia had to grab Skylar's and Crescenta's hands to keep from being separated.

"New Rabanastre" Amalia breathed. It was a commoner suburb of New Archadia, so Amalia hadn't gone there often—maybe one or twice when she was little—but she remembered it vaguely. In fact, it was one of the few Bahamese cities she hadn't really visited, probably because it wasn't exactly the kind of place you would usually find royalty.

Then a thought crossed her mind—if this was a commoner town, what in Bahumat's name was Opaline Bijou doing here?

They pushed their way through the crowd, with Crescenta muttering "Sorry!" to everyone they bumped into.

The road finally opened up into a square, and now Amalia knew why it was called the Great Plaza. It was at least 200 yards across, in both directions. Velvet awnings stretched out from the stores lining the outside of the square, casting shade onto the shoppers—these stores were clearly more expensive than the ones they had seen earlier. There was a park in the middle with patches of grass in every color of the rainbow, lined with colorful trees and benches. And standing in the middle of the park, staring straight at them, was Princess Opaline Bijou. Crescenta ran forward, surprising both Skylar and Amalia. Skylar shrugged and raced to catch up with her, and at that point, Amalia had no choice but to follow. Opaline came forward to meet Crescenta, who enveloped her in a hug. It went surprisingly similarly to Crescenta's reunion with Skylar—which made Amalia scowl—although there wasn't any whispering this time.

When the hug finally broke up, Opa looked to Skylar first. "Hey, Kylar." Then she inevitably turned to Amalia, although Amalia noticed that Opaline seemed to be dreading the confrontation just as much as—if not more than—Amalia did. Finally, she waved a little, and, not quite meeting Amalia's eyes, said, "H-hi, Mali."

Amalia flinched at the nickname and just looked back at her tersely. But as she looked her former friend over, she frowned.

Opaline had replaced her usual glittery gown with a pearl-white traditional Draclan cochaka—a long-sleeved, hooded dress—with her hair pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her diamond earrings and makeup were absent, and most surprising of all, Amalia couldn't spy a single jewel, gem, or other rare mineral on her.

She looked… different.

Younger.

Or maybe that was just Amalia's mind playing tricks on her, because this was more like how she had looked like back when they were still friends.

Of course, Amalia commented on it, but she couldn't keep the sharpness out of her voice when she said, "What, are you gonna wear that to the Tribunal? And what are you doing here, in a commoners' town?"
Opaline let out a snort. "If it's too low for your standards, Amalia, you can just leave." But after a pointed look from Skylar, she sighed wearily. "I'm just trying to blend in for a while. Let go of the stress, just do normal things for once." Amalia was about demand who this girl was and what she had done with Opaline Bijou when she added, "And no, I'm not wearing this to the Tribunal, of course. I have my outfit saved to my spear. After all, I could be Queen in just a few days."
"Wait, WHAT?"

Opaline sighed again, looking down at her non-heeled feet. "I'll tell you… just give it a while."

Then Amalia realized something else important in what Opaline had said. See, the Princesses couldn't use magic to make an outfit suddenly appear out of nowhere, but if they had an outfit, they could save it to their magical weapon so that they could conjure it up later. Opaline had apparently done that, and Amalia suspected that Crescenta and Skylar had, too, but Amalia certainly hadn't, and she was still wearing her casual clothes.

Opaline grinned slyly. "Don't tell me you forgot to bring a dress for the Tribunal."

Skylar saved Amalia from answering. "Oh, that's perfect! While we're here, we can shop for Amalia's dress!"

Opaline opened her mouth to say something, but then she seemed to change her mind. "Yeah, sure. No better way to spend bonding time than shopping!"

Bonding time? Was Opaline actually trying to be nice? She was even doing pretty okay at it. But why? Was it all an act? What was she planning? Did it have something to do with the upcoming Tribunal? What was the Tribunal about, anyway, and why would no one tell her what it was for?

Skylar caught her eye and mouthed, "Open mind, remember?"

Amalia sighed again, now addressing Opaline. "Um… yeah, shopping will be fun, I guess."

The two girls stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, then Skylar grabbed both of them and dragged them into the nearest store.

Inside there were accessories galore, from earrings to bracelets to sun hats. Skylar took the nearest hat—a flowery pink one with a wide brim—and put it on, posing. Everyone giggled a bit at that, and soon they were all trying on the most ridiculous hats they could find. The winner was definitely Crescenta, who they found tottering under a tower of at least ten hats. Then she stepped on Skylar's discarded floral hat and slipped, sending her and all the hats tumbling down in a massive pile. Everyone burst out in laughter, and for a moment, it felt like they were all friends again, like before.

"Everyone in favor of Cressa winning the prize for the craziest hat?" Skylar asked.

They all raised their hands, except Crescenta, who blushed.

They spent the next several minutes putting back the hats. By the time they were done, Skylar looked outside and realized, "We only have a half an hour until the Tribunal starts! We should get Amalia's dress!"

They all nodded. Skylar, being the Princess of the Weather, could tell the time just by looking at the sun.

They all turned to leave, but first Opaline said, "Wait! Take a look at these!"

They were gold earrings, from each of which dangled a tiny emerald Rathalos.

Opaline closed one eye and held them up in front of Amalia. "Yes! These would look perfect on you, Amalia! Do you like them?"

They reminded her of the earring that had gotten crushed under Jackie's skateboard, and she really did like them. "Yeah… they're cool! Thanks, Opa—"

She frowned as she said her friend's nickname. It had just slipped out, and now she wanted to take it back, but it also felt… right.

Opaline smiled up at Amalia shyly—if that word could ever describe the Princess of Gemstones, it did now. "I'll go buy them for you, Amalia. You three go on ahead."

Now Opaline was buying things for her? How crazy could this get?

Then again, Opaline had always been very generous back when they were friends…

Amalia, Crescenta, and Skylar exited the shop and headed down the line of storefronts. Tentatively, Skylar asked, "So… thoughts?"

Amalia knew what she was talking about. At this point, she was willing to bet that Skylar had set this up to try to get Amalia and Opaline to be friends again. Quite honestly, Amalia wasn't sure whether it was working or not.

Amalia considered her response for a while before finally saying, "Opaline's been acting… weird."

"Weird how?"

Amalia just shrugged.

Skylar looked to Crescenta. "Give it time," the red-haired princess said simply.

They entered a shop called Ladies' Fine Dresses and Formal Wear, finding themselves surrounded by gowns everywhere—hung on the walls and stacked on top of each other, smothering racks upons racks covering the floor and leaving only a few narrow aisles. Ruffles and lace and trains and frills and toile jumped out at her from every direction, in every color and design imaginable, brushing the top of her head, tangling in her arms, and tripping her feet.

"Wow, this place is a mess!" Amalia complained.

"Yeah, but if there's any perfect dress for you in all of Draclord, it'll have to be in here!" Skylar countered.

"But where do I start?" Amalia wondered.

Skylar grabbed a spring-green dress at random. "Try this one."

Crescenta frowned when she came out of the changing room with the dress on. "Green is not your color."

She tried a red one, but Skylar said the color clashed with her hair.

An orange one was too flashy.

A blue one was too simple.

A yellow one was too bright.

A gray one was too gloomy.

She finally returned in a white dress, but her friends frowned and said in unison, "It looks like you're getting married."

Amalia let out a frustrated sigh. "Can you stop telling me what won't work and just tell me what will work?"

"I dunno, I'm no good at this kind of stuff." Skylar shrugged. "I can't tell if it'll look good on you or not until you put it on."

"Opa's always been the best with these kinds of things," Crescenta added.

"Yeah, what's taking her so long, anyway?"

As if on cue, the bell on the door jangled, and Opaline walked in, stumbling under the weight of several bags and boxes. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away, and—" Her eyes settled on Amalia, and Opaline frowned. "Dress problems?"

"Yeah," all three girls replied.

Opaline narrowed her eyes at Amalia for a moment as if analyzing her. Then she dashed around the store, tossing dresses on top of her already large pile of merchandise. Then, she grabbed Amalia's arm and dragged her into the dressing room, although she could have sworn she saw Skylar give her a wink—or maybe it was meant for Opaline.

Once inside the dressing room, Opaline started unpacking the bags and boxes she had carried in, rambling to Amalia, "Like I said, I got a bit carried away—I was on the way to the register to buy your earrings, but then I saw a necklace that would go perfectly with it—then I remembered you were wearing your fighting boots, so I figured I should get you some heels—and then I remembered you'd need leggings to go with your dress, so I went to another store…"

Opaline began to put all the accessories on Amalia as she talked—except the leggings, of course. Soon enough, she was covered in more jewelry than she'd ever worn before, but still with no dress.

But as Opaline began holding dresses up to her, Amalia had to address the awkwardness. "Why are you acting so…"

Amalia searched for a word, but Opaline nodded, apparently understanding. She took a deep breath and tossed her silvery white hair out of her face before finally saying, "I… I have something that I need—I've been meaning—to tell you that…"

Opaline sighed. "I few months ago, I started being a jerk toward you. And… I get why you didn't want to be friends with me before. But there was a reason.

"My mom is affected by some curse or disease or… I don't know. No one knows. That's the problem. It spreads almost instantaneously to everyone in the room with her, so I can't visit her… not that it really matters anyway, since she hasn't woken up for about two weeks now. They say she only as a few days left…"

Amalia was dumbfounded. "I… I'm so sorry, Opaline."

"Save it. I've heard it all already."

Amalia didn't know what to say to that.

"It's not just my mom… well, yeah, it's my mom, but it's also the fact that I might be Queen in a matter of days. It's just… a lot to handle. A lot to live up to. A whole other persona to take on, objective and sometimes unforgiving. A whole Realm to rule, for Draclord's sake!"

Opaline looked up, her deep purple eyes locking with Amalia's gold ones. "To be honest, it was hard for me that you just thought everything was fine, while I was dealing with losing my mother and trying to live up to my role as the new Queen." Her quiet tone grew into a bit of a shout, but her words conveyed more hurt than anger. "You never ASKED, Amalia! Kylar and Cressa both ASKED, but you never did. Never so much as a 'What's wrong?' or an 'Are you okay?' Didn't you wonder WHY I suddenly started acting differently? No. You didn't care."

Before Amalia could respond, Opaline surged on. "You started to hate me—don't deny it—so, to make myself feel better, I started to hate you back. And we've just gone on hating each other for months now. But I finally realized that my hating you was pushing Kylar away. She made a good point… she said that if one of us is brave enough to stop hating and break the cycle, maybe we could be friends again. So I'm trying to be nice again, but if you don't think this is going to work, just tell me now and I'm completely fine with going back to hating each other."

She sounded serious, which at least assured Amalia that Opaline was still herself. In the silence that followed, Opaline began brushing Amalia's long dark-blue hair.

Brush.

Brush.

Brush.

Finally, Amalia drew a shaky breath. "No, I don't want to hate you. I just… I can't believe I never realized… that it was my fault… all this time."

Brush.

Brush.

Brush.

"It wasn't your fault," Opaline said brusquely, accompanied by a rather sharp tug on the brush in Amalia's hair. "It's the curse's fault. Everything is the curse's fault."

Brush.

Brush.

"I used to blame you," Opaline continued. "It's easiest to blame it all on a person. A person is easier to hate. You can wish all the suffering you're feeling onto them and feel like someone is sharing in your misery. But in my heart, I knew you were never to blame. Kylar made a good point—the only thing to blame for my mom, for my situation, is the curse or disease or… whatever it is that's affecting my mom. But it's time to let go of my anger, anyway. It's time to step up and be a leader. That is, if I somehow manage to win over the Tribunal." She sighed. "Even if Kylar is able to convince her parents, it's still pretty much hopeless."

Opaline had stopped brushing now and was sticking in pins and plaiting and who-knew-what, but Amalia wasn't paying much attention to it—she had learned to never doubt Opaline's fashion sense. "Um… so, what exactly is the Tribunal about?" Amalia had to ask.

"Oh… you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"If the current Queen dies, steps down, or is otherwise unable to lead, then the heir—the oldest living daughter of the queen—usually takes her place and becomes the Queen if she is over eighteen. However, if the heir is under fifteen—like Cressa—then the throne goes to the next in line who is over fifteen. But if the heir is between fifteen and eighteen, then a Tribunal is held, and they vote on whether to name the heir Queen or to move on to the next-in-line."

Now that she said it, the policy did sound familiar—Amalia just had never paid much attention to it, not wanting to think about what would happen if her mom died.

"In my case," Opaline continued, "the next-in-line is my mom's brother, Luster Bijou. He would ideally be skipped in favor of matriarch, but he's the only living relative who's over eighteen and is qualified for the position as King."

"Right, isn't that how Cressa's dad came to rule? He was male, but he was the only one in line, so the crown went to him."

"Right." Opaline stepped back and looked at Amalia's hair. "That looks great! Want to try on the dresses?"

"Oh, sure." Amalia had almost forgotten that she was supposed to be trying on dresses.

Opaline handed Amalia a pale yellow dress and turned around.

Amalia put on the dress and the gray leggings Opaline had bought for her, discarding her long-sleeved shirt, leather vest, and baggy pants. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, but Opaline blocked her view and led her back to the corner. "Hey, no peeking until I'm done with the final product!"

Amalia shrugged. Opaline began to circle around her, fluffing here, patting down there.

"Um… so, the Tribunal?" Amalia prompted.

"Oh, right. Basically, the Tribune has to decide whether to crown me or Prince Luster. A three-to-five majority decides it."

"But… if you're having trouble with all the stress, why don't you just step down and let Prince Luster take your place?"
Opaline frowned. "Trust me, it's tempting. But Prince Luster is… volatile. He and my mom never agreed on political matters, and he ran away from home when he was sixteen. A few years later, he married one of the most powerful Memory-Wipers known to Draclord, Lady Cloya Gold. He's developed a very… radical political structure. I don't know for sure whether that's a bad or a good thing, but I do know that, after what has happened to my mother, what the kingdom will need is stability and familiarity. I feel like I could ensure that if I just follow in my mother's footsteps. But under Prince Luster… the kingdom would be in turmoil for a long time."
"Well, I'm sure you could get the votes. I mean, you're friends with all the Princesses!"

Opaline frowned as if dissatisfied, although Amalia wasn't sure whether she was frowning at the dress or at Amalia's statement. "Not if you think about it. Palmero and I aren't exactly friends, and Coastland is devoutly patriarchal, so I'm sure King Oceano will vote in my uncle's favor. As for Dianaria, I doubt Queen Umbra would actually consider anything Cressa or former Queen Satellia said."
"Queen Umbra?"

"Right, I forget that you have no idea what's been going on in Draclord. Queen Umbra was one of King Gibbouso's cousins. She wasn't old enough to take the throne when he did, but when he died, she was the next in line, since Cressa was only fourteen back then. Dianaria has been in turmoil ever since she took over, and it's spreading throughout the Realm of the Bow by the day. She had a very similar mindset to my uncle's; in fact, I'm afraid that what happened in Dianara will happen in Gemnia if my uncle takes over. Anyway, I can probably count on Dianaria as a vote for Prince Luster. And as for Bahamut, well, your mom hasn't thought very highly of me since we stopped being friends. Not to mention I'm fifteen, and they wouldn't be wrong if they think that I don't know what I'm doing."

"What if I can convince them?"

Opaline shrugged. "The only vote I can truly count on is my dad's—by law, if the Queen hands off the crown, her spouse poses as regent and decides the vote for the Realm of the Spear until the coronation of the new monarch."

Amalia couldn't help but notice how she used the gender-neutral "monarch" instead of "Queen." She really was pretty unsure about this.

Opaline continued, "My dad and I have talked it over, and we both think it's best if I step up and become Queen, so I know he'll vote for me. But that's only one vote."

"What about Meterolia?"

"Skylar's been working on her parents, but I think her mom is still in favor of Prince Luster. She thinks I'm too young to handle a kingdom. To be honest, I kind of am too young, but I don't have much of a choice."

"Wait, I still don't get something… if they know what Prince Luster is going to do to Gemnia, and potentially the entire Spear Realm, then why are they still voting for him over you?"

Opaline sighed wearily. "It's the same problem the Tribune has always had. Do you really think the other kingdoms care for the well-being of Gemnia? Even if they don't actively want to see Gemnia fall into chaos, they won't mind turning a blind eye and reaping the benefits. And I know some even think I'll do a worse job than him."

Amalia met the Gemstone Princess's deep purple eyes. "I know you'll do a good job, Opa. I believe in you."

Opaline snorted. "Funny thing to say for someone who vehemently hated me until about ten minutes ago." But Amalia could see her hiding a smile. "Anyway, this dress is so not working." She rifled through the other dresses, tossing each aside with a "No…" until she held up a coral-colored dress. "This is perfect!"

Amalia frowned. "Really, pink?"

Opaline rolled her eyes. "It's not pink, it's coral. And what's wrong with pink anyway? It's a nice color."

"Yeah, but it also screams 'Girly-girl!'"

"And that mindset only strengthens the stereotype. C'mon, just try it on."

Amalia reluctantly put the dress on. Opaline's face lit up when she saw Amalia in it. She made a few adjustments, then covered Amalia's eyes and led her to the mirror. When she removed her hands, Amalia gasped. She was wearing the coral gown, which hung off one shoulder and traced her body down to the ground, where the fabric just brushed the floor. It was elegant, but bold; sleek, but stunning; and simple, but elaborate. It was perfect.

Her hair was braided over her right shoulder, where it tickled the exposed skin and fell down to her hips, the blond highlight woven into it. The jeweled necklace, emerald wyvern earrings, and platform shoes completed the look.

"Whoa…" she breathed.

Opaline playfully nudged Amalia with her elbow. "I have my uses."

"What about your dress?"

"Oh, right." She held her spear in front of her and spun, becoming a blur of color. When she stopped spinning, she stood in a puffy white dress with short fluffy sleeves, dotted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and other gems Amalia didn't recognize, in all different colors of the rainbow.

Amalia smirked. "It definitely reminds me of you."

"That bad, huh?"

It took a moment for Amalia to understand her meaning. Then she realized what she had meant. "Aw, don't say that. We're past that now."

Opaline met Amalia's eyes apprehensively. "Are we?"

Amalia gave her reconciled friend her most convincing smile. "Yeah. We are."

Opaline shyly smiled back.

Now all that remained was the hardest part—for neither of them to mess it all up again.

When they left the changing room, Skylar and Cressa were already waiting for them in their dresses. Skylar had brushed her hair and let it fan out over her back, and wore a slim, sunny yellow dress that seemed to make the whole room brighter. Crescenta's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a simple pale-red tunic that reminded Amalia vaguely of the Blood Moon. She wondered for a moment why Crescenta's dress was so plain, but then she remembered that Crescenta wasn't a princess anymore.

It almost felt like everything should be how it was… back then.

Opaline paid for the dress before Amalia could, and they left the store. They found Ratha where they had left him by the gates. Amalia was ready to have a word with the blue-haired guard, but he still wasn't back yet—instead, he had been replaced by a red-haired one, who bade them good luck at the Tribunal. Trying not to ruin their dresses, they mounted the Rathalos. Amalia told him to find the Bahamut Tribunal Hall, and he took off, soaring into the sky.

"So…how'd it go with Opaline?" Skylar, who sat behind Amalia, shouted over the wind.

"Good. I think."

"What?"

"Good," Amalia decided.

"She told you everything?"

"Yeah. I'll try to convince my parents."

"We can only try and hope now, I guess."

"Yeah. I'll be doing both."

They weren't quite sure what to say after that, so they saved their breaths until New Archadia came into view. The tall colorful buildings looked almost iridescent from this height. Dalmasca Castle rose up from the iridescent sea, gleaming in the sunlight, so tall that it threw a shadow over several city blocks.

Ratha flew past it, to the limits of the city, where a black arena-shaped building dominated the landscape. They touched down in front of the Tribunal Hall, where guards rushed back and forth, ushering people in and leading wyverns to a set of stables. As they dismounted, Ratha saw the stables and began to whimper.

Amalia tried to console him, rubbing his nose. "Aw, it'll be all right, Ratha. It's only for a few hours. And you might meet a friend!"

Ratha began to purr. He wasn't paying any attention to what Amalia was saying, but the nose rub seemed to do the trick. He reluctantly followed a guard away, and Amalia lost sight of him in the crowd as people pushed past them.

"We should go in," Opaline suggested.

Amalia looked up at the towering black building, trying to pretend that it wasn't incredibly intimidating. She gulped before saying, "Yeah, right."

They all reluctantly moved toward the entrance. Once the crowd funneled into the small opening in the side of the stadium, they lined up in seven lines for identification and security. The four friends joined the shortest line, too nervous to say anything to each other. When they made it to the front of the line, they pressed their thumbs to a black pad to submit their fingerprints, then were waved through. Next was a magic detector. A worker took their sword, bolt, spear, and bow, and locked them away, promising that they could retrieve them when they left. They walked through the magic detectors and entered into the arena.

A walkway circled the stadium, which overlooked rows upon rows of seats, painted in wedges of red, blue, white, green and purple, each signifying the Sword, Bolt, Bow, Scythe, and Spear Realms, represented by the capital kingdoms of each Realm: Bahamut, Meterolia, Dianaria, Coastland, and Gemnia. In the center of each wedge, about halfway up, was a section designated for the royalty of the representing kingdoms, where they stood in a sort of box that projected from the rest of the seats.

"Well, I guess this is where we go our different ways," Crescenta murmured.

They all broke off, Opaline going right, and Crescenta and Skylar going left, leaving Amalia to go straight. She walked down the steps until she found her mom, Okita Dalmasca; her dad, Orion Dalmasca; and her younger sisters, Ishtar and Illya.

"Hi Amalia!" Illya shouted, tackling Amalia with a hug.

"Hi!" Amalia wheezed back.

"Glad you could make it," said Ishtar. "We got worried when Judge Magister Gabranth said he couldn't find you."

"Well, I made it!" Amalia said.

Queen Okita Dalmasca smiled down at her. "We're all glad you made it. And just in time, too. The proceedings start in five minutes. Meanwhile, you can catch up with your sisters. I know you've only seen them once since you left, when we invited Mr. and Mrs. Diaz on a tour as a wedding gift."

Amalia and her sisters shared a look. They'd seen each other more that their mother thought.

But King Orion Dalmasca saved her from answering. "This is your first Tribunal, isn't it?"

All three sisters agreed that it was.

King Orion frowned, looking to Amalia. "And I trust that Judge Magister Gabranth informed you of the details of the Tribunal?"

"Well… more or less." She explained the whole trip—finding Crescenta, hearing about the Tribunal, and meeting and reconciling with Opaline.

"So you and Opaline are back on good terms?" Amalia's mom asked her.

"Yes. Well, we're getting there, anyway."

"Do you think she would make a good Queen?"

Amalia considered her answer for a moment. "She's been through a lot with her mom, and she's really young to be Queen, but… if anyone can handle that, it's definitely her."

Queen Okita frowned. "That… possibly changes things."

"Mom, Opaline told me that this other guy—Prince Luster—she said he's bad. I don't see how anyone could choose to elect him!"

"Prince Luster isn't bad, he's… a risk. But so is Opaline."

"What's Prince Luster trying to do?"

"His motives are as of yet unclear. However, from what I have been able to gather, it seems that he favors magicals over nonmagicals, much like Queen Umbra, the new Queen of Dianaria. But it is also unclear how far he is willing to go to enforce his beliefs."

"That's terrible!"

"I know it sounds bad, but whether it's been openly discussed or not, this kind of sentiment has always existed. That's why most of the residents of New Archadia are magicals, while residents of cities like New Rabanastre are nonmagicals."

Amalia's next argument was cut off by a voice ringing out through the arena: Proceedings are now starting. Please find your seats and remain quiet. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

Amalia looked to the royalty sections in the other wedges. In the green wedge, she could make out Prince Palmero Tropicano, a tanned boy about seventeen years old with messy green hair and a wide grin. Next to him stood his friend—who he had probably snuck into the royalty box—Joshua Arbolero, who had medium brown skin and a mop of fiery orange hair that rather reminded Amalia of a starfish sitting on top of his head. They both wore turquoise robes with silky sea-green pants. On Palmero's other side was his sister Princess Sandra Tropicano, wearing a tan dress. Queen Solaria Tropicano stood behind her in an aquamarine gown, and the monarch, King Oceano, wore a suit that matched his wife's gown, and a crown modeled to look like kelp rested atop his head.

In the blue wedge, Amali saw Skylar's identical twin brothers Cumulus and Nubulus, who were maybe eight years old. The one on the left reached over and tugged on the fluffy white hair of the other, who let out an indignant cry and pounded on the first, while Skylar tried to separate them. The monarch, Queen Reyna Atmósphera, and her husband King Thunder, tried to retain dignified poses while scolding their youngest children. The Queen wore a gray-blue dress of sheer fabric that reminded Amalia of rainfall, and a circlet that looked like it was made of lightning bolts circled her head.

In the white wedge, Amalia could pick out Crescenta in her pale red tunic standing next to her mom Satellia in the golden dress they had seen her wearing earlier. Just above them, in the royalty section, stood Queen Umbra. Amalia wasn't sure what her last name was, but she supposed it would be King Gibbouso's bachelor name (the Draclord equivalent of a maiden name). Either way, Queen Umbra was a young woman of about twenty, unmarried judging by the fact that she stood alone in the royalty box. A circlet showing the phases of the moon sat upon her head. Her skin was ghostly pale, and her straight black hair fell almost to her knees, fanning out over her back in a way that made her look almost ethereal. Her ice blue eyes were a striking contrast to her dark hair, and they seemed to pierce straight through Amalia.

In the purple wedge, Opaline stood beside her now-widowed father, Granite Bijou, who wore a mottled gray suit. Alexandrite Bijou was wrapped in green robes and had a puff of pink hair but was surprisingly still and somber for a six-year-old.

As she looked around the red wedge, she spotted Sally above them and to the right, who gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.

"Wow, everyone is here!" she breathed.

"It's an important decision," King Orion pointed out.

Then another announcement rang out: Would the tesifiers, Opaline Bijou and Luster Gold, please make their way to the stage?

Opaline wobbled down the stairs, trying to maintain a dignified posture, while Prince Luster strode down confidently, flashing a charismatic smile. He was a man of about thirty and wore a jacket encrusted with what looked like real diamonds. His yellow-blond hair was slicked back, and his eyes of the same color looked bright and inviting.

Almost… too inviting.

Once they had made it to the stage, a worker hurried out and handed them Amplifiers, a contraption that worked like a human microphone.

Each testifier will have a chance to plead their case to the Tribune. King Granite will be standing in for Queen Emerald Bijou as the representative of Gemnia, per Draclord Law Article 39, Section 12, stating that, if a monarch dies, steps down, or is otherwise deemed unfit to rule, his or her spouse may vote on the Tribune until the coronation of the next monarch. After the testifiers have spoken, each Realm may elect a Speaker to provide further insight upon the matter. After each Realm has spoken, the five representatives will vote. A simple majority of three votes will determine the verdict. We shall start by hearing the testimony of Princess Opaline Bijou.

Down on the stage below, Opaline shifted uncomfortably. She finally took a deep breath and began, "Draconoids everywhere, this has been a trying time for the citizens of Gemnia, for myself… for all of us. We are unsure of what curse ails my mother, but at this point we must prepare for the worst.

"I know it will not be easy, but I am prepared to take on the responsibility of Queen, to follow in my mother's footsteps, and to retain the stability and livelihood of the kingdom of Gemnia and of the Realm at large. These are troubling times for all of us, but I am here to see it through and make sure things don't take a turn for the worse." Amalia noticed Opaline throw a glance at Prince Luster. "Yes, I'm young. Yes, my mother is dying. But I am confident in my ability to stick this through. Gemnia has thrived for centuries, and I will ensure it stays that way.

"Despite that, I am not afraid of change, and I will make decisions to better the kingdom and the world. Political tensions between Gemnia and the other capital kingdoms have long run high, and I will seek to alleviate these. As an olive branch to the other realms, I plan to cease all embargoes and reduce the exportation tariffs on precious stones that have long been plaguing our commerce."

Opaline got a few happy mutterings and satisfied nods for that. C'mon Opa, you've got this! Amalia thought, as though if she thought it hard enough, the princess below might be able to hear it.

"All I desire is stability in my kingdom and the growth of both political and personal relations with other kingdoms. I hope you are able to make your decisions based on my motives rather than my age. I will accomplish these goals during my reign. Thank you for your consideration."

She stepped back and let the Amplifier fall to her side, signifying the end of her speech. She stood there in shock as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd just done.

Amalia had to admit, she was pretty impressed by Opaline's speech. She couldn't see how she could possibly lose with a speech like that.

That was, until Luster Gold stepped forward, flashing a dazzling smile. "Thank you very much, Opaline Bijou, for those… impassioned words. She actually made one good point: that Gemnia has been doing the same darn thing for centuries. And look where that's gotten us!" He threw his hands up, dramatically gesturing around them. Amalia frowned despite the Prince's charisma—she hadn't missed the almost pitying way he said "impassioned" and how he said that Opaline had only "one good point."

Prince Luster continued, "Gemnia is the richest kingdom in all the Realm, dare I say in all of Draclord, but under the current system, the kingdom isn't able to flourish and share their wealth. We all know it. We've all heard whispers of it. We've all heard of the noble insurgency taking place in Dianaria as we speak, rooting out the weak so that the strong can better flourish." He made eye contact with Queen Umbra, who crossed her arms and nodded approvingly.

"It's time for a new King, a new dynasty, a new way. Magicals are the Lord of the Sky's gift to our society, and it is time that we receive the freedom that has been leached from us by those weaker than us. It's time that we step up and use our gifts to their full potential. We mustn't worry for those who are unworthy of our talents; they will find their own way. But we must protect our talents, lest they die out. Through intramarriage, we can strengthen our skills and ensure their survival."

"I've mentioned that this policy will help Gemnia flourish, but the benefits will not be restricted to Gemnia. If we stop wasting resources on our extensive support systems for nonmagicals, Gemnia will be more prosperous and more profitable, with more funds to spend on our principal industry, mining. The tariffs the Princess mentioned? Not reduced, gone. And with more funds allocated to mining, that means more precious materials. And more precious materials means lower prices! As you can all see, this system is mutually beneficial. My vision for the future is to liberate magicals everywhere, but, of course, we must start small. I do not expect the other kingdoms to follow my lead, although, of course, I encourage it. I respect political boundaries, and those who are not within my boundaries are free to choose their own way.

But that is only one avenue of change. The Gemnian matriarchy has been around since the beginning of our kingdom's existence. Women have ruled since the dawn of our kingdom, and it's time to stop favoring one gender over the other. Did you know that Gemnia is the only capital kingdom to never have a king regnant? There is, of course, the late King Gibbouso of Dianaria. You may remember King Ollago of Dalmasca, who ruled as king regnant a hundred and fifty years ago. Same goes for King Coldfront of Meterolia, Queen Reyna's father. And, of course, the current king of Coastland, the benevolent King Oceano.

"But not Gemnia. I would be the first King Regnant of Gemnia in its relatively long history. It's time for a new dynasty that will exist under, not matriarchy, but a system of gender-inclusive Ambiarchy—not the first daughter, nor the first son, but rather the first child of the monarch shall be the heir. The matriarchal system is nothing but the outdated remains from when we once believed that only women could possess magical abilities. It's time to move past that and unite as a magical community. It's time to move on from the Bijous and prepare for the dawn of the Gold dynasty. I trust that you will all make the right choice. Thank you."

Amalia had to admit, Prince Luster was quite convincing. She almost started to believe that he might make a better monarch than Opaline before she snapped out of it and focused on what he had actually said.

He wanted to segregate the magicals and nonmagicals.

Somehow, that fact had slipped Amalia's mind as he spoke—she had been focusing more on his claims of better relations with the other kingdoms and gender equality.

"He is rather convincing," Okita Dalmasca murmured, almost dreamily.

"Yes… his policies sound… very beneficial," Orion Dalmasca agreed in the same tone.

They all snapped back to reality when the announcer's voice rang out: Coastland may now provide insight. King Oceano may speak for his kingdom, or he may choose a Speaker.

There was shuffling around the royalty box, then Palmero took the Amplifier and began to speak: "Heya, everyone! Coastland is too chill to worry about magicals and nonmagicals, but as a patriarchy, we think it'd be chill to have a King rule Gemnia. And Coastland has been isolated from the other four kingdoms for a long time, so we're totally up for better relations and stuff. Yeah." He put the Amplifier down.

Then it was King Granite's turn. He said in his gravelly voice, "I know I may be accused of nepotism for defending my daughter, but, like all of you, I approach this situation objectively and disinterestedly. I speak for the people of Gemnia when I say that Opaline is right—Gemnia needs stability after what has happened to their Queen. She is young, but she will have me to guide her. I beseech the Tribune to trust Opaline Bijou to preserve the relative tranquility brought about by Queen Emerald's reign. Thank you."

Many of the Gemnians seemed to agree, but most of the others seemed uninterested.

Meterolia decided to pass, so Amalia wasn't sure where they stood. When it was Queen Umbra's turn to speak, she just said in a rather bored tone, "Let's just get this over with."

You elect to pass? the unseen Mediator confirmed.

"Yes." Immediately, Satellia Luna shot out of her seat. "What's this?" Queen Umbra groaned.

If the monarch elects to pass on their turn to speak or choose a Speaker, a member of that kingdom may volunteer herself or himself, the dismembered voice explained.

Queen Umbra reluctantly handed over her Amplifier to Crescenta's mom, who began, "I bring to the Tribune a similar matter, that of the ascension of Queen Umbra to the throne of Dianaria."

Queen Umbra tried to snatch the Amplifier back, but Satellia danced away. "According to Old Draclan Common Law, Amendment 2, 'a Princess, if within one year has been denied her right to the throne due to young age, she may, if now of proper age to rule, challenge she who has received the throne, in which case a Tribune must be called to order. A simple majority may dispel this case, but in the case of a unanimous vote in favor of said Princess, she shall be crowned Queen.'"

Now Queen Umbra actually did manage to snatch the Amplifier. "That's ridiculous! That law has not been enforced for ages!"

This Tribunal was called to decide the successor of the Gemnian crown. Any other cases must be dealt with separately.

"It will not be dealt with at all!" Queen Umbra stated. "My sister-in-law has no right to invoke millenia-old laws in the middle of an unrelated case!"

Let us take a quick vote, then, a simple majority deciding whether this matter may be discussed at a later date. The Coastlandian representative shall begin.

Amalia was surprised to hear king Oceano respond just as informally as his son: "Eh, why not? I won't turn down the excitement of a Tribunal. I vote in favor of reconvening."

King Granite seemed a bit shocked but managed to say, "I also vote in favor of reconvening."

Queen Reyna discussed with her daughter for a moment before announcing, "Meterolia would like to hear this out. We vote in favor."

"Fine, but you'll never get the unanimous vote while I'm still in this Tribune!" Queen Umbra seethed.

Although, she was right.
We have a majority, the Mediator announced. This matter will be discussed at a later time.

Meanwhile, Bahamut has yet to speak regarding the successor to the Gemnian throne.

"We elect to pass," Okita Dalmasca said into the Amplifier.

Before Amalia could think, she grabbed the Amplifier and shouted, "I volunteer as Speaker!"

Then she realized what she had just done, dropped the Amplifier, and gave her mother an apologetic look.

Okita Dalmasca, rather than being angry, seemed rather amused. "Well, go on."

Amalia bent down and grabbed the Amplifier, then scrambled for words. "Umm… I'm Amalia Dalmaca, heir to the Bahamese throne. I… I'd like to vouch for Opa—Princess Opaline Bijou. We've been friends since I can remember, although the last few months have been… rough for our friendship. But now I see all the responsibility Opaline is taking on. And I'll tell you why she does it. No fifteen-year-old wants the responsibility of running a kingdom—not the reality of it, anyway. But Opaline told me that she felt like she had to in order to protect the liberties of her people. I've known Opaline for many years, and I know that she is willing to put others before herself and make proactive choices to help her people.

"It's clear to me that Prince Luster is after the throne for its power, so that he can feel that power and inflict his beliefs upon every person under his rule. His motives are sordid. We must not vote selfishly—we must vote for what is best for Gemnia. And I believe the best monarch for Gemnia is Opaline Bijou. I hope you consider that when you make your decisions."

Amalia let out a huge sigh of relief and set the Amplifier down. She caught Opaline's eye, and the Gemnia Princess gave her a grateful smile. Prince Luster was fuming.

As each testifier and each Realm has had the opportunity to speak, let us now commence voting. "In favor" means a vote for Princess Opaline Bijou—the legitimate monarch—to ascend to the throne, while "Against" signifies a vote to deny Princess Opaline Bijou the throne in favor of the next-in-line, Prince Luster Gold. Coastland will begin.

"Against," King Oceano said gruffly. Amalia winced.

The crowd then turned to look at King Granite, even though his vote was obvious: "In favor."

Next was Queen Reyna's vote. Amalia held her breath. If she voted against, there was no way Opaline would be able to win two more votes. Queen Reyna and Skylar whispered to each other for a moment, then Queen Reyna finally said, "In favor."

Amalia almost let out a cheer. Opaline was winning the vote! But Amalia knew that Queen Umbra would vote against, which would leave it all up to Bahamut's vote. Sure enough, Queen Umbra snapped, "Against!"

The vote is tied: two in favor, two against. Bahamut, the last vote is yours.

Amalia looked up at her mom pleadingly, but Queen Okita wouldn't meet her eyes.

After a moment, she said, "In favor."

By a simple 3-to-2 majority, the Tribune has decided in favor of the normal ascension to the throne of Princess Opaline Bijou—heretofore to be referred to as Queen Opaline! About half the crowd cheered, but all of a sudden, something strange started to happen.

Starting in the Gemnia wedge, heads began to loll, and King Granite and Prince Alexandrite collapsed. As Amalia watched the people losing consciousness, she began to feel rather sleepy herself, although she wasn't sure why….

Then she heard it: a sound. A sound so sweet that Amalia thought she could listen to it forever. Singing. Someone was singing. Amalia looked around to find who was singing that lovely song. Eventually, her eyes landed on a woman with white-blond hair with her arms raised into the air, eyes closed, chanting that serene song… Cloya Gold.

Amalia realized with a start that she recognized that woman as the one who was sitting next to Prince Luster at the beginning of Tribunal—his wife. She remembered what Opaline had told her about Lady Cloya: one of the most powerful Memory-Wipers known to Draclord. She was trying to Wipe everyone's memories! At the same moment she realized this, a hand gripped her wrist tightly. Then she felt herself floating, drifting, stretching, then she snapped back to herself and collapsed on the stone floor of the throne room of Dalmasca Castle.

"Amalia, are you alright?" Queen Okita's usually calm, confident voice wobbled.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Amalia said, picking herself up. "What happened?"

Queen Okita sighed. "When Prince Luster lost the vote, Cloya Gold started mesmerizing the entire audience of the Tribunal so she could Alter their memories—it was probably planned. We were the farthest away from Lady Cloya, so we were affected last. Even then, we never would have escaped without the Beamers, and not all of the kingdoms have Beamer systems in place. I think it's safe to say that the five of us were the only ones able to escape."

Amalia looked around the empty throne room. "Then… where are Dad, Ishtar and Illya?"

Queen Okita chewed her lip and averted her eyes, as if she had been avoiding that question. "They should be here. Neither of us could grab all three of you, so I took you, and Orion took Ishtar and Illya. They would have beamed to wherever Orion's Beamer was set to, since he didn't have time to change it. But I thought his last beam was with me into this room. I suppose it's possible that he beamed after that without me knowing, but in that case they could be anywhere within the boundaries of Bahamut. We should search for them."

"But what happened to everyone else? The people who didn't make it out?"

"They're probably on their way home, expecting the coronation of Prince Luster."

"Wait, WHAT? I thought she Wiped their memories!"

"Not Wiped, Amalia. Altered. I suspect that she made them think that Luster had won, specifically that he had won my vote."
"So… that's it? They all just think that Prince Luster won?"

"Not necessarily. There are at least two witnesses whose memories survived. It may be possible to return their memories if we find someone who can. I would normally appeal to Queen Emerald, but—"

"Opaline, then," Amalia interrupted. "If I remember, she's pretty good at memory magic."

"Yes, but she was affected."

"So? You said that nothing's different; they just think that Prince Luster won."

"In theory, yes. But Altering memories often has… adverse effects. Sometimes changing one memory starts a ripple effect, causing more memories to be Altered than are intended. The only way to reverse them is—"

She was cut off by King Orion, Ishtar, and Illya appearing in front of them.

Queen Okita began pummeling her husband with questions: "Orion! You're safe! Where were you? What took you so long?"

Instead of responding, he fell to his knees and bent over, groveling. "My Queen," he said reverently.

"Orion, what are you doing? Get up!"

He did. "I know not why I am here, my Queen. My daughters insisted that I come here. I apologize for intruding. I don't know why I have a Beamer that goes here."
Okita let her face fall into her palm. "Oh dear, he's forgotten that he's my husband. He must not have made it out in time and had his mind Altered. This is a perfect example of the adverse effects I mentioned, but we may be able to fix it. Come, Amalia, let's find Opaline." Okita fiddled with her Beamer, setting the coordinates, then Amalia took her mom's hand. "Oh, Ishtar, Illya, sweeties, I'm glad you're safe. Just wait here until we come back."

"Safe?" Ishtar asked warily. "Why are you worried about us being—"

But Amalia and her mom had already beamed out. Once her body had snapped back together, Amalia realized that they were standing in front of the Tribunal Hall again. "Wait, why…?"

"I figured Ratha would be the fastest way to get to Gemnia. Plus, we need to get your sword back."

Right, they couldn't beam to anywhere outside Bahamut.

There were hundreds of people surging out of the exit, so they had to push through the crowd to get back to security. Once they made it, Amalia scanned her fingerprint, and the worker returned her sword, while her mom got back a pair of dimensional scissors. The latter frowned, muttering, "More people might have been able to escape if they hadn't confiscated these. I might need to talk to the Tribune about that."

"Wait, why didn't they confiscate your and Dad's Beamers?" Amalia asked.

"Beamers are more technology than magic, so they don't show up on magic detectors. Plus, they're authorized. Like dimensional scissors ought to be."

"We should probably get to Ratha now," Amalia said.

"Right."

They made their way to the stables, but there was a long line waiting to get their wyverns back. Amalia found the wait maddening, knowing that there was something she needed to fix but unable to do anything but wait.

And wait. And wait.

Inch by inch by inch.

When they finally made it to the front, Amalia described Ratha to the stablehand, and he brought Ratha out.

"The Bijou's wyvern is gone," Okita noticed. "So we can be sure Opaline has already left."

"That's good. She'll probably be back in the castle by the time we get there," Amalia agreed.

The stablehand directed them to take off in a field away from the crowd then began attending to the next person.

When they were finally able to take off, Amalia coaxed Ratha toward Gemnia as fast as possible. The Realm of the Sword bordered the Realm of the Spear, so Gemnia wasn't too far.

After about twenty painful minutes, the pristine white Castle Bijou came into view. Amalia landed Ratha in an open field near the gates to the castle and told him to stay.

"Amalia, you do realize that we need to tether him, right?" Okita suggested.
"No! He'll stay if I tell him to!" She rubbed he Rathalos's muzzle. "Won't you, Ratha?"

"If he doesn't need to be tethered, then tethering him won't make any difference, will it?" Okita extended her hand, and a rope shot out, knotting itself around Ratha's thigh and the nearest tree. Sure enough, Ratha hardly seemed to notice. He made a few circles then plopped down and fell asleep, breathing out puffs of smoke as he snored.

Queen Okita and Amalia approached the gates. A guard with long brown hair stood on the right, while a yellow-haired guard stood opposite her. They crossed their spears in front of Okita and Amalia.

"We request an audience with Opaline Bijou," Queen Okita explained.

The brown-haired one spoke into some sort of mouthpiece. After a moment, she declared, "Princess Opaline will see you in the throne room." The guards uncrossed their spears and opened the gates to let the two Dalmascas pass.

They entered the throne room. Tapestries ran down the otherwise-plain white walls, and rugs covered the floor. Three thrones were at the back of the room. The biggest was in the middle and was encrusted with green jewels, presumably for Queen Emerald. The one on the right was only slightly shorter but was much more rugged, composed of marbled gray stone that resembled King Granite's namesake. The one on the left was dotted with opals and diamonds for Princess Opaline.

Speaking of Opaline… where was she?

Amalia couldn't help but tap her foot impatiently The sound echoed off the walls until it sounded much louder.

Finally, Opaline appeared in one of the doorways. She had drawn her hair to the front so that it covered her face, but Amalia could still see her red-rimmed eyes through it.

"Well… I guess I tried everything I could," Opaline sighed.

"Maybe not," Amalia said. "Do you know how to restore Altered memories?"

Opaline looked up at her in confusion. "Why?"

"You'll see," Amalia pressed. "Can you?"

"I mean, I don't get much practice with it, since there aren't exactly people lining up to be Cleansed. But I'm pretty good at it."

"What did you call it?"

"A Cleanse. That's what we call it when you restore memories, set them back to the original. A Cleanse retrieves Wiped memories and reverts Altered memories."

"Would it be possible to do a Cleanse on yourself?"

Opaline jumped back. "Did someone Alter my memories?"

"Yeah. Cloya Gold Altered the whole auditorium's memories when you won the Tribunal."

"I won?" she asked in disbelief. "Cloya Gold would never do something like that…"

"If you do the Cleanse, you can find out."

Opaline chewed her bottom lip. "I guess it couldn't hurt." She stuck the sharp part of her spear into the ground then leaned forward and touched her forehead to the other end. A few seconds passed, then…

She gasped and stumbled backward.

"Wow… I can't believe she did that," Opaline said.
"Yeah. Now we know how Prince Luster planned to implement his policies," Amalia pointed out.

"Wipe his dissenters' minds…" Opaline finished in horrified awe, shuddering at the words.

"That's why it's a good thing you won," Amalia said. "But first we need to make everyone remember."
Opaline sighed. "I can try. It's different Cleansing myself. I don't have to enter the other person's mind and search their memories."

That sounded… a bit gross. "How does that work anyway?"

"It's a bit hard to explain," Opaline told her. "But… imagine that all your memories are on a reel of film strip, each memory in its own panel. When someone Alters a memory, they create a fake memory and stick it on top of the memory they're trying to Alter, which we call Implanting. Then, when your mind plays back the film, all it sees is the Altered memory. Wiping memories is easier because you don't have to create a new memory. To do a Wipe, you take a memory from another place, cut it out, and stick it on top of the memory you want to Wipe. Your memory naturally reorganizes anything that it senses is out of order, so it's like that memory that got covered up is gone .

"When you do a Memory Cleanse, you peel off the extra memories and reveal the ones underneath. It's actually easier to Cleanse Altered memories, since you can just discard the fake memory and reveal the one underneath. But Cleansing Wiped memories is a bit more dangerous. When you peel back the memory that the Wiper used to cover up the other one, you have to insert the memory you peeled off back into the film strip. If you don't do it just right, they could lose the memory you peeled off forever. Some of the most powerful Wipers manage to use fundamental memories to cover the Wiped memory, so that if a Cleanser peels it off and accidentally lets it fall away, the person left won't be the same anymore."

A chill ran down Amalia spine. "Wait… but why did my dad forget that he married my mom? Did Lady Cloya use that memory? Did it fall away somehow?"

"No, only Cleansed memories can fall away. And anyway, Lady Cloya was Altering memories, not wiping, so we don't have to worry about anything falling away. But the way Lady Cloya Altered the whole audience's memories without physical contact… almost like she sent out a signal… it shouldn't be possible. And I've never seen a Minder—that's what we call people who do memory magic—mesmerize an audience like that. either. I think that's a Scytherian skill, actually. But however she did it, it was probably rather imprecise. I'd bet she Altered more memories than she thought. Maybe she Implanted Queen Okita saying 'No' to me, but also Implanted that same memory of her saying 'No' when he proposed, or something like that?"
"But wouldn't he still remember the wedding and everything?"

"When our minds are messed with, they often do strange things to try to understand what really happened."

"Yeah, I guess. But it doesn't matter, because you'll fix him, right?"

Opaline looked away, but then she met Amalia's eyes and said, "I'll try."

Amalia jumped when her Queen Okita spoke; she'd almost forgotten that her mom was there: "Perhaps we should start with King Granite, while we're here."

"Yeah. He shouldn't mind my searching his memories too much. I think he's in my parents'—I mean, his—room."

(Time for some Opaline POV!)

Opaline led the Dalmascas to her father's room. She knocked, and the door flew open with a flick of King Granite's wrist.

Most kings didn't have magic since it was customary for a Queen (or, in some cases, King) of a capital kingdom to marry the royalty of a lesser kingdom in their Realm. The lesser kingdoms weren't often ruled by magicals, so those who married the monarchs of the capital kingdoms didn't have the genes for magic. But King Granite had some magic ability since was actually a descendant of Queen Andara of Dalmasca, but his family had moved to Gemnia when he was young. Then he met Opaline's mom and fell in love with her. Then they got married, and...

And that was all that needed to be said about that.

Anyway, her dad had some magical talent, although his magic was more inclined toward fighting, since that was the focus of Swordian Magic. And he could open doors, apparently.

"Hi, Dad."

"Hello, Opaline. What are the Dalmascas doing here?"

"They… brought something to my attention about the Tribunal. Something went wrong. If you don't mind, I need to do a Memory Cleanse on you."

"I… why?"

"You'll see. Do you trust me?"

King Granite sighed. "Go ahead."

Opaline placed the butt of her spear on her dad's forehead and closed her eyes.

Instantly, she was swarmed with fragments thoughts, tumbling over one another into indiscernibility.

—what are the Dalmascas—

—this is strange—

—I hope she doesn't see—

The only one she could clearly make out was:

WHAT IS GOING ON?

She shoved the thoughts away, focusing on the memories before her. She saw herself putting her spear on her dad's forehead, which she ignored, pushing through. Further back she saw her dad in his room, crying. The Memory was dim, as though King Granite was trying to hide it from her. She tried to force herself to look away, but she couldn't. She could barely make out the image, but she caught a glimmer of his emotions.

Anger.

Despair.

Disappointment.

Opaline had learned by now that people often didn't mean what they thought, and that searching someone's memories came with the risk of finding something you didn't want to see.

But it still hurt, just a little.

She took a deep breath, then forced herself to push further.

Eventually, she found the memory she was looking for. It was the same one she had peeled out of her mind.

Queen Okita said "Against," and the crowd burst out in cheers, boos, and something in between as the Mediator said, By a simple 3-to-2 majority, the Tribune has decided against the normal ascension to the throne of Princess Opaline Bijou. Instead, Prince Luster—heretofore to be referred to as King Luster—will inherit the Gemnian throne.

Lady Cloya hadn't changed much, Opaline realized. She had only changed a few key words to make it seem like Prince Luster had won. Maybe that was because her power was spread so thinly over the entire audience, or maybe it was a sly way of making sure no one suspected.

But Amalia and her mom had caught Lady Cloya. And now she was going down.

Opaline rallied her magical energy, pooling it together and swirling it together like a whirlpool. Then she shoved it away, and it swept over the Implanted memory, carrying it away. Underneath, the real memory emerged—Lady Cloya singing the whole auditorium to sleep.

A piercing headache sliced through Opaline's mind. She stumbled back, clutching her forehead.

Amalia caught her before she collapsed. "Whoa, you all right?"

Opaline took a few shallow breaths then shakily removed her hands from her forehead. Amalia helped her back to her feet, but she just fell back into Amalia's arms.

"Nope!" This time, Amalia just held her. But now real concern laced her tone. "Opaline… are you okay?"

It was hard for Opaline to make the words come out, but just the thought of moving her head, much less nodding, made her woozy, so she finally forced herself to croak, "Yeah."

Amalia picked her up, bridal style, and carried her to her dad's bed, setting her down there.

Whoa, when did Amalia get that strong? Opaline wondered. Amalia had always been the badass of the group, but she had picked Opaline up like she weighed nothing. I guess I've missed some things in the last few months, she realized.

As she lay there, she felt the pain begin to ease and her strength begin to return. Eventually, she managed to ask, "My dad… how is he? I… I don't know whether I managed to wash the Implanted memory away completely. It might have stuck back on somewhere else…"

"I'm just fine," King Granite told her, sitting on the bed next to her. "And more than that, I'm so proud of you! You won the Tribunal! And you managed to Cleanse the memory Lady Cloya Altered!"

"Yeah, well.. I couldn't have done either of those things without Amalia."

"Yeah… what is going on between you two anyway?" King Granite asked. "Don't get me wrong, it's great to see you two getting along, but I thought you… weren't on the best of terms."

Opaline looked to Amalia, who nodded. "I… think we're friends again," she explained to her dad.

"Well… I guess it's a good thing we have her on our side again."

Amalia jumped in. "I think the better way of putting it is that we're better together."

"A wise statement."

"From a wise girl," Queen Okita added, smiling to her daughter.

Opaline sat up, her strength mostly returned. "Now it's time to set things right."

After several hours of riding Ratha, several more of Opaline's head-splitting headaches, and several grumpy monarchs, the Tribune had assembled again in the Tribunal Hall. This time, the Hall was empty but for the five royal families, Crescenta and her mom Satellia, and Luster and Cloya Gold. The Golds stood down in the center of the arena, encased in an antimagic barrier courtesy of Queen Okita Dalmasca.

The only other one there was the mysterious Mediator, who began, This is an emergency Tribunal. Officially, it has been called to discuss claims to the Dianarian throne. However, since the Tribune are currently the only witnesses of the crime, this Tribunal will also serve to discuss charges against Luster and Cloya Gold for using Minding without permission, unfounded attack upon royalty, and intentional biasing of a Tribunal. The Tribune may discuss this issue freely.

Queen Umbra was the first to speak up. "Lady Cloya is obviously guilty for Altering our memories, as we all now remember. But do we actually have any proof that Prince Luster was involved?"

"She obviously did it to help her husband win the Tribunal," Queen Reyna objected. "And it seemed like it had been planned."

"Seemed like and actually was are two very different things," Queen Umbra retorted.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Queen Umbra is right. We don't have any hard evidence," Queen Okita admitted.

Opaline whispered something to her dad. "My daughter says she has an idea," he announced.

"Go ahead," Queen Okita encouraged.

Opaline took the Amplifier. "Even after a memory has been Cleansed, there's a certain… trace left behind. A taintedness. If Prince Luster had his memory Altered and someone Cleansed it, then I'll be able to see that the memory is tainted. But if this was all planned from the start, Prince Luster would have known to look away, and his memory would have never been Altered. So if I search his memories, I should be able to tell if he was involved."

Are there any objections to this?

No one spoke.

Opaline made her way down to the stage. Since it was an emergency Tribunal with no one in the audience, Opaline had been allowed to keep her spear. This time with much more confidence, she strode toward the center of the arena. Queen Okita modified the antimagic shield to make a hole that allowed Opaline to stick her spear through, but Prince Luster scrambled away from it.

Queen Reyna's voice echoed: "We cannot force you to submit to a Memory Search, but shall you refuse, we must assume your guilt."

Prince Luster sighed, looking to Opaline. "Okay. But please only look at that memory."

In that moment of his weakness, she realized that he was just another person. She smiled at him and said, "If you think about that memory, it'll be brought to the surface, so that I don't have to go deeper."

He nodded nervously and allowed her to press the blunt end of her spear to his forehead.

She dove into his mind.

It felt cold and gave her chills, like an icy lake. She pushed the thoughts away, but she couldn't help but hear one:

I hope she doesn't find—

But the rest of the thought was drowned out. Trying not to worry about that, she shoved through until she found the memories. Sure enough, the first one she found was the memory of Lady Cloya putting everyone to sleep as she Altered their memories. It was dim, like he was trying to hide it even though he was thinking about it, but Opaline could clearly tell that there was no trace of a memory being on top. But the memory still felt… thick. There was something underneath. She swirled her magic together and began to peel up the memory, but just as the corner came up her magic reversed its course and shot straight back at her, striking her so forcefully that she stumbled back, dropped her spear, and fell to the floor, clutching her throbbing head. Instead of a knifelike pain, it was more of a pulsing ache, like something was trapped inside her head and trying to get out.

King Granite closed his eyes and thrust his arm out, palm open, toward Opaline. She began to rise off the floor, floating back toward the Gemnian royalty box. King Granite began to sweat, but then the other queens and king started helping, and Opaline was levitated safely into her father's arms.

"What did you see?" King Granite asked.

Opaline thought back to what she had seen in Prince Luster's mind. The one thought she had heard was concerning, and so was the fact that he had dimmed the memory. The top memory hadn't had any traces of a memory above it, but there had been one underneath. That might make sense, she supposed, if Prince Luster indeed had had his memory Altered, but instead of Cleansing it, his wife had Implanted the true memory on top. That would mean that he had not looked away the first time, so the fake memory had been laid over the true memory, and then another true memory had been lain over the fake one. But why would she do that instead of simply Cleansing the memory? Maybe there was only one memory underneath, in which Prince Luster had looked away, but Lady Cloya had Implanted the memory that Opaline had seen on top to hide the fact that he had looked away? But it had felt awfully thick, probably thicker than just two memories. Or maybe one of the middle memories had been Cleansed, and she had felt the traces of it? And then there was the weird part where her own magic had attacked her. She had never seen that before, although she had never performed a Memory Search on an unwilling target. It had almost felt like Prince Luster had shoved her magic back at her… was that possible?

"I… I don't know," she finally said.

"Princess Opaline must recover before she can perform another Memory Search, so we must continue without this evidence," Queen Reyna concluded. "Do the royal families have any further evidence to provide?" No one spoke. "Then, do Prince Luster or Lady Cloya have any further evidence to provide?"

Prince Luster spoke. "I have only my testimony that I was not involved in the Memory Alterations, and that they were not planned." Even without an Amplifier, the Tribunal Hall was quiet enough that everyone could hear his voice.

"Very well. I suppose we must vote, then," Queen Reyna decided.

Correct. Firstly, the Tribune must decide whether to convict Lady Cloya for performing an unlawful Mind Alteration, attacking royalty, and the biasing of a Tribunal. "In favor" counts as a vote for conviction.

All five monarchs voted in favor.

Now for the conviction of Prince Luster, for the same crimes?

King Oceano and Queen Umbra voted against, but Queens Reyna and Okita voted in favor.

It was King Granite's turn to vote, but he just looked down at Opaline. "I'll vote however you think," he said. "You were the one in his mind, after all. Not to mention, you'll be the one doing this in a few days."

Opaline chewed her lip—a habit she really should stop—as she looked down at Prince Luster. He looked up at her pleadingly. She couldn't be sure that he had been involved, and she realized that, now that he could no longer become King, he really wasn't a problem. There was no point in imprisoning him.

"I… I don't think he deserves to be convicted," Opaline finally said.

King Granite looked slightly surprised, but he also said it with approval when he announced, "Gemnia votes against conviction."

Prince Luster and Lady Cloya will be dealt with accordingly.

Queen Okita let her antimagic barrier dissolve, and two guards escorted them out of the Tribunal Hall, one of them slapping antimagic handcuffs around Lady Cloya's wrists. The Tribune wouldn't be deciding their sentence. As a system to keep the Tribune's power in check, the Tribune had the power to convict a person of high crimes, but it was up to the regional judiciary systems to sentence the criminal and enforce that sentence.

Now for the official matter of this Tribunal, Crescenta Luna's claim to the Dianarian throne. The plaintiffs, Crescenta and Satellia Luna, may now testify.

Satellia stood up quickly. "I testified enough at the previous Tribunal. We can just get to the voting."

Very well. The Sword Realm votes first. A unanimous vote in favor mandates that Crescenta Luna replace Umbra Crater as Queen of Dianaria. A simple majority of votes against upholds Queen Umbra's reign.

"In favor," Queen Okita said.

"In favor," Queen Reyna repeated.

"In favor," King Granite echoed.

Then everyone turned to King Oceano, who seemed to be caught off guard. "Um… yeah, sure, in favor!" he said.

But Queen Umbra shouted "AGAINST!" at the top of her lungs.

"So… what does that mean?" Queen Okita wondered. "Neither a unanimous vote in favor nor a simple majority against was achieved."

Give us a moment to discuss.

Amalia frowned. Us? She was still trying to figure out who the mysterious Mediator was, but now there was apparently more than one of them.

Eventually, the voice spoke again. Very few current laws allow for an inconclusive ruling for this very reason. But since Satellia Luna invoked an Old Draclan law, we sought an answer in the books of Old Draclan Common Law. Article 4, Section 22 of Old Draclan Common Law states: "In the case that a vote by the Tribune is in any way ambiguous, the Tribune must decide upon an alternate mode of voting, to be determined by a simple majority." May we suggest a solution: a normal popular vote by the Archerian (see the end A/N) citizens? It is both applicable and unbiased, and we can be sure that the decision reflects the interests of the Archerian people.

There were murmurs of assent from the royals.

Shall we vote on it, then? The Bahamese representative shall start.

They all voted in favor, even Queen Umbra, who claimed, "The Archerian people like me better! You'll see."

"You do realize that a popular vote accounts for the whole population, don't you?" Queen Reyna pointed out.

"The whole population…" Queen Umbra murmured.

It has been decided by a unanimous vote. The Dianarian citizens will vote by the normal popular voting method to decide who will be the Queen of Dianaria. Per normal popular voting, there will be a one-week voting period. After that, any changes must be fully enacted within two weeks. A Judge—

"Wait!" Queen Umbra called out in a last, desperate attempt, "The girl hasn't even spoken yet! Shouldn't she have some say in whether or not she wants to challenge me for the Crown?"

That's… a good point that we have overlooked. The Old Draclan law that Satellia Luna cited specifies that the princess in question must challenge the current Queen. Queen Umbra, would you please pass your Amplifier to Crescenta Luna?

Queen Umbra happily complied. She passed the Amplifier to Crescenta, then began whispering into her ear, while Crescenta tried to move away.

Please step away from Miss Luna, the Mediator's voice demanded. Queen Umbra begrudgingly complied, but not before giving Crescenta a pointed look.

Crescenta clutched the Amplifier and let the silence stretch out into awkwardness, which Amalia had noticed was one of the former Moon Princess's nervous tendencies.

Finally, she said, "I will accept my role as Queen if that is what the Archerian people choose."

That should settle it, unless there are any further objections?

There were none.

Then it has been decided. As for a few additional matters, King Granite, it would be beneficial if you were to gather your best Minders—specifically Cleansers—to fix the Altered memories of the previous Tribunal's audience, as this should rectify any confusion they may have. Additionally, Judge Magister Gabranth shall be temporarily relieved of his current duties to oversee the voting process in Dianaria and make sure it is free of any bias. Otherwise, this Tribunal has adjourned.

They all got to leave the normal way this time. They couldn't find Skylar, but when Opaline, Crescenta, and Amalia met, Amalia said to Crescenta, "So… that was why your mom was so excited to come back."

"Because she saw an opportunity to get her back into the royalty," Opaline added.

"By making me Queen," Crescenta finished.

"How do you feel about it?" Opaline asked, almost rhetorically.

Crescenta let the silence stretch out before responding, "I… I don't want to be Queen. Not at all. But I know that I would be a better ruler than Queen Umbra, so I guess I kind of feel obligated to. Now I get exactly how you feel, Opa. It feels incredibly conceited to say this, but it's a really selfless act to become Queen, at least in our situation."

"Yeah, it's… rough. But I think that sometimes the best rulers are the ones who never asked for power. 'Cause they're putting their people first from the very beginning."

"But that's not entirely your responsibility, Cressa," Amalia pointed out. "You can't always carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It might break you down."

"That's true, but someone has to step up," Crescenta argued. "And I think I would be less sure if it was just that, but it's not just that. My mom seems so much happier since we've been back in Draclord, and I know she would be a lot happier if she could be royalty again. Plus, it's a lot easier to live with her when she's happy. And finally, something about this just feels right to me somehow. If I'm Queen, it means no more moving. I get to stay in Draclord with you two and Kyla. Between that and your reconciliation with each other, things will go back to… sorta how they used to be. I just… I feel like this is the right decision. Hard, but right."

"I guess only the votes can say what will happen now," Amalia said.

"Yeah. I don't really know which way I'm hoping the vote goes."

"Probably best to keep it that way," Opaline suggested. "Then you can't be disappointed by the result. That's how I felt about mine."

"Right, when's your coronation?"

"A week from now."

"Like… the same day that we get the results of the Dianarian vote?"

"Yep. The same day."

"Well… I guess I'll see you in a week, then," Amalia concluded.

The other girls nodded, too lost in their thoughts to reply, and sought out their parents. Amalia turned to find hers but was instead met by the three Judge Magisters. "Gabranth! Ghis! Zargabaath! What are you doing here? I thought this Tribunal was for the royal families only."

"Well, someone has to mediate the Tribunal," Judge Magister Ghis said.

"Wait… that was you three?"

"Of course!" Gabranth exclaimed. "We are the Judge Magisters, after all."

Judge Magister… as in Judge Magister. Oh. "But Opaline didn't Cleanse your minds! How do you know what happened?"
"We weren't actually in the room when Lady Cloya attempted to Alter the audience's minds, so we weren't affected. Nor did we know what had transpired until Queen Okita contacted us and asked us to return to mediate the emergency Tribunal," Judge Magister Zargabaath explained.

"Huh. I didn't know you judged Tribunals."

"It is one of our many obligations," Judge Magister Ghis said.

"Speaking of obligations, apparently I will be pulled away from mine." Judge Gabranth looked pointedly at Amalia.

"You know that neither I nor Zargabaath can abandon our current duties. You have the most dispensable obligation," Ghis reminded him.

"I would not call protecting the Princess of Bahamut 'dispensable,'" Gabranth protested.

"Oh, please. She's protecting you more than you're protecting her," Ghis remarked.

Ghis and Zargabaath seemed to find this amusing. Gabranth did not.

"Very well," he finally conceded. "I will monitor the voting proceedings in Dianaria, but I will be back immediately after I'm done." He looked to Amalia. "And keep the danger to a minimum while I'm gone."

Amalia shrugged. "As long as Ba'Gamnan and his goons are out there, and as long as I'm living with Star Butterfly, I can't make any promises."

"That's not exactly reassuring."

"I never said it would be." Amalia smiled up at him sweetly.

The Gabranth tried changing the subject. "Where is Star anyway? And Marco, for that matter? They weren't at home when I returned to Earth."

Then Amalia remembered. "Oh."

"Oh, as in what?"

"Oh, as in: oh, I totally forgot that Star and Marco got arrested for bringing Sora and Jecht!"

"Wait, what?"

"I need to find my mom." Amalia bolted off.

Meanwhile, Judge Magister Gabranth sighed, throwing pointed glances at his comrades. "If the Princess is in more than one piece by the end of the week, I'd like you to remember that it's your faults."
"She'll be fine," Ghis assured him.

But the assurance was ruined when Zargabaath added, "Probably."

AAAAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S IT! Oh, wait…

BONUS ROUND!

Demonyms (what you call a person from…):

Draclord - Draconoid (for a person—e.g., Amalia is a Draconoid.), Draclan (as an adjective—e.g., Draclan wyverns are cool.)
Realm of the Sword - Swordian
Realm of the Spear - Spearean
Realm of the Bolt - Boltan
Realm of the Bow - Archerian (this one's special), or sometimes Bowian (if you're not as fancy)
Realm of the Scythe - Scytherian
Bahamut - Bahamese
Gemnia - Gemnian
Meterolia - Meterolite
Dianaria - Dianarian
Coastland - Coastlandian

(Those are the demonyms I'm using, anyway. Keyblade's may differ.)

Dominant Type of Magic in Each Realm (You'll learn what they mean eventually. Meanwhile, you can speculate!):

Realm of the Sword - Fighting, Quickening (I don't actually know what this means, but it's on Keyblade's bio as one of Amalia's abilities so yeah)
Realm of the Spear - Minding
Realm of the Bolt - Manipulating
Realm of the Bow - Foreseeing
Realm of the Scythe - Tranquilizing

AAAAAAAAAAAAND that's the end of the bonus round!

Welp, I think that's all I've got to say! See you all in Freeze Day! (Ooh, that'll be fun!) Meanwhile, the Draclan Four are back together for now… but things are never that easy, are they? ;) You'll just have to wait and see!

M&BFDIB out!