Dragons' Fairyland

Chapter 1: Goodbye Summer Light

1. It's October 1st in England. Lambert Clark has just gotten married, and now he's wandering through the party, drunk. He meets up with his great uncle Daniel. They stroll through the mansion, talking in generic terms about the secrets known only to those behind the scenes. They stop in front of a set of large double doors.

2. Daniel compares Lambert to his grandfather, a previous head of the household, then urges him to go through the doors. Lambert protests that he never wanted this, but he allows Daniel to push him into the dusty room. He spots something, which turns out to be his grandfather in a wheelchair. Or rather, a being using the form of his grandfather to speak to him. Lambert has heard the warning that Kunlong has begun to mobilize, though the being tells him there's nothing to be done about it, the real power isn't on the earth's surface.

3. When Lambert declares he doesn't want to be used up and thrown away, the thing punishes him for his disrespect by giving him intense pain and flipping him upside down to bang him against the floor, without so much as lifting a finger. He transforms unwillingly into his Gyuushu figure, the creature telling him he has to learn his place as a slave. After a lecture, it turns him human again. It proceeds to take over his body directly, extinguishing his will. He sets about ordering further measures to advance the Four Sisters' plan. He figures the only problem left is the matter of the dragon kings, and they're headed for a trap laid 3000 years ago.

1. A fleet of ships approaches the Quartz Palace, commanded by the one in charge of suppressing rebels. Kouryuu-ou is contacted by the commander, a man named Kinhi. He claims it's the emperor's orders that the dragon kings must leave. If they surrender their titles and possessions, their lives will be spared. He demands to speak with Seiryuu-ou, but Kouryuu-ou calls him a Gyuushu lackey acting without the emperor's will, and they have no need to listen to him. Seiryuu-ou is attempting to gain an audience with the emperor.

   Hakuryuu-ou lands at the Imperial Palace and demands to be allowed through. [Illustration #1] (He even offers to relinquish his armor and sword and let himself be tied up if that makes the guards feel safer.) However, the soldiers charge him, so he defends himself and runs. Taking advantage of the distraction as the army chases his brother, Seiryuu-ou grabs one of the commanders from behind and asks where the emperor is. The commander snarls back that he's wherever the traitorous dragon king kidnappers are keeping him. When Seiryuu points out there's no proof, and someone is using authority to order troops about that only the emperor should have, the commander suddenly realizes the holes in his logic. Just then a female voice calls Seiryuu-ou, and he looks behind him, allowing the commander to escape. Standing there is Seioubo's youngest daughter, Taishinoufujin.

2. Amaru awakens in a room at a guest house in Long Shenshang. The boys haven't met anyone since arriving, though the big stone arch inscribed with the kanji for Dragon Springs Village tells them they've come to the right place. Though they go calling from house to house all day, still no one greets them. A huge cloud bank covers the entire valley, hiding it from spying eyes. Amaru ponders whether he should tell the others about his dream. Usually he does so immediately, but this time he's hesitant (since it's the first time Taishinoufujin has appeared). His thoughts are interrupted as Hajime spots a library. It's seventh heaven for the history buff, with books he never dreamed existed. Tsuzuku suggests they search for evidence that their grandfather had been there.

3. Hajime uncovers a box decorated with the letters "T. R." Inside is a notebook in their grandfather's handwriting. Meanwhile, Amaru and Owaru meet a woman floating in an anti-gravity pot who greets them by their dragon king titles and beckons for them to come aboard. A strong earthquake forces Hajime and Tsuzuku to abandon the building, Hajime shoving the notebook in his pocket. They meet up with their floating brothers and join them in the kettle. The young woman dressed all in green introduces herself as Youki and admits that she rescued them on account of her younger sister...Toba Matsuri. Amaru realizes she means Taishinoufujin from his dream. He finally relates the story to the others, ending with the news that Matsuri was like some kind of princess. Youki recognizes the character Kinhi as a Gyuushu underling.

4. Hajime asks Youki if she'll tell them what they need to know, after which she reveals that she's quite aware of the Four Sisters as well as what happened in the past. She explains that the Gyuushu caused the earthquake with explosives set thousands of years before, having predicted the dragon kings' arrival. The entire village vanishes in the rubble. It was Youki and those of Kunlong who evacuated the residents of Long Shenshang. Tsuzuku wonders why they went through all the trouble of visiting the village first, if they were just going to be taken to Kunlong anyway. Mainly it was so the Gyuushu trap would be activated, thus hopefully convincing the Gyuushu they had succeeded, as well as persuading those in Kunlong opposed to stepping into earthly affairs.

1. Amaru notices that Youki isn't speaking Japanese, she's simply making it possible for them to understand the language of Tenkai that she uses. The kettle travels through the mist, passing strange flying creatures along the way. One is a touda, a giant snake with bat wings. Another is a vicious, bear-sized bird resembling a horned owl called a shun, which attacks them, causing Owaru to volunteer gleefully to fight it.

2. Owaru does battle with the bird, resulting in his getting pulled out of the kettle and having to be caught by the touda. Youki leaps onto Hajime's shoulders for a vantage from which to strike the angry shun with her sword. [Illustration #2] After it retreats, they head the rest of the way to Kunlong (Owaru still riding the touda), where a council is being gathered to decide what to do. Unfortunately, the council hasn't been able to make up its mind for 3000 years, so Youki can't guarantee they'll have a timely response. (That was why Taishinoufujin didn't want to wait and acted on her own, to reincarnate with the dragon kings.) Tsuzuku sighs, realizing that they've literally had a goddess cooking their meals and doing their laundry.

3. The kettle lands on the palace roof. The boys are interested to discover that the inhabitants of Seioubo's land are all women. They go inside and meet Seioubo's fifth daughter, Gyokuyuu. (Youki is the fourth daughter.) They're given color coordinated clothes embroidered with the symbols of their territories (starting with Hajime--a compass, a scale, a carpenter's square, and a weight). Hajime pulls out their grandfather's notebook and reads aloud the message left for them. "I tell this to my descendants: If you want to know something, find out for yourself, don't count on others."

4. At their meal, Hajime is contemplating how society's inventions, no matter how wonderful, generally result in hurting or killing people, when he's startled by the fact that his youngest brothers have gotten into the alcohol. (Tsuzuku punishes Owaru with an ice cube down his shirt.) Then a servant comes in and announces that Seioubo is ready to see them.

1. Taishinoufujin relates that her mother had told her she's willing to intercede on Seiryuu-ou's behalf in order to avoid further conflict, as long as there's no violent action on his part. Hakuryuu-ou returns from creating a diversion in time to hear Taishinoufujin herself volunteer to join their side. Seiryuu-ou abruptly realizes that he's never laid eyes on the emperor, only heard his voice coming down from a stairway. Taishinoufujin calls for a ceasefire on the Quartz Palace and initiates a negotiation between Kinhi and Seiryuu-ou. She orders Kinhi to withdraw his fleet or face Kunlong as an enemy, which shocks him, because he had expected to anger Seiryuu-ou into breaking the peace and earning Seioubo's disfavor. Kinhi does everything he can to pass any blame onto someone else while not backing down.

   Seiryuu-ou has no interest in a small fish like Kinhi. He gives orders that neither his brothers nor his three generals (Kou = Nijikawa, Shin = Shinkai, Kou = Mizuchi) are to open hostilities in any way. (Kou and Kou lead the soldiers, while Shin is a counselor.) Hakuryuu-ou is appalled at the idea that they'll simply let the Gyuushu get away with such insulting behavior for the sake of preserving the peace. Just then, an image of the Gyuushu Shiyuu appears and insults Kinhi. Kinhi prostrates himself on the floor in terror, while Taishinoufujin and the dragon kings stare in amazement.

2. The Ryuudou brothers appear before Seioubo, the two princesses settling down at her feet. [Illustration #3] Hajime relates all the experiences they've had since first becoming entangled with Kamakura no Gozen that spring. Tsuzuku asks about the absence of the emperor in Amaru's dream, to which she replies that the emperor has certainly been present, the empire at peace, for the past 3000 years. The important question is whether it's the real emperor.

3. Seioubo says that the reason Gyuushu control over humans has been so successful is that they understand the facet of human nature that likes to feel chosen by a higher power. After the audience ends, Tsuzuku is disappointed that they didn't actually learn anything. Hajime knows it wasn't for their benefit, it was so that Seioubo could sound them out. Now they just have to wait for the council meeting to commence the next day.

1. The US President is forced to retract his earlier declaration of defaulting on foreign debt because the Four Sisters don't want Japan to continue foundering. The Prime Minister works to suppress rumors of Mt. Fuji's pending eruption. He doesn't want to cause unrest among the populace that might damage the economy even further.

2. Just as he's chatting with his various staff members, a distant rumble sounds and everything shakes. The earthquake results in a number of deaths and road closures, as well as interruptions of normal daily business in anticipation of a resulting tidal wave. The Prime Minister, as always, looks for a scapegoat.

3. Matsuri and the rest return to Huan Tahren's hotel, the Ananfanchen, to find it in a shambles due to Natsuko having torn it apart searching for them. (That was how she knew where to catch up to their car.) They start to relax, when suddenly Natsuko drives a car through the glass wall into the hotel. She chases after Matsuri once again. [Illustration #4] A bird spreads its wings in her face and makes her fall down the stairs. Then an attack helicopter appears and opens fire, under the control of Townsend and his last remaining forces. By the time the bloodbath is over, both Lee and Huan Tahren are dead.

1. While the shinsen mill about, expecting the dragon kings to do something, Owaru leaps on the back of the same shun he had fought before. He manages to strangle and drown it, nearly winding up drowning himself, but he knows he can't defeat the whole flock without an offensive weapon of some kind. Youki gives an order, and a cloud of golden bees is released against the flock. After fifteen minutes, the shun are defeated, with barely a hundred escaping alive.

2. The main shinsen playing devil's advocate, Kanshouri, continues to demand reasons why they should help the corrupt humans. Hajime tries to remain polite, but Tsuzuku explodes and storms off. Hajime knows the shinsen like endless discussion without taking a firm stand--as immortals they need some way to pass the time--but his brothers want a decision one way or the other.

3. Hajime hypothesizes that the Gyuushu have reached their limit of how many humans they can control, which is why they're trying so hard to reset the system before they're rejected completely. Owaru and Amaru discuss Matsuri's true identity and connection with birds. (Owaru comes up with the brainstorm that if she marries Hajime, they'll have all the roast bird they can eat...) They find out that Youki's older sisters aren't in Kunlong, they've gone to Tenkai.

4. Youki indicates that the Imperial Palace is on the moon. [Illustration #5] All she can tell them is that her three older sisters aren't there of their own choosing. Hajime wonders if it would really be to humanity's benefit to have some other power step in and solve the problem, like a college student doing an elementary student's homework for him.

1. They skim over China 5000 years in the past, where a human army is battling Shiyuu near the Yellow River. Suddenly Kanshouri tosses Amaru overboard, with Hajime diving after to help him. Amaru floats to a gentle landing, Hajime protecting him from a fanged enemy soldier. Hajime picks up a sword and continues to fight off strange attackers, until a poisonous one-eyed cow beast rams him.

2. Hajime is knocked flying. Amaru attempts to get to him, but he can't make it. The remaining two brothers leap into the fight. They do their best, but soon all four are in dragon form. [Illustration #6] Kanshouri thinks it's about time they lose their inhibitions about transforming, since he knows they can do so at will. He's really on the dragons' side because he thinks it would be amusing to see the Gyuushu in defeat. The Red Dragon uses his freezing power to build a wall of ice, damming the river, which spills across the battlefield. When the soldiers have all fled, the Blue Dragon levitates the river water, the White Dragon uses a blade of sound to slice up the dam, then the Red Dragon melts the last of the ice and all returns to normal.

3. The four brothers return, where Kanshouri has clothes prepared for them. Hajime realizes the event had been planned from the beginning. Kanshouri appears to be pleased that Youki hasn't told them everything about Tenkai. (He and Ransaiwa are members of a group called the Eight Sages; the other six didn't show up at the meeting but are waiting to hear what happened.) In the past 3000 years, no one who has gone to the palace on the moon has returned. The six time travelers head back to Kunlong.

4. Townsend is the prisoner of Kourou and the others. Since he has nothing to go back to, he decides he may as well tell them what he knows to buy his safety, including that Lambert seems to be possessed. Lambert's soul is still trapped powerlessly in the body, though the creature in command of it doesn't believe he's strong enough to last.

Illustrations

Back to Souryuuden