Child of the Moon.

~Chapter Sixteen~

"Hector."

Eugene shook the warrior's shoulder gently.

"Hector," he repeated. "C'mon, buddy. It's time to wake up."

Hector's eyelids fluttered open. Eugene helped him to his feet. The first thing Hector noticed was that the hot air balloon was descending.

"Wha-" he began.

"We're here," Eugene said. "We're at Corona, and it doesn't look good."

Hector peered over the edge of the basket at the city below.

The whole place seemed to be empty. Hector couldn't see anything moving below, not even animals. Additionally, the city was dull like it had been stripped of all color.

"Um," Hector said. "I'm gonna assume it's not supposed to look like this."

"No, it's not," Rapunzel almost whispered.

Eugene took hold of his girlfriend's hand and helped her steer the balloon the rest of the way down to the ground. They landed in the middle of what appeared to be a market or town square.

The party filed out of the balloon. Hector slipped his gloves on before he left, drawing out the blade from inside of them and checking that it was sufficiently sharp. Eugene and Lance also took daggers with them.

The last person to exit the balloon was Freidborg. Hector helped her out and offered her a small knife. She shook her head and revealed that she already had several sharp things tucked away in her light blue dress.

"Well then," Hector said, his eyebrows raised in shock. "My mistake, ma'am."

Eugene and Lance laughed. But the laughter and smiles faded away as the party made their way through the bland and worn-down streets of Corona. Rapunzel became more and more worried the longer they walked as she made her way to the palace with the others. Eugene stayed close to her but also kept Hector up front and in his sight. The warrior didn't like that Eugene felt the need to watch him, but he didn't fight over it. He was far too busy thinking to argue over little things.

Hector couldn't stop drawing his blade in and out and attempting to cover himself more with the small robe he'd been provided with. He hated feeling so exposed and vulnerable, especially in a place he'd never been before. Eugene had meant well and tried his best the night before when he was encouraging Hector, but it hadn't helped much. The warrior still felt anxious, uncertain, and so terribly vulnerable.

Eugene noticed his friend's discomfort and offered him several sympathetic smiles, but as before, it didn't do much to ease the warrior.

Suddenly, there was a crashing sound coming from a nearby alleyway. Hector drew out his wrist sword, growling in a low ready stance. A slim shadow stumbled out from the alley, and Hector instinctively pounced on it.

"Oh, good Lord in Heaven!" The figure shrieked.

Hector had the tip of his wrist sword pressed to the throat of a thin, middle-aged man with a mop of messy red-orange hair and a similar mustache.

"Hector, stop!" Rapunzel cried, running forward and pulling the warrior off the other man. "That's Feldspar!"

"Who?!" Hector demanded.

"He's a cobbler and my friend!"

Rapunzel helped Feldspar to his feet. The cobbler immediately knelt back down and began to hastily pick up green jewels that had fallen out of the bucket he had been carrying before Hector attacked him.

"Feldspar, what are you doing?!" Rapunzel exclaimed, kneeling down beside him. "What's going on?!"

"Terrible things! Terrible!" Feldspar muttered. "Terrible if I can't get these in on time!"