The others stayed quiet as they kept an eye on nera and Moonstone. The Elder Dragoon actually seemed to attempt to approach the younger male, but she didn't chase him down when he moved away. No one dared to get in the middle as they gathered nearby.

"We need to get one of them to open up." Midnight stayed quiet as Pearl paced back and forth. "But the only two people that would understand are either dead or kidnapped." Cedar gulped.

"And the deeper we dig, the less people we have to rely on. The only person who might get it is Rosa." Midnight glanced at him for a second before finally speaking.

"Who?"

"nera's sister, who we all can agree can kill herself without trying." Midnight gave a look before turning away, processing the information. Cedar frowned before crossing his arms. "What was that look for?" Midnight started mumbling something, something that Lapis caught.

"Rosa and nera... that wasn't what he called them." Lapis took a second before shooting a look at him, showing that he heard. Midnight caught it before he spoke aloud. "The guy that was posing as Diaz... that was nera and Rosa's father, right?" Pearl nodded as Frost paused.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Midnight frowned as he thought about it.

"That's..." Pearl caught on to what was happening.

"What's on your mind?" Midnight turned to Cedar with a pause.

"Humor me. The name that Onyx used to cut nera off at the castle before we left him there... was that his full name?" Cedar nodded as Pearl spoke.

"Rosa has a similar style. Rosa bianca Avanguardia. I don't know what her middle name is." Cedar hummed.

"I never learned either. I know that nera follows a family tradition while Rosa was like their father and broke out of it. The tradition is that the second first name is the actual first name while the other is just a connecting name." Midnight's face went through a rollercoaster of reactions to the information. Finally he answered the question Pearl asked.

"Then... wouldn't he know that?" They glanced at him, confused. MIdnight continued. "If anyone is to know that about their names, it should be a direct family member. So why did he switch them when he mentioned them to Moonstone?" Cedar frowned.

"What?" Midnight gulped.

"His exact words were; 'bianca might not have the wits to survive a lot, but between the two, I had to rely on Tempesta because of how easily he connected with your little target.' Out of everyone in the area, wouldn't he know that it's nera and Rosa, not bianca and Tempesta?" Pearl paused.

"You're right. The only other person who would know that outside of the siblings would be their mother. Everyone else would know after learning it from one of the four." He then stopped. "That wasn't their father. It looked like it and it sounded like it, but that wasn't him." Midnight gulped.

"I'm sure some of what he said was him talking. But I knew I sensed someone else. A former Dragoon should not be hunting the Moon that Never Sets. There are things that didn't make sense that make sense when you put that together." The group fell quiet as Moonstone went over, plopping down next to Lapis since the giant had a spot next to him. Cedar hummed.

"He hasn't taken your head off?"

"Surprised? Yeah. So am I." She sat up and sighed. "Please tell me there's better news than that fact that he is plotting my death." Midnight paused as Pearl spoke.

"We don't believe Dijon was entirely there." Moonstone paused.

"Huh?" Cedar scoffed.

"That's what I said." Midnight gulped.

"Besides the fact that I sensed something else there, he said something that makes the thought possible." Moonstone looked at him. "He switched his kids' names around. Out of everyone in that room, he would know that Rosa doesn't follow the family name tradition like her brother. So why did he say bianca and Tempesta?" You could see the gears turning in her head before it hit her.

"Wait... so I wasn't fighting Dijon?" Pearl hummed.

"No... physically, he was there. But someone else was... possibly controlling him. Someone who doesn't know the two kids." Midnight frowned.

"Possibly someone who actually is trying to get to the moon." Moonstone gulped.

"The chances are slim..." She locked eyes with the wingly. "But not zero. What if it's Melbu?" Those wings were out and alert at the name. Midnight stared at her with wide eyes as Pearl spoke, trying not to alert the wingly anymore than he already was.

"If... that's the case, then why did he go after the Moon Objects?" Moonstone gulped.

"I know where you're going with that. If Dijon was right and Onyx is the Moon Child... Blue was right. Why does he need both?" Frost glanced at Midnight as Lapis pulled him into a hug, trying to calm him down.

"If he's after the target he was after before, then he needs the moon child to complete it. But there's got to be something keeping the moon away, right?" Moonstone gulped.

"I know someone we can ask. Assume nera joins us." Almost as if summoning him, the younger storm joined them. He paused before going over and taking the small wingly, who had shut down from the conversation. The others glanced at each other silently, deciding to wait for the two.

~

It took several hours for the two. Midnight took the longest, having blacked out from what was said. Moonstone stayed quiet as nera approached her. He took a second before speaking.

"Why didn't you say you were the Black Monster?" Oh- It felt like the Moon had slammed a hammer on her head as she bit her lip. She finally spoke, hoping to not enrage the merc.

"Well... for starters, I didn't know you were looking." He gave this look as she continued. "I also didn't know you were a survivor. So when I learned, it went from unknowing why you were looking to fear very quickly. I have been jumped by many people. I may be around 11000 years old, but that does not mean I don't fear death." He stayed quiet as he spoke softly.

"So... what? Are you going to finish what you started 18 years ago?" She hummed.

"If I did that, I would have a problem. Silver told me there were 6 survivors of the Flames from Neet. You, Rosa, Dijon, your mother, Silver and one other. Killing Dijon will be happening. I don't know where your mother is, so that's off the table. I don't know who the 6th survivor is, so that's a problem. You and Silver are a war waiting to happen and..." She paused. "I don't need to do Rosa. She can do it for me." She noticed he cracked a smile at that. It then faded as she hummed. "Out of 6 survivors, I only intend to kill one. So no. I don't plan on finishing what I started fully. The other problem is the Moon Child." She looked down. "If Dijon was right and Onyx is the Moon Child, I'll dig my grave first. That kid does not fear me and knows how to use fear to his advantage. I'm good." She saw another smile crack through before it faded for him to speak.

"So... you targeted my home-" Oh dear- "Destroy everything I knew... all to kill off my future best friend?" She mumbled something under her breath, that he caught.

"Future boyfriend, but ok-"

"What?" She kept her mouth shut as she finished cleaning her sword, which was dusty from the battle against Dijon.

"Yes. That was the goal. I wish there was another way. But with what happened 11000 years ago, I had to choose a handful of lives over the lives of the entire universe to take." He stayed quiet as she sheathed her blade. She then paused as he took a steady breath. He ended up not using it as he went over to where Midnight was resting, attempting to wake him up so that they could go. She gulped at that.

~

Midnight kept nera from lashing out at the others. Since he was still mentally unstable from before, nera carried him to Ulara, where they were hoping for some answers. Pearl glanced at Moonstone as they arrived at the platform.

"I know Midnight said that the Wingly Forest was the only place, but are you sure they won't come kill us?" She hummed.

"Just don't say we let the other twin get kidnapped and you won't have Obsidian coming after you. Besides that, we should be fine." He gulped as the platform glowed. "Let's go."

Upon entering, they were greeted by a few Winglies who were guarding. Arguably, they were a lot kinder than the 'welcome party' of the Wingly Forest. They were ushered to the leader's place, who welcomed them with a smile.

"Moonstone!" A green haired male joined them as the elder Dragoon hissed.

"Oh come on! N!" A giggle followed as the Wingly Leader landed.

"Welcome back! Let's see..." He darted to nera, who held the smaller Wingly close. The merc got defensive as Midnight trembled from the aura. "Hm... I'll check that later. Meanwhile..." The Blue Sea Dragoon Spirit showed displeasure as it was taken and a strong surge of Wingly Magic encased the air. As the aura faded, the Spirit glowed and lifted up, regaining its strength. Midnight finally spoke as he stared.

"H...huh?" The leader smiled as he allowed the Spirit to return.

"There. Now let me check you-" Midnight would've escaped if nera wasn't holding him. The others giggled before Moonstone intercepted N's next attempt.

"Before you work on him... we need to talk." N paused before nodding.

"Right... you didn't come just to get things fixed. You came for answers." He nodded as nera took Midnight over to the back to let him rest. "I know. My brother is back. I'm not stupid." Moonstone looked at Pearl before Frost spoke.

"But we didn't-"

"I know." N sighed. "His aura went active 18 years ago. I knew something was wrong. Then between survivors and the fact that the Moon Child escaped... I could only assume the worst." Moonstone paused as he sighed. "My brother trapped himself in the Red-Eye Dragoon and waited. So when the flames hit Neet, we triggered his trap that he had been waiting to hit for 11000 years. There was no way around it." Pearl gulped.

"Then... Why does he need the Moon Objects? I can see why the Moon Child if his goal is the same. But..." N glanced at him.

"The Signets. They are the only reason the God of Destruction can't be born. Because they keep the moon in the sky." The leader gulped. "I made the Moon Objects and used them as the Treaty for the Royal Families to keep them away from each other so that the Signets can't be broken as easily. There are only three ways to break them. There used to be 5 of them." Cedar paused.

"Used to be? What happened?" N hummed.

"The Dragon Campaign... more specifically my brother and Dijon's fight, caused the one in Kadessa to break. So up until recently, there were 4." He lowered his head. "The one in Dennigrad broke recently. Within the last week or so. Which means there's only three." N looked at them. "The purpose of the Signets was to keep the Moon in the sky. 5 Signets, 3 Moon Objects. There was a reason." Frost gulped.

"The... Moon Child broke the one in Dennigrad. If we're right about it being Onyx, then when he was forced out of the group-" Moonstone cursed under her breath.

"Onyx said he wasn't feeling well in Furni. We should've let him stay back... we'd have a bit more time." Pearl gulped.

"There was no way of knowing at that time. And Onyx insisted he would be fine." Moonstone gulped.

"That should've warned me. The Moon Child is known to entrance people. So when Onyx insisted and we all didn't stop him... I should've at least clued in." She then sighed. "It can't be helped. It's the past now. We now need to fight for the future." The others nodded as N smiled.

"Then let me get you guys set for traveling to the other three Signets."

~

Midnight finally regained himself as they spoke in the Inn. According to Moonstone, one of the locations was Blue's home. Midnight woke up enough to join the conversation.

"Hopefully he's ok. I'm sure he is... but he needs to be careful. When a Wingly's wings are cut, it becomes a life or death situation when they are used again. Hopefully he knows that." nera gulped as Pearl sighed.

"We might also get the chance to meet his family. See what he meant by uncaring." Moonstone gulped.

"Well... we need rest. If we're going to uncover who is really doing all the puppeting, we need to be at full strength." nera gave a look, which was intercepted by Frost.

"You weren't in the conversation. We don't think Dijon was fully there." nera glanced at him before finally speaking.

"I know that wasn't my dad. I'm not stupid." Cedar turned almost instantly.

"That's not the reaction you gave."

"I was stunned. If you heard a supposedly dead family member's voice, you would be too." Cedar narrowed his eyes as nera purred. "No, I knew something was off when he mentioned what happened at Neet. Moonstone wasn't the only one lying." The elder Dragoon paused. "He said he clashed with you. But the problem is... the only thing that clashed that I saw from outside was the flames. Flames of darkness and red slammed against each other briefly before it all vanished. A Red light was there, but then something happened." He paused. "If I'm understanding things correctly, that light was my dad activating the Red Eye Dragoon to fight the Black Monster." Pearl paused.

"It never was fully activated. Melbu's essence was released the second the Red light appeared." nera nodded.

"My dad wouldn't have gotten the chance to fight. I knew the second he started talking about Neet that there was information wrong. And then..." He stopped before Lapis finished his thought.

"He switched the names." The others glanced at him as nera nodded.

"My dad and sister practically teamed up against me when I chose to use the tradition. Sure, him calling me Tempesta is one thing since he used that as a joke to mock me." He finally looked up. "But he never called my sister bianca. He slipped up once and was challenged by Rosa the second the name left his mouth." Pearl smiled.

"You knew it wasn't him because Rosa didn't come running." nera nodded.

"My sister could tell you that she knows when our dad says bianca. It's an aura to her. She will always challenge him if he dares to say the wrong name. So when I heard the name, I was confident that it wasn't him. Rosa would've been behind him the second he said it." He then smiled. "It relieves me to know that my dad isn't trying to end the world." Moonstone nodded.

"Then let's rest and be ready to slam that bloody Wingly where he belongs. In a grave." The others nodded at that.