A/N: Feel free to listen to this beautiful orchestral piece by Ivan Torrent. :)

Maeyune understood now why Bresnia was the city of glass and steel. She marveled at the way the sun created its own magic as it played through the glass. Inside the grand lobby of the Council Hall, she entered the sunlight's welcoming embrace.

At the opposite end of the lobby from the entrance, a long wall flaunted a dynamic mural of the dragons. Yunra, the Sun Goddess, was its central focus. From a distance, Maeyune could see the detail of the goddess's golden-scaled hide.

In the center and established halfway through the wall was a stone fountain. As they drew nearer, Maeyune saw that the fountain's base consisted of two dragons coiled around each other. She recognized them as Shivra and Yunra. The Moon God could not be missed from his mountain ram horns. The Sun Goddess, the larger dragon of the two, bore the majestic antlers of a stag.

They followed Lady Luciana into a corridor, to a large enclosed platform that she explained would take them up to the top of the glass fortress. Their hosts were expecting them in the Room of Light. The serviceman who waited on them triggered the elevator, and they began their slow ascent.

A few seconds into the ride, Luciana asked, "How are you liking everything, Miss Ereni?"

"It is all spectacular," Maeyune answered. "The energy is...different here."

Luciana appeared pleased. "Thank you. I imagine Bera is not as mystical as the land of the moon. Your presence here must be creating quite the stir."

The elevator came to a halt with a soft bounce. The doors slid apart, and Luciana led them into an elegant hall with a long red rug that concealed a marble-tiled floor. The hall was far different than the lobby. Here, its appearance reminded Maeyune of the Ursan palace with its complex structure and the sophisticated patterns in the hall's marble pillars. Guards in red and black uniforms lined the walls, stationary like statues. In unison, they struck their heels together and raised a fist to their left chest in the Beran salute.

Tall, dark wood doors waited at the end of the hall. Spreading across the heavy wood was a gold and grandiose relief sculpture of Yunra.

The air grew warmer as they reached their destination. Maeyune felt as if someone had lit a fire in front of her. Her mind left the present, and in her chest, her heart beat a slow rhythm. Everything appeared to radiate more light, for she was the only one who could see the gold particles that quivered in the air.

He is in there.

"Maeyune," Master Den said, drawing her out of her daze. "Wait here until I announce you."

"Yes, Master," she heard herself say.

Two guards stepped from their posts and reached for the gold handles. And when they opened the doors, light swallowed her whole.

She was hardly aware of Luciana, Master Den, and Deiyu as they entered the Room of Light, for the gold atmosphere had begun to mutate. Confoundment settled upon her as she watched the dust in the air turn to a dark red.

Before she could understand what had happened, she heard Luciana's voice echo through the room and into the hall.

The lady announced, "Master Relwen Den of Suolan, representing His Honorable Majesty, King Chiyan."

The deep voice of an older man rumbled across the room. "We welcome you again, Master Den, to the Room of Light," the voice bellowed.

From where she stood, Maeyune could see Master Den take a step forward and bow with his palms pressed together. "Thank you, Head Councilor."

Although Deiyu had given her the names of all five councilors during the travel to Bera, she could not recall all of them. However, she knew that the Head Councilor was Lady Luciana's father, Ristoff Greylord.

"Councilors, today will be recorded as the day we joined hands in defeating a common terror," Master Den spoke. "Please, allow me to introduce Commander Deiyu Lin of the Ursan Celestial Base. He will be overseeing the training of Aegis Team here in Bera as well as providing His Majesty reports from your facility."

"Welcome, Commander Lin," Ristoff articulated.

Deiyu presented the formal Suolani bow.

Then, there was a momentary pause.

"And now, may I present Aegis Team," the master of government continued, "guardians of the Ursa First Temple and its ancient magic, and their leader, Maeyune Ereni of Suolan, His Majesty's most honorable warrior, the Moon God incarnate."

With her thoughts cleared, Maeyune moved forward and entered the Room of Light. Her team followed at her heels, their avidity lucid in her mind.

The Room, she saw, was the shape of half a dome made entirely of glass and steel support beams. She could see the clear, blue sky above and the vast, steel city of Bresnia below.

At the far end of the room, sunlight emphasized the tall, marble dais that rose up like a wall. Stairs with broad, gold rails curved upward to the dais, and standing at the top were five individuals, postures straight and poised as they waited. The three men of the Beran Council wore charcoal formal suits, and the two women wore red.

In the center of the granite floor was a long table set for the treaty signing.

But all her brief observations were inconsequential. As she strode toward Deiyu and Master Den, she saw the red fire that blazed from one side of the room. For a moment, it caught her off guard. She forced herself to keep her gaze forward, but in the corner of her eye, she saw the five tall individuals who were encased in the bright red glow.

Maeyune came to stand in front of the table. With her right forearm extended, she bowed low at her waist and felt the beads of her headdress fall forward. Her team behind her followed her example. They remained there for a few long seconds before they straightened again. Heavy silence drowned the room. Maeyune felt her pulse reverberate down her body.

Finally, one of the councilors beside the Head Councilor, a dark-skinned woman with hair neatly folded together at the top of her head, held out her arms in greeting.

"Miss Maeyune Ereni," she annunciated, her voice strong and warm. "On behalf of the Council and the Republic of Bera, I would like to welcome you and thank you for gracing us with your presence today." The air loosened around Maeyune with the woman's gracious smile. "We are all very excited to finally meet you."

She nodded to her left, in the direction of the five, dark individuals standing in the red blaze. Everyone turned to look.

"We would like to introduce our accomplished Saber Team of Bresnia," the councilor continued, "and their captain, Reo Castell, Sun Goddess incarnate of Bera."

Together, the five strangers stepped forward. In her mind, Maeyune could not tell whose restlessness it was she was feeling at that very moment, her team's or her own. She watched as one by one, the red aura around the five individuals faded until it remained on the young man at the group's forefront.

His aura was dark red, like fire, she observed. Not gold like she had expected. Why was that?

When he came to stand a few feet in front her, it occurred to her that she had been holding her breath. Eventually, the red faded from her eyes, and standing in its place was a young man with olive-colored skin and hair a dark bronze.

His raiment, like the rest of his team, was a black Beran uniform consisting of a slim jacket with gold embellishments. However, over his broad shoulders, he wore a short, black cloak covered in detailed patterns that gave the appearance of dragon scales.

In the strangulating silence that hung over the room, Reo held out his right hand. His auburn eyes glinted under thick lashes. His face, clean-shaven and chiseled, offered a friendly smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Ereni," he greeted.

She could make no response. Her head was disarranged from the intoxication of his energy. As the sun, she thought his presence was supposed to compliment hers. Instead, her mind drowned in a realm of new power.

Coercing herself past his dark allure, she finally glanced down at his extended hand.

On his right ring finger, she saw a metal band that encased a large gold topaz. She gawked at it, glimpsing a fiery storm inside the gem. Where her moon bracelet was her relic, the ring was his. It was the item in which he stored excess energy and from where he drew more power when he was weakest. Was that at night after the sun had set?

Finally, she moved to shake his hand.

But when she touched him, the contact generated a vigorous pulse throughout the room. It compelled everyone a step back and caused the domed glass wall to shake. They instantly snatched their hands apart, their eyes connecting like magnets.

In a single moment, her vision faltered as gold scales flashed before her eyes. A fog of bright dust exploded in front of her, and in that fog she saw the vague outline of tall antlers atop a dragon's head. 

Maeyune saw the eyes that studied her, blinding like the sun. In the depths of her mind, she heard the sun dragon. The goddess's fearsome roar sent shudders down Maeyune's spine.

Within seconds, the vision was gone. In its wake, she saw Reo's wide eyes gazing back at her. Their auburn irises had turned to a glimmering gold. 

Maeyune took a sharp breath as she strained to assuage the awe in her heart.

She had seen her. She had seen Yunra.

He truly was the Sun Goddess's incarnation.

Long seconds ticked by until the air around them eventually quieted. When she felt the pressure from the overzealous minds around her, only then did she remember herself.

Reo's eyes returned to their auburn-brown. Maeyune bowed again. 

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Castell," she said, disguising her shaky voice with an obligated smile.