When Hera woke up, she pushed Blue from over her. The controller moved a lot during the night and was now sleeping almost completely on top of the Empress. After getting herself free from that mess of a nest, she stepped out to the edge of the cave. Luna was no longer sleeping where she was before; in its place, there was only another clump of the dried seaweed they were using as bedding.

'Everyone, how was the night?' Hera asked her court.

'It was mostly ok. We got a couple of scares when some dragons were moving around,' Dao got closer to Hera.

'Luna's parents had a night escapade. They left for a few hours and came back hours before sunrise. I think they went out to do something they didn't want their child to know about,' Crimson got closer to Hera, speaking in a low voice like it was supposed to be a secret.

'Crim. We all can hear what you are saying, and don't say it like that. We have no idea what they did. They might just have gone for a night stroll,' Viper sighed.

'But what's the fun in that?' Crimson huffed.

'Guys, focus. What about Luna? Where is she?' Hera cut them off before the two started to argue.

'We don't know. She was there, but when the sun appeared, she turned into that pile of seaweed,' Lurize moved forward.

'Can you still fly?' Nimbus asked. The two tonfas looked Hera over expectantly.

Hera looked back, and her wings were nowhere to be seen, but after a small moment of focus, they popped out, and she got off the ground, 'I still can,' she said with a smile.

'Worried you might be replaced?' Ooze teased the Sentinel.

'More worried about carrying everyone around all the time. And this made me more interested in my other idea,' Nimbus replied.

'The one about turning into wings to carry her?' Lurize asked.

'That's the one. Care to help me out?' Nimbus turned to the Royal Tutor.

'We can try some things. Maybe it will be easier to do that with me since we are both mana.' Lurize continued.

Hera let the two talk for a while and just flew around a bit with her court around her. She kept it close to the cave to avoid leaving her friends without anyone watching out for them. Suddenly, she saw a large silver wyvern coming from behind one of the pillars, heading straight for Luna's cave. The Empress flew down, returning inside and getting ready for a fight.

The Wyvern got inside and landed, without any problems, before raising her head to Hera, "Good morning, sleepy head. How was the evening?"

Hera stared at the golden eyes for a moment, "Luna?"

"Who else, silly?" Luna smiled and stood up. She was now just a bit smaller than the Empress.

"Oh, sorry. I think I was still sleepy," Hera smiled, trying to cover the whole 'you grew aspect' of the dungeon.

"No worries. But I need your help. We have a mystery to solve!" Luna said excitedly.

"What is all this noise?" Bonnie asked with a sleepy voice.

It took a moment for them all to wake up, and Luna waited patiently at first, but soon she started to get anxious again and started poking everyone to speed up the process. After a few minutes, she walked to the front of the cave again, "Ok, now you are all awake. Here is what is going on. Some of the grown-ups' scales are changing, and no one seems to care or be worried about it. Even if it's not something normal. I want your help to figure out why that is happening."

"Is that something we need to worry about?" Shane scratched her head, "I mean, are the grown-ups going to change because of it? Be aggressive or something?"

"No one is doing that so far. Well, not more than usual, at least," Luna continued explaining.

"Well, ok then," Shane got up, tested to see if she could fly, and started moving to the edge of the cave.

"Just one more question," Bonnie rubbed her eyes, "Why are we doing this? If the grown-ups don't care, do we have to try to figure that out?"

"Because it's fun? It's something new that has never happened before. I want to figure out what is going on. It's a mystery, an adventure. Why wouldn't we try to figure something out?" Luna smiled.

That line hit the researcher in her core, and thanks to it, no one else argued about it. Luna warned them to be looking for when everyone started to hunt for fish since it was only one of the few moments when they would have a chance to find something to eat. Hera and her friends made four groups, and they all split off to talk to the dragons affected by the change.

Unfortunately, It wasn't that easy to find them. Luna never explained what happened, leading to awkward conversations where the Dragons or the Wyverns explained that scales did change colors as you grew. It felt like they were asking something everyone knew about, like a child asking why someone's hair grew. But after half an hour of asking around, they were pointed to a Dragon who seemed to have their scales changing into a different color. He was red, but the tips of the scales were now turning dark, even some spots that were already completely black.

Out of curiosity, Hera used her [Observe] to see if there was anything different about them

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Laregard the Dragon - Level 26

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Since that led nowhere, they interrogated the monster, asking if he had any idea of the reason for the change. Any changes in habits, anything they ate differently, maybe they were hit by some magic effect, or just spent too long under the sun. However, Laregard had no idea the reason for this change, but he seemed to be enjoying the attention. It was like someone had arrived with a brand-new haircut. That conversation was extremely complicated since they couldn't hear actual words, only the overall meaning behind his sentences. It took a long time for them to understand how to phrase their questions to get straightforward answers. But even the most egocentric of Dragons had its limits. When the incessant questions became too much, the monster just snarled at them and told them all to get lost.

Hera and Bonnie looked for another target, but even after one hour, they could only see one other Wyvern whose scales were changing. The bad part was that Helena and Blue already talked to that particular monster, and she wasn't interested in answering any more questions. Eventually, the draconic creatures started fishing, and the party did the same, gathering to discuss their discoveries. It was weird how all the answers were similar. According to all their subjects, there were no differences between what they would usually do and what they did the previous days. The scales appeared out of nowhere, seemingly without any reason.

Before they were over with their meal, Luna also joined the conversation. She was able to talk with five different inhabitants of the dungeon. It was much easier for her since she could actually talk with them, but the answers remained the same. After lunch, they checked more of the dragons until they had talked with all those with dark scales. Only 25 were affected by whatever this was, and there were no side effects or hints about why that change happened.

Luna was frustrated with the result, and to cheer her up, the group played some flying tag. This time, Luna's friends also joined in, and they had four chasers at a time. The young dragons were also trying to add those maneuvers shown by the adventurers, but their versions were still very crude. It seemed like the creatures here focused a lot on flying and not so much on moving on the ground, which was the core idea of their flight style.

Eventually, night came, and they all went to bed. One more time, in Luna's cave sleeping in the nest that she made, all gathered together, and Hera's court stayed outside. She would only call them out when they were not doing anything in particular, and all the dragons were far away. It was extremely fun to fly with all of them, but she had to be careful not to present herself as a threat.

The third day came, and the morning was very similar to the second day. Luna was no longer there when they woke up, and in her place, there was just a large pile of dried seaweed. Everything was fine as she returned, but the silver Wyvern had grown again. She was now a head, a human head, taller than Hera, and her scales were not as lustrous as before. Not that they were darkening, but they showed a bit of wear and tear, reinforcing the idea that whatever happened in the dungeon happened over a period of time. The one odd thing was that Luna's voice stayed the same. It still sounded like that of a preteen.

In the morning, Luna just took them for a flight with her parents. They would go around most of the pillars, and the way they were talking made things feel like they were just going for a walk. Unfortunately, Hera and her group couldn't move as fast as the Wyverns, which made them cut their 'jog' short. Otherwise, they would be too far away from their hunting grounds. Smaller creatures could fish in any location, but the larger ones, who needed more food to survive, had to keep to certain areas not to hinder the meal of others. Another thing everyone noticed was how more and more of the creatures who lived here changed the color of their scales. Without exception, they were slowly changing into black versions of their own kind. But not the same black as the ones who already existed. It was a darker shade that absorbed almost all light, making it impossible to even see where one scale began and the next started. They did try to ask some questions about that, but the result was the same as the previous day.

Hera and her party were getting very comfortable while flying, and they could keep up with Luna's regular pace. She could still leave them eating dust when going fast, but her normal speed was on par with the adventurers' running speed. When they started to look for fish, it was clear to see that they were missing.

"Is this normal, Luna?" Mylo asked.

"No. I've never seen this happening before. Mom? Dad?" Luna turned to her parents, but they shook their heads, "Never? Have you never heard of this, either? I don't like this."

"This might have something to do with the dungeon quest, right?" Bonnie whispered.

"I think so, either this or the whole turning black thing," Shane whispered back, ensuring the dragons were not looking at them.

"So let's see if we find where the fish are. Maybe that will show us what we must do here," Blue suggested.

"Even if it doesn't, I don't think that doing that can cause any problems," Hera added.

The entire party agreed, and they turned to the silver Wyvern.

"Luna, I think this would be a mystery. One that only one person can solve," Helena said with a smile.

"It is!" Luna flew closer to them, "And I'm going to need my assistants."

"We are at your service," Adriel bowed, but because of his 'wings,' he started spinning around in place.

Luna giggled and turned around, "We are going to figure out what is happening with the fish! I know we can stay a few days without food, but hunger sucks."

The reply came not just to Luna herself but to the entire party. A mix of pride and happiness about their daughter having good friends with a splash of worry, but still, they supported her decision and wished her luck. They would also go to the other dragons to discuss the situation. As the giant silver Wyverns flew off, Hera and her party turned to Luna.

"So, where do we start?"