The city of Armoroad. Or rather, the city of trade and merchants - no, the city governed by the senate and military in coexistence. Armoroad is known by many names, but most agree on one important title it fosters. The origin of its mutually understood name sits smack dab in the massive central pit of the city, a reminder of a most distressing event.
Outsiders call it the Labyrinth. The more deranged of locals call it the Savior of the Calamity. Whether their claims were true or not was another whole matter. However, it did indeed attract the speculative to its likes of warriors, bandits, and organisations worldwide flocked to this wondrous phenomenon for even glimpse of the Labyrinth's properties.
On one fateful day, "sunny" was the weather it wore. Seagulls flew over the ports gallantly, never minding the plethora ships coming in and out of the always busy piers. The wind was pleasantly strong and the mood in the fish market was lively. Passing through myriad stands lined up on each side was a boy with a blue hat, running while carrying a ragged sling bag full of important papers to be sent to his workplace.
Jumping over man-made puddles and ducking over unsuspecting staff, moving huge crates and inventory on their own, the boy managed to get away from the market and entered the residential districts of Armoroad.
"Good morning, lad!" shouted one of the neighbours.
"Mornin'!" he replied cheerfully, speeding away until he was out of earshot. He hadn't enough time to spend conversing with the residents nor do the usual errands at the moment.
He bore greater news than his pay grade. Ecstatic was his face plastered with throughout his sprint through the districts. He made a sharp turn into one of the alleys and came out into the sunny-lit square to find the headquarters where he was stationed to work at.
The Explorer's Guild.
He slammed the door open and shouted, "New forms sir!"
"Good, now bring it to me."
The boy hurried to the open square and found his boss sitting on a bench, his surroundings filled with crates of unfinished papers. This man is the owner of the Explorers' Guild. Resting his left elbow on his massive turban, he skimmed through the form held in his right hand. Many times he had done this; many times he was disappointed. He narrowed his eyes at the usually pathetic ones and arched his eyebrows at the more impressive forms to date. In the end, however, he would have to let them into the guild regardless of their stature. He sighed at the thought.
"Their lives, their responsibilities."
"Meaning, sir?"
" Oh, nothing for you to worry, little guy, er...what's your name again?"
"Ruffi, sir!"
"Right. And you can quit with the "sir" stuff. Get me a drink, Ruffi. Stat."
"On it!" he replied cheerfully, rotating pretentiously like a robot towards the kitchen area and skidded towards it. The boss shook his head amusingly.
"Kids will always be kids. Unlike these idiots." He tapped at the paper held in his hand for emphasis.
He resumed his work for the next few hours, enough for the sun to set and the tides to change. The busy morning, afternoon, and evening markets came to a quiet close, and the soldiers patrolling the day had been swapped with the new shifts. In the guild headquarters, the boss, Daveed, yawned for the first time in a while after closing what thankfully seemed to be the final crate of forms sent to him. He didn't forget the ones Ruffi sent earlier, so he was all set to call it a day. Funnily enough, it would be the only time he would actually think so carefree for quite some time.
"Ruffi! Is dinner ready yet?" he shouted towards the kitchen area, holding the empty cup in his hand.
"Ah, I think it is! Come on in, boss!"
"Finally. I haven't had anything good since you left."
"Haha! I knew you couldn't stand living on your own."
"Oi, mind your language. I am your employer, after all."
The boy prepared the table and chairs, the rice and condiments, and the candle to finish it off. Daveed entered, whistling a tune as he poured himself a cup of water upon reaching the jug on the table.
"What'd you find out there, Ruffi?"
"Eh, nothing much. Same old, same old."
"Told you nothing's happening this year. And you didn't believe me."
"Remind me, boss, how you lied about having your own harem of girls when I first came in." The guild master spit out some water in surprise as Ruffi gave him a wry smile, catching him off guard. "That's why."
"Low blow, Ruffi. Low blow," said Daveed, wiping the saliva off his mouth. The boy laughed in response, annoying him slightly.
"Say, did you check the new papers I just sent ya, boss?"
"Hm? Oh, you mean the four kids? Yeah, I did."
"Do you think they can handle it? The Labyrinth?"
"It takes more than four youths to be the first to dive into the hole unharmed. Hell, I'd be surprised if they even make it past the first floor.. It says here they're all over eighteen years old."
"That's right," affirmed Ruffi, taking his seat on the table. "They're actually from a region where the cities train young kids to compete in regional battle tournaments."
Daveed became intrigued, his eyebrows arching with interest. Without a word, he drank what's left in his cup and put it down on the dinner table. He frowned at Ruffi's point.
"Should've just trained for the tournaments instead. It ain't right to send these kids to their deaths and be done with it."
He remained grim throughout the night.
The day had passed; Daveed could never bring a smile to his face every time he meets new explorers to the table. Standing in the centre of the square along with Ruffi by his side, his eyes glided over the many adventurers and warriors looking to tackle the greatest quest of all. He glossed over the fact that it might be their last.
"Their lives, their responsibilities."
"Guildmaster Daveed! Guildmaster!" He turned to find an Armoroad soldiers running towards him in haste.
"What is it, soldier? Are they here?"
"Like you said, sir-"
"DON'T call me sir."
"R-Right. As you have said before, the remaining participants will be arriving shortly."
"Good work. Stand by for further instructions."
The soldier gave his salutations and took off before the recruits could take notice of him. It was nice of the Senate, Daveed thought, to provide military assistance in case there were... social issues to be dealt with. He pondered whether these men were irritated at being ordered around by a simple man, but then realised he wasn't one, anyways. He was far from ordinary which was probably the reason why the Senate chose him to be guild master of all people.
"Boss," called Ruffi, coming from one of the guild rooms. "Preparations are set. We just need to wait for the others to make it here."
Daveed nodded admittedly. Truth be told, the would-be explorers came way too early for the guildmaster to adequately welcome them to the master guild. If anything, it was a sign of them being naive bastards, looking to profit from Yggdrasil. He scrunched his eyebrows at the thought; he sometimes regret having these sentiments.
"Their lives, not mine."
"Whazzat, Boss?"
"Nothing. Time to get the banners ready. Oi, you lot! Help me with the posters since you're early," he ordered the huddled group nearby, gaining their curious yet hesitant eyes. He gave them a stern stare which prompted them to immediately obey, receiving the piles and piles of posters from Ruffi to be posted around several posts of the city, giving notices to the watchful citizens of the warriors wearing weary clothing and weapons to war against the wondrous maze that is Yggdrasil.
And as soon as they finished with the banners and posters, along with all other minimal details of the preparations, the explorers' guild was ready to officially accommodate all visitors the world had to offer. Daveed was right at the centre of the stage set at his courtyard, overseeing the coming adventurers of the labyrinth. While the unpaid yet hired explorers were less than helpful, they cut much more essential time than he had anticipated which pleased him greatly. Previously, he refused any help who bothered to volunteer, but he was within the Senate's grace; to deny is to express distaste in cooperation, a hubris his higher ups would not want to see from him.
"Things are looking up, eh boy?"
"You tell me," replied Ruffi, crouching eagerly beside his employer. "Everyone's gathered here to be part of something more. To be honest, Armoroad wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for Yggdrasil."
"Oi oi, that's bad press. The Senate doesn't like that kind of impression. This city here lost their precious tech because of the incident, you know."
Ruffi looked to Daveed with wide surprised eyes, hearing it for the first time. "Huh...no wonder."
"What, you didn't know? Of course, this is just hearsay from most of the people here."
"No, I didn't. I always wondered why Armoroad seems more...advanced than the other capital cities."
Daveed scoffed at his comment. "Hmph. If you ask me, it's better to equalise that kind of power. A dominant nation will be far worse a fate than you will ever think."
"Why'd you say that, boss?"
He closed his eyes, choosing how to answer the boy's inquiry. Breathing deeply, he said, "I just felt like saying it. Don't think about it too much, boy."
Ruffi cocked his head sideways and eventually shrugged his shoulders, not caring whether it's important or no. Armoroad never was his home; he didn't need to know the history of the city as much as the next historian to enter the guild.
"Hey, look at that," spoke a heavily armoured man who was within earshot of the duo, a sneer present on his face, "it's the warriors from that town."
"Honestly," said his companion, a buffed girl with a mace attached to her waist, sighing in-between, "they could do with a less flamboyant set of armour. They're basically shining gold all the way from here!"
"You'd think they would had the chance was presented to them." They snickered, coveting the awkward glances from the two armoured individuals mentioned. Of course, their words were not without merit. As Ruffi rotated to get a better look of the notorious warriors, Daveed suddenly called out to him.
"Ruffi, get me a cup of warm water - with lemon, too."
"Roger that," he replied briskly, trotting away to the kitchen floor.
He wanted Ruffi to explore this new world where explorers reside, but not in the way those two segregated others upon surface observations. One thing he learnt as a guildmaster was to never, EVER, bring people down no matter what they may seem to him. Be it a fawning princess or a drunk sailor, their worth are always determined by the roles they themselves picked in their lives, a badge of honour which they carry throughout their journeys, as well.
Ruffi won't learn such ways from those two imbeciles.
The need to judge, however, is always prevalent in man's hearts. Daveed gave a sideways glance towards the rumoured warriors; two girls in golden bulky armour, a male youth in hardened leather pants and a red singlet, and a brunette with her hands wrapped in strips of bandages. They certainly were an odd rarity among the would-be explorers. Most of them come in modest clothing or cheap armour to compensate the cost of living, a temporary measure during the pre-exploration phase, but these four seemed to go all out in just equipment purchases - at least, from Daveed's perspective.
But would they make it in the labyrinth? Not even a speck of doubt that they wouldn't. In the end, the young are still driven to accomplish what the old had not been able to. The four are no such exemptions. They would die just like their forefathers would, and their "heirs" will take the helm once more and continue the cycle.
That was how the Labyrinth worked for decades.
"I'll bet they can't," he whispered quietly. "Without a proper leader, they're worth just as much as the next body pile to collect soon enough."
The time was nigh. He started to move to the centre and began the orientation phase.
In another part of the city, specifically Inver Port where ships come and go, a large vessel had just docked. With its passengers given entry to land, two men stood by the exit.
"...Forgive me, sire."
"Pray, don't put yourself down, my friend. That was all in the past."
"But, Your Majesty! Three years...your home...your parents and siblings...I abandoned them all when you needed me most!" He teared up at the thought of it. The shorter man frowned upon his words.
"You did NOT abandon them," he replied sternly, breathing deeply afterwards. "What happened to my kingdom was unavoidable. I realise that now, and I shall not blame others for a natural occurrence... come now, Frederic. Shed your tears for after you've returned to your beloved. What would she think had you cried for a man?" he joked, chuckling lightly afterwards.
Frederic wiped the tears off his face and nodded slowly with a sad expression. "Understood, Your Majesty." Leading his prince and friend out of the rocky vessel and onto the pier, he turned to him and stated, "This is where the Labyrinth hides itself, Highness."
"Hm. Good work. And thank you, Frederic, for everything you've done for my father." He inwardly cursed his eyes for showing weakness through the watery tears coming out of them. It wasn't like him to be this emotional with his once loyal soldiers; he always was a stern commander of his royal forces. So why. Why couldn't he let it go? Was it the devastating fact that he was going to leave everything - all of his memories and possessions - to march forward to a new goal, or because he had not felt this way in the past three years save for Frederic's company? It could have been both. But alas, he cared not for he sought to wipe tears of his lasting friend's eyes once more. "Go now, Frederic. I relieve you of your duty as Knight of Chamore. Press onward and bring about a new future for your children."
"Y-Yes, Your Highness," he muttered quiet enough for only his prince to hear, struggling to continue his sentence, "I will...*sniff*... do as you commanded.
"Prince Miro...be well...be safe, my friend."
With that, Miro nodded and waved at him as Frederic turned his back and walked over to the next pier where his ship was waiting to be boarded. Such a bond was hard to forget, lest the dragons of old return to haunt his every nightmare. But he couldn't help but feel lonely seeing the man he thought to be his one true friend slipping past his gaze and into the wooden vessel.
He tallied no longer, however, as he too had plans to follow up to. Going in the opposite direction, his destination was like any other explorer-
"I wonder if there are people out here willing to tell me where the guild is..."
Neither demon nor angel, the prince sets out for his undiscovered destiny.
Author's notes:
Trying a new story line for the 3rd of the Etrian Odyssey series - The Drowned City.
If you like it, I hope you'll help with reviewing the story. If there are any particular details which needs to be discussed, include it in the review. Only then will I attempt to reply when the chance occurs.
There won't be author's notes every time I upload a chapter. Just for the first and probably when the need arises.