Chapter Four

Allies and Enemies

Chorus Plains sat on a plateau. To the East were the Sharp Mountains, on the West side, large hills and eventually the Glissando Cliffs. The cliffs started near Tenuto and wrapped around Forte City. Below was the Glissando plains and town of Triad. Near Triad was a river with the same name and across it was the Noise Desert. Beyond the Sharp Mountains lay the Kingdom of Baroque. To the North was Forte City of course, but before that there was the Fusion River, Fort Fermata, and Hanon Hills.

The trip over the plains was largely uneventful. Beat snapped photos of every eagle and deer he saw while the others talked. Polka and Allegretto enjoyed Frédéric's tales of Poland and France, but they did not believe him. Allegretto and Beat still did not know that Chopin thought all this was his dream. At the time they thought he was some sort of wanderer, a bard perhaps. After a long day's walk they found themselves at the edge of Lake Reverb. Across the water were a few houses. "We can stay the night there." Frédéric said. Slowly they journeyed around Reverb as the moon rose. Looking up, Frédéric noticed the moon was larger, or maybe closer to Earth than the moon he had been familiar with in Paris.

"Goats!" Beat cried suddenly, taking pictures of the calm animals. A blonde haired woman who had been watching the goats got up and made her way towards them.

"Hello there!" She waved. As she came closer the group could see she was wearing clothes made from goat skin and had a ferret on her shoulder. "I'm Viola, and this little guy is Arco." Allegretto could have sworn the ferret smiled when his name was mentioned, but no one else noticed. "Are you traveling through?" Viola asked. Chopin nodded in response. "So, do you need a place to spend the night?"

"Yes, is there an inn or something we can-" Frédéric began.

"No problem! You can stay at my place, I have plenty of room." Viola whistled and her goats started walking towards a fenced-in field.

Viola's house was certainly not the largest in the plains, but it had more than enough room to hold everyone comfortably. "So why are you going to Forte City?" She asked at breakfast the next morning. They explained their stories to her. She leaned across the table towards Polka when they were done. "You don't know what Mineral Powder does to people, do you?"

"No..."

"Mineral Powder kills you."

"What!!" Everyone exclaimed.

"That's right. At first it heals you and if someone only takes it a couple times then nothing probably happens. But the problem is it's really additive. Once you start you can't stop taking it. Eventually you become... something inhuman."

"How have we never heard of this?" Allegretto asked.

"The... One-time-humans who used Mineral Powder, Maledictors, Count Waltz has them secretly put in Fort Fermata."

"But we have to go through there." Beat quivered.

"That's why I'm going with you. We need to confront Waltz about this." Viola slammed her fist on her table when she finished talking.

"Why does this Waltz make Mineral Powder so cheap if it's so dangerous?" Chopin asked.

"Oh he knows it's dangerous." Allegretto said. "It's pretty well known that he doesn't like the leaders of Baroque. I bet he making some kind of army."

"Exactly." Agreed Viola. During this conversation no one thought to ask how Viola knew all these things.

------

Count Waltz was bored. "Well Rondo, did you learn anything new?" He asked. The woman who had attacked Polka in Agogo Forest bowed.

"No my lord. I know they exist, I just can't find them, especially ones that glow."

"I have no interest in your failure." Waltz sighed. "Experiments prove that mixing those creatures into the powder doubles its effectiveness. I must have them, no matter what Rondo." He grinned. "If we obtain some that glow conservative estimates the potency will increase tenfold. After all," he laughed, "it is our duty to protect the well being of the people." Rondo sighed. She had heard this all before. "So. Now that you know what's stake you will go and search for the glowing Agogos again. And don't come back until you've found them."

"Yes, my lord." Rondo bowed again and backed out of the throne room.

"Legato?" Waltz called, as soon as Rondo had left. The count's advisor quickly ran to Waltz's side. No easy feat for the aging man.

"My lord?"

"How goes it with the mining Legato?"

"The mining operation in the mountains is proceeding smoothly my lord. Mineral Powder production is also increasing according to plan."

"Good, good. There's no need to report when things are going well."

"Of course, my lord."

------

Cabasa Bridge connected Fort Fermata to the Chorus Plains. 50 feet below it ran the Fusion River. Underneath the fort was some sort of spring, for there were multiple waterfalls running from its base. Beat gasped when he looked down. "If you fell from here you'd die for sure! Why did they make it so rickety looking?"

"I understand why." Said Frédéric. "This bridge is a form of protection. It creates a single point of defense for Forte territory, against any attacks from the South."

"That's right." Allegretto was impressed. "And that's also why there's a fort at one end."

"Yes," said Polka, "pirates used to attack Ritardando in the past. So the king of Forte commanded that a fort be built at the end of this bridge, just in case someone decide to attack Forte City."

"Yes, well, that's nice. Let's go." Viola began to cross the bridge, followed by the others.

"Are there any soldiers here anymore?" Beat asked.

"Of course not. There's only Maledictors in there now. Although there is a legend about a lot of gold being in there."

The inside of Fort Fermata was dark and the only sound was that of running water. The floor was a series of pathways elevated above the springs.

"This place is a maze." Viola explained, lighting a torch. "We'll have to be careful to not get separated." The group huddled together, carrying their lights close. Time seemed to stop, Frédéric had checked his watch, but it said the time was 11:16. He inwardly cursed himself for buying a cheap watch that had apparently broken only a month after the purchase. He turned to ask Polka if she knew the time, but she was not there.

"Where's Polka?" He said, wide-eyed. Allegretto quickly ran back a little ways, calling Polka's name, while Viola ran ahead. Neither of them saw or heard her. After decided that she must have continued on the last time they stopped, the now smaller party kept moving forward.

------

Polka's torch had gone out an hour ago. She know realized that her friends, an unfamiliar word for her, must have stopped and she had continued onward. Now she was sitting alone in the dark, too afraid to move. Her would-be rescuers could have taken a different path than her. Polka could remember at least three forks in the road before her light died. There was a sudden sound. "Allegretto? Is that you? Frédéric, it's not funny, come out." There was another sound, like a footstep. Suddenly, from the darkness, leapt a Maledictor. It was covered in rags, missing fingers, thin, and deathly pale. The beast screamed as it jumped onto Polka. But it never landed. Its scream was cut short and a lamplight suddenly appeared behind its limp body. The corpse slumped to the ground and Polka saw who was carrying the lamp. Its holder was a boy, older than Polka, perhaps 18 or 19. He was wearing dirty clothes, armed with a pistol and small sword, which he had used to kill the Maledictor. He had wavy brown hair which was poorly cut, but his most distinctive feature was his eye patch. His left eye was a dark hazelnut color, but his right covered up by a black cloth. He also had many small scars on his face.

"Well, well, well." He said, clicking his tongue. "What's a girl like you doing in here?"

"I might ask the same of you." Polka said, trying to feel brave. The boy shrugged.

"Fair enough. I'm Cello, a, at the moment anyway, savior of young girls." Polka laughed, she couldn't help it.

"I'm Polka, I, and my friends, are going to Forte City." Cello looked around.

"Where are your friends?"

"I don't know. I got separated from them." Cello sheathed his sword and helped Polka up.

"Then we better go find them, shouldn't we?" He smiled at her kindly.

"You're a flirt." Polka said, blushing. Cello laughed.

"So, who are your friends?" Polka described them to him. Cello nodded. "So let me get this right, you, a dying small town girl, are traveling with a goat herder, two shop owners, one of whom is eight, and an insane man. And you all are going to ask Waltz nicely to stop making Mineral Powder? You're naïve." Polka began to think that Cello was not as nice as she originally thought.

"I don't think Frédéric is crazy." She said meekly.

"Right. A man who claims this world is his dream isn't crazy. Wait, you don't actually believe him do you?" Cello said incredulously. Polka said nothing and for a long time the two were quiet. Suddenly Cello put out his light.

"What is it?" Polka whispered.

"Someone's coming."

"Oh! Do you think it's-" Cello placed his hand over Polka's mouth to shut her up. Then he pointed at two Maledictors. The creatures slowly moved past them, mumbling nonsense.

"That was close." Cello breathed, once the danger had passed. "Come on, we're near the exit."

The exit was beautiful to Polka. She opened the door, flooding the fort with light. Turning around she could just see a distant light. Someone called her name. Cello held her back from running back into the darkness. "They'll come to us." He said. As soon as Beat, who was in front, appeared Polka ran towards him, arms outstretched. After their happy reunion Polka introduced Cello.

"Thank you for bringing her to the exit." Chopin said, shaking his hand. Cello just nodded.

"Are you coming with us Cello?" Polka asked as they left the fort.

"Not for the world." Cello laughed as he stepped outside.

------

Voila was not the only one who knew the truth about the Mineral Powder. There was a rebel group called Andantino, created to take power away from Count Waltz. No one knew where Andantino's base was or whose its leaders were. At the moment Polka asked Cello if he was coming, Jazz, the head of Andantino, was talking to his council. There were five of them, all different, but with the same goal; to stop Waltz's madness. Jazz was a dark haired, tall, confident, 27 year old. His fiance, Claves, sat on his right. She was petite, no one would have thought the daughter of an aristocrat to be a fighting member of Andantino. Across from her was Falsetto, a woman who had grown up with Jazz. The two were like brother and sister, they trusted each other with their lives. Next to Falsetto sat Ballad. He was the oldest of the five, his hair starting to grey, his bright blue eyes becoming dim. Ballad was the first person to join Jazz and Falsetto's rebel group, five years ago. The final person, across from Ballad, was Melody. She was young, not yet 20, but she had the mind of a genius. Jazz had found her in Triad, where she had made a living as a psychic.

"Does everyone understand?" Said Jazz. Everyone except Claves said yes.

"Can you explain it again Jazz?" She asked sweetly. Falsetto groaned.

"Claves, why do you always need things repeated?"

"I'm sorry. But this is an important mission so I want to make sure I get it right. We can't all be Melody." Claves glanced jealously at Melody. Everyone knew the girl could repeat what Jazz had said to the letter. Melody smiled.

"The objective of this mission is to rescue the guardian of Agogo Forest who is being held, against her will," Melody quoted, "in the dungeon beneath Forte Castle. After saving her we will escort her home and try to get the fairies to help our cause." Jazz and Ballad began to clap. "We infiltrate the castle at dawn." She finished.

"Do you know it now, Claves?" Jazz asked kindly.

"Yes, I understand."

"But why is the guardian in jail?" Ballad asked.

"Our spies told me that Waltz is searching for glowing Agogos. It makes sense that they woud detain a forest guardian and make her tell them the location of the special Agogos."

"Glowing Agogos? What does Waltz want with those, if they even exist." Melody asked.

"Well, they do taste good in soup. Don't they Claves?" Falsetto joked.

"Falsetto! If you don't take this seriously we'll make a mess of even the simplest missions." Jazz reprimanded.

"Fine." Falsetto sighed. "Let's get ready to go."