Chapter seven, Dragon Quest V: Ace's Journey, what more do you need to know? Okay, I could talk here, prattle on and on… Well, that actually is what I'm going to do. I'd like to make note that I'm going to make sure that all of you know that I'm taking requests. Even when I've made note of who I'm working for at a given time, and though I only do one at a time, once I'm done with the first, I move on to the next right away. I focus on one at a time to maximize the rate at which they get done.

Now, about this chapter, it's primarily filler, and I'm not doing as many action scenes you'll notice. I'm not an action writer; I'm a general style writer, mostly in romance or friendship with a bit of adventure and drama. I can cover a lot of styles, but I need a lot of training in all areas.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Dragon Quest. The day I do is the day all gamers who loved Square Enix hate me.
…

I walked into the old man's house again, my personal item bag now one Zoombloom flower heavier than when I left. Sir Rusty and the others were waiting in the Wagon, and I'd be returning when the spell was revived.

"Ah, you're back." The old man said. "Did you get the Zoombloom?" I nodded and pulled it out of the bag. I handed it to him and he smiled. "Okay, now all I need to do is throw this into the cauldron and the spell will be revived." He turned and threw it high into the air, and I heard it hit some liquid. There was only silence and I wondered if the Zoombloom wasn't fresh enough or if it was the wrong flower altogether. "This is strange. I thought for sure something would happen." There was a loud rumble and the room was suddenly filled with purple smoke and we fell to the ground as a loud explosion rang out. I stayed on the ground for a few moments as the smoke cleared. "Was that it?" I stood up as the old man dusted himself off. "Do you feel any different?" I shook my head slowly. "Perhaps you should try it out." I nodded and focused my thoughts on the entrance to the town.

"Here goes nothing." I said. I looked up and suddenly felt as if I were flying. The sky was getting closer and I heard the old man shouting something. I looked down and saw my destination, the area directly in front of the wagon. I flew down without warning directly in front of Sir Rusty. They all stared as I hovered for a moment before my feet touched the ground. "Hello everyone."

"Milliardo!" Goolia said happily. "Does this mean that you know the spell Zoom?" I smiled and nodded. "Wow, that's amazing." I chuckled as Sir Rusty let out a clanking sigh.

"You certainly know how to *clank* make an entrance." He said. I laughed for a moment before he sighed again. "Well, I went to the pub while you were walking to the *clank* old man's residence. There is talk of a legendary shield owned *clank* by the Briscoletti family in a town south of here called *clank* Monstroferrato. We should investigate, for there is always a grain of *clank* truth in any rumor, but we must pass through a cave." I nodded. "I shall mark the cave on the map, so we should go *clank* forthwith." I pulled out the map and he set it on his shield as I handed him a pen. "There is an inn by the cave, so we should stop there to see if *clank* any patrons there have heard of such rumors as the folks in the *clank* pub."
…

I quickly Zoomed us to Hay and from there we made our way to the inn. It was late when we got there, but there was still enough light that we could make Monstroferrato by night.

"Hello, welcome to our inn." The woman at the desk said. "Will you be staying the night?"

"No, we're just here to check up on any rumors." I said. The woman smiled.

"Well then, I think you'll like this." She said. She grabbed a book from behind the desk and set it in front of me. "This is the Scuttlebutt Alledger. It's a magical book that contains any rumor you could ask of it. All you have to do is say the name of a subject and it fills itself with all the rumors in the world about it, no matter how obscure. It writes itself, has everything in alphabetical order, and has a table of contents, but just so you know, it changes size depending on the number of rumors about a given subject." She held it out and smiled. I grabbed the edge lightly and she let go of it. "Free of charge. We've got plenty to go around, and we can make more as long as we've got paper."

"Thanks." I said. "This should really help me out."

"Oh yeah, it saves hours of pub crawling." She said. I looked at the cover of the book and nodded.
…

We walked through the cave, being wary of any monsters. We hadn't seen any in a while, but we weren't about to let our guard down for anything.

"Excuse me." A man said. I looked to my right and saw a guard in a familiar outfit. He was from Coburg. "Are you Milliardo Gotha?"

"I am." I said. "Is something happening in Coburg?"

"Yes." He said. He walked over and handed me a letter. "I've had this for a week and a half, and I heard you'd be passing through here." I opened the letter. It was a wedding invitation from Harry.

"Harry's getting married?" I asked. I looked to see the soldier nodding. I looked at the letter. "To Maria. I thought as much would happen."

"You should hurry, or you'll miss it." He said. "But I doubt you'll make it in time. No ship can get you there fast enough I'm afraid." I smiled and tucked the invitation back into the envelope, stowing it in my bag.

"I think I should make it in time." I said. The wedding date wasn't written, so I hoped I would be right. "What will you do?"

"I'll be heading back as well." He said.

"We can get there together then." I said. He nodded as we all turned. "I'm sure he'll be surprised when we show up."
…

We all landed lightly on the ground and the soldier dropped to his knees, kissing the ground.

"I guess flying isn't your personal choice of how to travel." I said. He nodded and panted. He had screamed for the first few miles, but he soon turned to whimpering from the back of the wagon. I had sat on the driver's seat while Dusty galloped, probably just to be doing something. The others were okay, though Goolia seemed a bit nervous.

"I think we should hurry." He said. "We may yet be able to get to the wedding."
…

I walked into the royal bedroom, guided by one of the castle guards. We had indeed missed the wedding, but Harry still wanted to see me. The others were in the wagon, not wanting to scare anyone in town. I saw Harry and Maria sitting on a couch, his right arm around her shoulder while she blushed with a content smile. They looked over at me and smiled in sync.

"Hey Ace, how've you been?" Harry asked.

"You know, just looking for the Zenithian Equipment." I said. They nodded. "So, you two tied the knot while I was away." They nodded and smiled wider. "I wish I could have been here for the wedding."

"Yeah, it was perfect." Maria said.

"It went off without a hitch." Harry said. "And I got to marry the most beautiful girl in the world." Maria blushed deeper. "How did you get here by the way? I would have thought it would be too late since you left on the ship. I would have thought you'd search around this continent for a while, but when we heard you left, the day after I proposed by the way, I had to send a guy out, and we had the date already set." I smiled.

"Well, not to brag, but I learned a new trick." I said. "A little trick called Zoom. It lets me return to anywhere I've already been."

"Wow, I've never heard of such magic." Maria said.

"It was actually a pretty common spell a few hundred years ago." I said. "One day though people just forgot about it and the magic faded from the world. When somebody went to use it one day, it didn't work, so it eventually was completely forgotten."

"So how did you learn it?" Harry asked. I rubbed the back of my head and closed my eyes with a smile.

"Well, it wasn't too hard, but I did an old man a favor, and he revived the magic for the spell." I said. "I found this plant called a Lunar Zoombloom and he put it in this massive cauldron, and the spell came back."

"Wow." Maria said. "Sounds like you worked hard to get the spell to come back." I smiled.

"It wasn't too tough." I said. "It took three weeks to get to it, but it wasn't a big pain. It was mostly just the travelling."
…

I sat on the bed in the room Harry had let me stay in. I had taken a bath, and it was pretty much the best bath I'd ever had in my life. The water was hot, the room was amazing, and there was even soap, something my father hadn't been able to get a lot of, and most of the time he had Sancho use it. The maids were instructed to clean my clothes, and some people were called in to clean my father's sword, but I had polished it myself. It was now practically like a mirror, just like my father had kept it. The robe I was provided with was incredibly soft silk, and I kept a purple towel wrapped around my head, and when I looked in a mirror it looked like my old turban.

"Man, I wish I could have been here for the wedding." I said quietly. I patted the bed and it was incredibly soft, and the sheets were also made of silk. "Jeeze, how cozy does someone need to be to fall asleep?" I sniffed once and noticed a very familiar scent. I looked at the pillow and sniffed again. It was a Zizzwizz. "No way, he got more of these? The moment I lay my head on that thing I'm gone, no doubt." I chuckled for a moment before sighing. I felt a pang of guilt from being comfortable when I should have been trying to get to Monstroferrato. I had to find the Zenithian Equipment, but I was resting. "Maybe I should get going, and maybe leave a message so they don't worry." I looked at the floor. "But then again, my clothes are being washed right now, so that might be a problem." I laughed. "Yeah, I can't leave my favorite outfit here while I travel." I moved back on the bed and put my legs under the blanket. "I'd better get some sleep. I've got to go back to that inn by the cave, and then I need to go to Monstroferrato and see about that shield." I had a sudden thought. I leaned up against the headboard and grabbed the bag I had set on the nightstand. There was enough light for me to read the Scuttlebutt Alledger. I pulled the book out and looked it over. "The shield that the Briscoletti family owns, what's the talk about it recently?" The book thinned considerably, probably no more than twenty pages. I looked at the table of contents and saw something interesting. It was labeled 'Can you believe this? This shield is so amazing, and he's giving it away to anyone who marries his daughter?' I stared at it. "Page, fourteen." I flipped the pages to it and read it carefully. 'This is awesome; I can't believe Mr. Briscoletti is just giving this to the guy who's willing to marry that sweet and beautiful daughter of his. I think I'll check this out. She's so beautiful, and I bet she knows her way around the kitchen. –Gerard Michaels to Mick Stark.' I blinked. "To get the shield, I would have to marry the daughter of, Briscoletti?" I thought about the name. "Where have I heard that name before? I know that name from somewhere. Wait, back then, ten years ago, on that boat." The memories flashed before my eyes.

'Ah, here is the Maestro of the vessel, the captain.' The man said. He was large and powerfully built. He confidently stepped on board. My father stepped back as he stepped onto the deck. I watched as he and my father spoke for a moment. After a few seconds, a girl with black hair in a red dress jumped on board, pushing past him and my father and the captain after saying something fast. 'Oh, that is my little Debora. So full of energy and life my little bambina.' Another girl struggled to climb up, but she couldn't make it. She was about six, the same age as I had been.

'Papa, I can't make it.' She said quietly. She seemed shy. She had blue hair, something I had never seen before. My dad stepped over and offered his right hand.

'Here, let me help you up dear.' He said kindly. She took his hand and he pulled her up. She blushed and bowed before walking away. 'So, how have you been Mr. Briscoletti?'

"That's where I know him." I said. "He was there that day when I came back to Whealbrook with my dad. Those girls, I'd have to marry one of them in order to get the shield." I thought about the girls. Debora was a bit rude as a child, but perhaps she'd matured and left the rudeness behind. And the other girl, I found her name to be Nera. I had talked to them, and Debora was just as rude as I'd expected, and Nera was just as shy as I'd thought. I thought about the prospect. 'Maybe it would be nice being married. Harry and Maria seem happy, so maybe it's time for me too.' I closed the book and considered checking rumors on marriage, but I put it away. 'I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I think I'll call it a night.'
…

I stretched after pulling on my left boot. I stood up and walked over to the door after grabbing my staff. I had to get going, and I had to be careful about how I left. I had only so long before someone else managed to marry Nera. As callous as it seemed to me, I had to marry her to get the shield, because if it was the Zenithian shield, I had to get it. In order to make sure the Hero had his equipment, I had to do whatever it took, even if it meant not marrying for love. Though, I didn't necessarily have to not get to know her.

'If I marry her, I'll try to be as good a husband as I can be.' I thought. 'It's only fair that I be kind to her and supportive, even if I have to leave for months on end, I'll try to Zoom back every chance I get. I'll let her know that my journey won't come before her, no matter how important my mother is to me.' I walked through the door and saw Harry standing against the wall. He had a small smile.

"Heading out?" He asked. I nodded. "I understand. Things to do, people to see, places to go, and pieces of the Zenithian Equipment to find and ready for the legendary hero." He laughed quietly. "You know, I always thought Maria would've fallen for you. Between you and me, you're the better man."

"No, I'm just some guy trying to save his mother." I said. "You're a prince, and I have a mission I have to complete no matter what. You can give her all the attention she deserves, all the things she wants, and you'll always be by her side. I have to travel every day, over rough terrain, through forests, mountains, and who knows how many monsters I'll have to fight." He nodded slowly. "Maria isn't the type who fights, and I can't always keep my eye on everyone in a fight. Sure I can heal some wounds, but even then I can only do so much. I'm not the greatest fighter, or the greatest mage, or the greatest anything. I'm just Milliardo, son of Pankraz, and I have something I have to do that nobody else can." He nodded again.

"Well, for what it's worth, I think you'll be a great husband someday." He said. "If you ever find a girl you love more than anything else, I know she'll love you just as much. One thing I know for sure, she'll always be on her toes when you're around. Monsters, caves, treasure, and all the travelling and exotic cities you'll see with her, I know she won't every say you never took her anywhere." I laughed quietly. "Milliardo, you're a strong man, and I'd bet my very life that your dad, Pankraz, is looking down from heaven at you with a big smile right now. Knowing that his little boy grew up, unfazed by those ten years as a slave, still trying to finish what he started." I smiled. "I can't say I'm not envious of you, because you're a better man than I'll ever be. You're stronger than anyone out there, and not just physically. You've got a big heart, a kind face, and you're one of the nicest guys I know." He stepped from the wall and held out his right hand. "I for one am proud to call you my friend, no, my brother." I switched the staff and took his hand. "We may not be related, but as far as I care, you're as much my brother as Wilbur is."

"Thanks." I said. I was fighting back the tears, and it took all my strength to keep my voice from cracking. "I'll stop by again sometime." I smiled. "After all, I have to keep an eye on my little brother." He stared before he started laughing. I joined him while a few guards passed by, no doubt confused.