Chapter IX: The Flame Champion Search Begins
The group walked over towards the edge of the second floor to get a better look at the odd group that was arguing below. Teddy then said, "That girl is the Pendragon that I sensed before. The two men with her appear to be her escort or something. They must have traveled here from Tinto."
Riou looked at Teddy and asked, "Tinto? Isn't that were Gustav Pendragon is from?" Teddy nodded as he continued to look down on the quarreling group.
Nanami then said, "If she is from Tinto and is a Pendragon, then she should be related to Gustav and I only know of one person related to him; his daughter, Lilly. Remember her, Riou?" Riou nodded his head and turned back towards the group. Nanami simply said, "Wow! She grew up a lot."
"They just called her Lilly and the Duck's name is Sergeant Joe..." Teddy was saying as he suddenly got quiet. He then continued in a softer voice that the others had a little difficulty hearing, "And the Karayan boy's name is Hugo; that makes him the son of Chief Lucia."
Nanami looked at Teddy and said, "Oh." She then went on to say, "Let's go say hi to him and see how he's doing. Come on Teddy, let's introduce you to him."
"How about not? Anyways, Lilly is leaving with her escort to find money. They all are on a search for the Flame Champion. If this many people are looking for him, maybe we should as well. It would give us something to do, unless Lucia has a better idea." Teddy responded.
Jowy nodded his head and said, "Let's go talk to her to see what she wants us to do to help out."
So the group moved towards where Lucia was standing on the other side of the large cave on the first floor. They walked around on the second floor to the other ramp just so Hugo and his friends wouldn't see them, but by the time they got to the other ramp they saw Hugo and Lucia talking. Hugo then walked away to go do something while waiting for the return of Lilly and her compatriots.
The four-some then walked down to Lucia where Jowy asked, "Lucia, we were wondering what we could do to help. We know that your son is already going to look for the Flame Champion, but we might be able to help look for him too."
Lucia smiled at Jowy and said, "That might be nice since he's going to be waiting around awhile for his friends to return."
"Okay. Then we should get going now. We will be back in a week to tell you what we have found or not found." Teddy stated just as Hugo came running back over there.
He ran up to his mother and asked, "Do I have to stay inside while I wait? I want to ride on the plains."
Lucia smiled and glanced at Teddy for a moment and then returned her attention towards Hugo and said, "You're a man; you decide. But I do caution against going too far because there may be another battle and I don't want you to be separated away from us when it comes."
Hugo was about to run off again when he looked at the group that was talking to his mother and then turned towards his mother and asked while gesturing generally towards Teddy, "Who are these people? They don't dress like they are from here, but he has dark skin like ours."
Before anyone else had the chance to respond, Teddy said, "We're just travelers. I come from a different land, but I used to live here and that's why my skin is a little darker. That's all." Hugo nodded and then ran off to meet with is companions that hadn't left.
Lucia looked at Teddy and smiled while saying, "He has your eyes."
"I noticed." Was all Teddy said. He then walked off towards the exit as Riou, Jowy, and Nanami said their good-byes to Lucia.
Teddy was waiting outside of the Great Hollow as Riou, Jowy, and Nanami caught up to him. He started walking away when Jowy ran up to him and asked, "Where are we going now to look for this Flame Champion?"
"Budehuc Castle because I think this is going to be the place where the Stars of Destiny are going to meet. And I think that the True Fire Rune will be tied in with the Stars of Destiny. I don't think that the Flame Champion is there, but we can get some clues as to where he is." Teddy answered.
Nanami then asked Teddy, "When did you live here?"
Teddy turned towards her as he was walking and answered, "About fifty years ago; I lived here for a couple of years. It's when I met the Flame Champion. I didn't know him well, but I knew him enough to know what he wanted from life." Nanami just said "oh" and they continued to walk west.
After a two hour walk that was interrupted by several monsters that looked ravenous, the group arrived at a village that had large fields and many windmills. It only had one street that went straight down the middle and all the way back towards the fields. All of the shops and houses cam directly off the main street. The group was tired and decided to take a rest here before traveling the last mile to their current destination. They stopped by the blacksmith who couldn't sharpen their weapons because they were sharp already. As Riou, Jowy, and Nanami went to inspect what a lottery was, Teddy walked to the back of the village to a large windmill where he found a man with blonde hair staring at the fields.
As Teddy approached, the man said, "I haven't seen you in awhile. I think the last time was the Higheast Rebellion three years ago. And then you were trying to countermine my objectives. I hope you aren't here to do so again."
"Good to see you too, Nash. My guess is that you're here to spy for Sasarai. Is he looking for more true runes as well?" Teddy asked.
Nash frowned and turned toward Teddy. He then said, "No, he thinks that there is another bishop trying to get the true rune for his own gain. I'm just trying to get information about the Flame Champion and why this new bishop is trying to get the rune for himself. The Holy Kingdom of Harmonia isn't going to move against the Grasslands quite yet, but soon, I'm afraid. I'm going to stay in town for a couple of days. I heard that you were escorting some people around the Grasslands. They aren't planning on getting involved with this, are they?"
"Hopefully not too much. But I think I ran into that bishop you're talking about. I'm quite sure what he wants with the rune, but I think that he's after more than one." Teddy said. Nash frowned even more when he heard this, but didn't say anything.
Riou, Jowy, and Nanami came walking up the main path and meandered towards Teddy and Nash. Nanami saw Nash and ran up to him saying, "Hey! I know you. We met in Muse once where I fixed you some soup."
Nash shivered at the memory as Teddy slapped his hand on his head and said, "Nanami, you're trying to keep a low profile; not going up to everyone you recognize and saying hi. One of your companions is supposed to be dead and the other doesn't want to be dragged back to responsibility yet."
Nanami looked up into the sky and said, "Oh." As Riou and Jowy just shook their heads and sighed. Nash still looked horrified at the thought of Nanami's cooking.
Teddy then said to Nash, "Well, we should get going before it gets to be too late. I'll see you another time, perhaps." Riou, Jowy, and Nanami started to walk down the main street, but Teddy lingered a moment and then Nash waved bye. Teddy then jogged to catch up with the other three as they left the village and headed towards Budehuc Castle.
They arrived at the castle with little difficulty where they were stopped by a girl wearing armor and a plaid skirt. She then said, "Halt! Why do you come here? Are you evil-doers?" Riou, Jowy, Nanami, and Teddy looked at each other with confused looks.
Nanami walked up to the girl and said, "We're not bad people; we just want somewhere to stay. We heard of this castle and thought that we would come and look at it."
The girl lowered her weapon and then said, "Oh, okay. I'll go get the master of the castle. You guys must be merchants come to set up a shop and sell goods here."
The girl was about to run off and get the master when Teddy said, "That won't be necessary; we aren't merchants. We just came to visit and spend a night or two. But if we do run into any merchants or anything after we leave we'll tell them of this place, okay?"
"Okay. Well, then have a nice stay. The inn is over there." The girl said while pointing to a building near a set of stairs. The group walked over to the inn because it was getting dark and went inside to spend the night. They met the inn-keep and Teddy paid for the room as the others went straight to bed. They all had a hard day with the fighting and traveling.
The group walked over towards the edge of the second floor to get a better look at the odd group that was arguing below. Teddy then said, "That girl is the Pendragon that I sensed before. The two men with her appear to be her escort or something. They must have traveled here from Tinto."
Riou looked at Teddy and asked, "Tinto? Isn't that were Gustav Pendragon is from?" Teddy nodded as he continued to look down on the quarreling group.
Nanami then said, "If she is from Tinto and is a Pendragon, then she should be related to Gustav and I only know of one person related to him; his daughter, Lilly. Remember her, Riou?" Riou nodded his head and turned back towards the group. Nanami simply said, "Wow! She grew up a lot."
"They just called her Lilly and the Duck's name is Sergeant Joe..." Teddy was saying as he suddenly got quiet. He then continued in a softer voice that the others had a little difficulty hearing, "And the Karayan boy's name is Hugo; that makes him the son of Chief Lucia."
Nanami looked at Teddy and said, "Oh." She then went on to say, "Let's go say hi to him and see how he's doing. Come on Teddy, let's introduce you to him."
"How about not? Anyways, Lilly is leaving with her escort to find money. They all are on a search for the Flame Champion. If this many people are looking for him, maybe we should as well. It would give us something to do, unless Lucia has a better idea." Teddy responded.
Jowy nodded his head and said, "Let's go talk to her to see what she wants us to do to help out."
So the group moved towards where Lucia was standing on the other side of the large cave on the first floor. They walked around on the second floor to the other ramp just so Hugo and his friends wouldn't see them, but by the time they got to the other ramp they saw Hugo and Lucia talking. Hugo then walked away to go do something while waiting for the return of Lilly and her compatriots.
The four-some then walked down to Lucia where Jowy asked, "Lucia, we were wondering what we could do to help. We know that your son is already going to look for the Flame Champion, but we might be able to help look for him too."
Lucia smiled at Jowy and said, "That might be nice since he's going to be waiting around awhile for his friends to return."
"Okay. Then we should get going now. We will be back in a week to tell you what we have found or not found." Teddy stated just as Hugo came running back over there.
He ran up to his mother and asked, "Do I have to stay inside while I wait? I want to ride on the plains."
Lucia smiled and glanced at Teddy for a moment and then returned her attention towards Hugo and said, "You're a man; you decide. But I do caution against going too far because there may be another battle and I don't want you to be separated away from us when it comes."
Hugo was about to run off again when he looked at the group that was talking to his mother and then turned towards his mother and asked while gesturing generally towards Teddy, "Who are these people? They don't dress like they are from here, but he has dark skin like ours."
Before anyone else had the chance to respond, Teddy said, "We're just travelers. I come from a different land, but I used to live here and that's why my skin is a little darker. That's all." Hugo nodded and then ran off to meet with is companions that hadn't left.
Lucia looked at Teddy and smiled while saying, "He has your eyes."
"I noticed." Was all Teddy said. He then walked off towards the exit as Riou, Jowy, and Nanami said their good-byes to Lucia.
Teddy was waiting outside of the Great Hollow as Riou, Jowy, and Nanami caught up to him. He started walking away when Jowy ran up to him and asked, "Where are we going now to look for this Flame Champion?"
"Budehuc Castle because I think this is going to be the place where the Stars of Destiny are going to meet. And I think that the True Fire Rune will be tied in with the Stars of Destiny. I don't think that the Flame Champion is there, but we can get some clues as to where he is." Teddy answered.
Nanami then asked Teddy, "When did you live here?"
Teddy turned towards her as he was walking and answered, "About fifty years ago; I lived here for a couple of years. It's when I met the Flame Champion. I didn't know him well, but I knew him enough to know what he wanted from life." Nanami just said "oh" and they continued to walk west.
After a two hour walk that was interrupted by several monsters that looked ravenous, the group arrived at a village that had large fields and many windmills. It only had one street that went straight down the middle and all the way back towards the fields. All of the shops and houses cam directly off the main street. The group was tired and decided to take a rest here before traveling the last mile to their current destination. They stopped by the blacksmith who couldn't sharpen their weapons because they were sharp already. As Riou, Jowy, and Nanami went to inspect what a lottery was, Teddy walked to the back of the village to a large windmill where he found a man with blonde hair staring at the fields.
As Teddy approached, the man said, "I haven't seen you in awhile. I think the last time was the Higheast Rebellion three years ago. And then you were trying to countermine my objectives. I hope you aren't here to do so again."
"Good to see you too, Nash. My guess is that you're here to spy for Sasarai. Is he looking for more true runes as well?" Teddy asked.
Nash frowned and turned toward Teddy. He then said, "No, he thinks that there is another bishop trying to get the true rune for his own gain. I'm just trying to get information about the Flame Champion and why this new bishop is trying to get the rune for himself. The Holy Kingdom of Harmonia isn't going to move against the Grasslands quite yet, but soon, I'm afraid. I'm going to stay in town for a couple of days. I heard that you were escorting some people around the Grasslands. They aren't planning on getting involved with this, are they?"
"Hopefully not too much. But I think I ran into that bishop you're talking about. I'm quite sure what he wants with the rune, but I think that he's after more than one." Teddy said. Nash frowned even more when he heard this, but didn't say anything.
Riou, Jowy, and Nanami came walking up the main path and meandered towards Teddy and Nash. Nanami saw Nash and ran up to him saying, "Hey! I know you. We met in Muse once where I fixed you some soup."
Nash shivered at the memory as Teddy slapped his hand on his head and said, "Nanami, you're trying to keep a low profile; not going up to everyone you recognize and saying hi. One of your companions is supposed to be dead and the other doesn't want to be dragged back to responsibility yet."
Nanami looked up into the sky and said, "Oh." As Riou and Jowy just shook their heads and sighed. Nash still looked horrified at the thought of Nanami's cooking.
Teddy then said to Nash, "Well, we should get going before it gets to be too late. I'll see you another time, perhaps." Riou, Jowy, and Nanami started to walk down the main street, but Teddy lingered a moment and then Nash waved bye. Teddy then jogged to catch up with the other three as they left the village and headed towards Budehuc Castle.
They arrived at the castle with little difficulty where they were stopped by a girl wearing armor and a plaid skirt. She then said, "Halt! Why do you come here? Are you evil-doers?" Riou, Jowy, Nanami, and Teddy looked at each other with confused looks.
Nanami walked up to the girl and said, "We're not bad people; we just want somewhere to stay. We heard of this castle and thought that we would come and look at it."
The girl lowered her weapon and then said, "Oh, okay. I'll go get the master of the castle. You guys must be merchants come to set up a shop and sell goods here."
The girl was about to run off and get the master when Teddy said, "That won't be necessary; we aren't merchants. We just came to visit and spend a night or two. But if we do run into any merchants or anything after we leave we'll tell them of this place, okay?"
"Okay. Well, then have a nice stay. The inn is over there." The girl said while pointing to a building near a set of stairs. The group walked over to the inn because it was getting dark and went inside to spend the night. They met the inn-keep and Teddy paid for the room as the others went straight to bed. They all had a hard day with the fighting and traveling.
