Duelist of Dawn: Oh yeah! Feeling great again! My favorite authors are making more chapters to their stories and are doing great I might add. Now it's my turn!
Regent Cid: (gwok-gwok) Yes, now you are great need to finish your story before going back to college.
Duelist of Dawn: Aw man! And it's this Saturday too! I hate deadlines!
Regent Cid: Don't we (gwok) all, but you've dealt with them in the past have you (gwok) not?
Duelist of Dawn: Yes, I have but this is different!
Regent Cid: How so?
Duelist of Dawn: I love writing these stories, college work I have to do if I want a good paying job to support me.
Regent Cid: By choice, you chose to continue your studies so you must abide by it. (gwok-gwok)
Duelist of Dawn: I know, so I'll keep on trucking for now. Thanks to all my reviewers for giving your feedback on my story and loving what I do with the story. If you please, sire.
Regent Cid: Of course. The Duelist of Dawn does not own rights of the game Final Fantasy 9, just his self-insert character.
Duelist of Dawn: Thank you, Regent Cid! Now let's start this chapter!
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Chapter 10:
Qu's, Chocobos and Treasure!
After the alarming threat of a Black Mage assault on Freya's homeland of Burmecia, everyone decided on going to Burmecia to stop the invasion which may have caused by Dagger's mother Queen Brahne. But before all that, we all decided to get some food prepared for the ending ceremony of the Festival of the Hunt. And I must say, the spread was looking very tasty to me, everything from different kinds of meats, vegetables and drink were lined up on a giant table.
"Yay! I'm so hungry!" Vivi cried out.
"You and me both, little guy!" I said ready to dig my hands in to the food but I noticed some strange plants on my food so I took them out before getting ready to eat.
"The Festival of the Hunt feast is one of our oldest traditions." The regent informed us. "It began well over five centuries ago. It is customary to eat everything with your hands, so go on, before it gets cold."
"Thank you, Uncle." Dagger said but didn't touch her plate just yet.
"Yeah, thanks for the opportunity not to use silverware!" I said, making a joke which everyone except Freya chuckled at as they started to eat.
Vivi and I wasted no time grabbing some beef and chowing down on it and the sauces on it were great as well.
"Mmmm! It's so good!" Vivi exclaimed eating more of the beef before drinking some juice in his cup.
"Yeah! My compliments to the chef, Regent!" I said taking in another piece of beef. Zidane noticed Freya was deep in thought about something, maybe about Burmecia being sacked right now.
"Let's just eat." Zidane said trying reason with her. "We can't do anything until the gate opens."
Freya sighed and picked up a tomato looking food. "...You're right." She said and began eating.
"Hey, not bad!" Zidane said eating into his plate. I saw Steiner was really getting into the meat part of the dinner as I bit into something looking like a carrot.
"This is wonderful!" Steiner said with his mouth full. He swallowed his food and turned to Garnet who still didn't touch her plate. "Princess, how is everything? Why aren't you eating?"
Garnet snapped out of whatever world she was in at the time. "Oh... I'm sorry. You're right. Everything is so delicious." She said as she finally joined the rest of us in eating.
"Indeed, it is." Steiner agreed as he picked up another piece of beef. "Especially this beef. It is superb!" For the next three minutes or so, we all had our lunch but then some of us started to feel drowsy afterwards.
"Oh, I'm so full." Vivi said drowsily. "I'm getting sleepy now..." Vivi started to fall on his back, fast asleep.
'Someone's trying to get away from something." I thought as I start to see Cid and Freya all fall over in a deep sleep and Zidane fighting a losing battle to whatever that's causing this.
Steiner was also taking notice of what's going on. "What the--"He said looking around at everyone knocked out except me. "THE FOOD IS POISONED!" He shouted holding his throat.
"Dagger...?" Zidane finally falls over to the effects of the bug that's doing this as well.
"How could I be so careless!!!" Steiner still continues his outburst and holds his stomach after awhile. "Ugh... I'm starting to feel sick... F-Forgive me, Princess. I should have tasted it for poison..."
Dagger then put on a knowing look. "That's impossible. There shouldn't be any in your dish."
"What...?" He thought now looking okay. "Now that you mention it, I feel just fine." But then he assumed something horrible. "How did you know!? Princess! You didn't!"
"It's not poison." She assured him. "It's just a medicinal herb Zidane gave me. Believe me, this was not what I had planned." It was time to step in.
"Maybe your plan was to stop Queen Brahne by yourself." I said shocking Dagger.
"R-Ron! How did you…. I saw you eat your plate with that sleeping weed like everyone else!" She said in alarm.
"So that's what that strange plant was?" I asked myself and then turned back to Dagger. "Why'd you try to leave everyone out of the loop?" She fidgeted for a bit before answering…
"I have to make my own decisions... I had no choice." She said. "Uncle Cid would never let me leave the castle."
"That is because he is concerned about you!" Steiner cut in.
"I understand that, but--" Dagger tried to say but Steiner cut in again.
"No, you don't understand...!" He said. "War is a terrible thing! You must never experience it like I have. I'm sorry, Princess. I cannot follow any orders that might put your life in danger."
"...What if Alexandria is behind the attack on Burmecia?" She asked in concern. "It could lead to war between the three great nations. Many innocent people will die... As the princess of Alexandria, there must be something I can do. I have to help Mother... I don't want to see anything happen to her..."
Steiner hesitated for a bit before answering. "...... ...Very well. Princess, I will follow you wherever you choose."
"Thank you." She said and turned to me. "Please Ron, you have to let me do this." She begged.
"Alright." I said as she smiled.
"Thank you." She said and turned to Steiner. "Let's go before everyone wakes up." She walks up to Zidane's sleeping form. "I'm sorry, Zidane." She gestured Steiner to follow. "Come on."
Dagger and Steiner proceed to leave before….
"Be careful…" I said as they turned around with questioning looks. "You may not want to hear this but, your mother may try to lie to you, I know she's behind this."
Dagger gasped but Steiner wasn't convinced….
"That's preposterous!!!" He shouted. "The Queen would never cause harm unintentionally!"
"Meaning she has a motive for doing this." I tell him. "Whether you choose to believe me or not, the fact is those Black Mages are hers, and Dagger knows it."
"Dagger... Where are you going...?" I hear Zidane say in his sleep.
"Get going." I tell them. "But remember what I said." Dagger and Steiner then leave as fast as they can. Later on, everyone affect by the sleeping weed starts to wake up.
Freya was the first to talk. "It must've been some sort of sleeping medicine."
"It was sleeping weed." I said walking towards them, having them think I was walking back in the room.
"We've been had..." Cid thought, but suspiciously looked at me. "But how did you know, Ron?" I was about to answer before…
"Damn!" We all turned to Zidane. "I gave her some because she said she was having problems sleeping."
"I'm impressed." Freya acknowledged. "There's more to her than meets the eye."
"Damn, what the heck is she thinking!?" Zidane shouted again. "Maybe she's heading to Burmecia."
"Then you might still be able to catch up with her." Cid quickly said
Zidane went over to Vivi still who was dozing off a bit."Vivi, wake up! We're going to Burmecia!" Zidane yelled which got Vivi up quickly.
"Let's head for Gizamaluke's Grotto." Freya suggested. "Once we pass through the grotto, we will be in Burmecia."
"You can leave from the Dragon's Gate located on the Base Level." Cid informed us. "The Dragon's Gate should be opened by now."
"Right, let's go!" I said as me, Zidane, Freya and Vivi made a dash to the elevator and selected 'Base Level' on the panel. As the elevator began to descend, we began to talk.
"Freya, what's Gizamaluke's Grotto?" Vivi asked.
"Gizamaluke's Grotto is the home of the Burmecian's Battle Master, Master Gizamaluke." Freya said.
"I take it Gizamaluke's not of your race." I told Freya, whom nodded.
"He's more of a serpent-like manta ray monster, but he only attacks intruders." She says. "He trained me and the rest of the Burmecian army in the ways of the Dragon Knight."
"Impressive." I said. "Sounds quite like a master to have."
"Yes, even with your strength, you won't have an easy time with him alone, Ron." She warns me.
"Yeah, I feel sorry for those who cross him." I said. The elevator reaches the base level as we leave through Serpent's Gate.
The Mist was just as thick as ever, it was easy to get lost. Thankfully, I used my Aura Sight to scan the area for hostile life forms in the area. Minutes later, we came across a big a marshland area as we tried to navigate the area.
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(Play Qu's Marsh from Final Fantasy 9)
Inside the marsh were some traces of Mist but not enough to lose our way.
"We're inside the Qu's Marsh." I announce while looking at the Map. "Gizamaluke's Grotto is just due north of here."
"Well, since were here, why don't we explore the place?" Zidane suggested.
"Yes, maybe somebody here knows about the invasion taking place." Freya said with a thinking look.
"Hey look!" Vivi shouted while pointing to an open part inside the tall grass. We all walk over to spot as we inspected the grass.
"The grass seems to be disturbed by some thing large." Freya pondered.
"I guess monsters live here, too." Zidane said.
"Better to check it out with caution, eh?" I suggested. Everyone nodded. "I'll take point." I lead everyone threw the open path of the marsh. It was about a half a minute before….
"I hear water." Vivi said.
"Where?" I asked.
"Just outside that clearing." He said as we got out of the tall grass. We saw a small pond with a bridge separating it into two halves. We all see frogs inside water and on some small land patches croaking all the while.
"Wow, I've never seen so many frogs in one spot!" I exclaimed. There were about 15 frogs inhabiting the pond. If monsters were living here, these frogs wouldn't stand a chance.
"Man, this is quite a sight!" Zidane said in awe.
"Wow!" Vivi said crouching down near the pond.
"Not so close, Vivi." Freya told him.
"So hungry…" We all heard some said like it came from all sides. "Want frogs…." It sounded like an obese woman.
"What was that?" I asked putting on my trench knives.
"Don't know, but let's defend ourselves when ready!" Freya said as she whipped out her spear. We then heard something sniffing….
*Sniff, Sniff*
"FROGS!!" We heard the voice, then some loud footsteps against the mud approaching. Threw the grass across the bridge, we had come face-to-face with our intruder: A pale looking beast with plus-shaped eyes and a long pink tongue hanging out its mouth. It wore a chef's hat under its silver hair and a pink and blue dress under a white apron, maybe it was female. I immediately dropped my guard after knowing what it was.
"Stand down, guys; it's just a Qu." I said.
Freya put her spear down and looked at me. "That's a Qu?" She asked pointing to the strange looking beast as it looked at the pond full of frogs like an all you can eat buffet line.
"Yeah, these guys are experts in cooking food out of anything and make it taste good." I informed her, also grabbing the attention of Zidane and Vivi. "But to them, some things that are tasted too much goes bad on their taste buds. (A/N: An explanations on their blue mage learning skills)
"How so?" Zidane asked.
"They are also blue mages that learn their skills from eating monsters." I said but got a sick look on my face. "I just don't want to see them eating it."
"Wow, it's so cool that you know all of this information!" Vivi said.
"Thanks." I replied.
"How did you learn this stuff?" Zidane asked.
"I'm curious as well." Freya added.
"I travel a lot and read a lot different books." I lied. "Plus, its best to know about save havens and dangerous territories of the like."
As I was talking a frog was jumping near me and hid near my shoes. The Qu, on the other hand, tried and failed to get any frog in the ponds as they all hopped away at the last second.
"Sigh, I no can catch frog.." It muttered sadly. It was then I noticed the frog near me and I picked it up looking at it; big mistake…
"OOOH!" The Qu ran across the bridge knocking everyone over and stopping right in front of me. "You got frog! Frogs very good! Mmmm!" It said looking at frog while drooling while I was looking at it with a strange look.
"Hey!" Zidane shouted as he and others got up and dusted themselves off. "Who the heck do you think you are?"
"Me?" The Qu pointed to itself. "I called Quina."
"Okay, Quina, what's the idea of knocking everyone over!?" He yelled. "Doesn't a lady have more respect for others?"
"You shouldn't even say anything." I remarked at Zidane. "Or need I remind you of the incident on that cargo ship?"
"What incident?" Freya asked, being out of the loop.
"Oh, Zidane ended up touching Dagger's…." Vivi started but was interrupted by Zidane.
"VIVI!!" He shouted, while covering his mouth. I chuckled at how Zidane panics in a delicate situation that's not deadly.
"Anyway.." I said addressing Quina. "Quina, do you want this frog?" I held out the frog in my hands.
"Yes, yes! Yes, yes!" Quina shouted jumping up and down for joy. Once she was done, she held out her hands in a begging manner.
"...Alright. Here." I placed the frog in her hands as she took a few steps away.
"Yaaay! Mine, mine!" She shouted then, she ravenously ate the frog right in front of us without a care. I almost got sick from watching her eat.
'Ever hear of etiquette?' I thought. After a light snack, another Qu with a chef's hat walks over to us.. He had the same appearances as Quina but his clothing was a pair of blue overalls under a white apron.
"You pathetic, Quina." He said in a reprimanding tone. "Can't even feed yourself."
"But Master Quale, I hungry!" Quina pleaded. It fell on deaf ears as the Qu went out the in far reaches of the marsh. "Wait!" Quina ran after him.
"Should we follow them?" Zidane asked.
"I think so, they don't seem like bad people." I said, and then I added, "Unless you get in the way of their food."
We all followed Quina to a old shack that looks it belongs near a pier somewhere. As we all enter, we hear Quina being lectured by her master, Quale.
"Can't master art of eating just chasing frogs, Quina." Quale said as he sat down on a mat behind a short table.
"But, Master, frogs very good!" Quina replied. "Frogs here best! Better than Alexandria's."
Quale sighed as he knew he couldn't quell Quina's appetite for frogs. "Quina, you in darkness. Need some light. World big place." He said as he looked at her with knowledge. Many many foods. Alexandria just one kingdom. You need go out more, eat other food."
"Go out into world...?" Quina said as she shuddered. "Sound scary. Are there yummier frogs outside?"
"Of course!" He shouted, shaking Quina out of her fear and making the rest of us jump as well. "Many good frogs! All Qus love frogs the best. Eating frogs is key to growth. Qu marshes exist all over the world. Go eat frogs in other marshes. I promise, you get much learning." Quale then turned to us. "Traveler, please show Quina the world. Anywhere with good food."
Zidane looked perplexed. "You want me to take her with us?"
"Why not?" I asked. "If she can battle, she could help us fight off the invasion, plus with her skills as a gourmand, we could eat without breaking."
"Will I find yummier frogs outside?" Of course Quina had a one track mind. Most girls I've seen worry about looks, dreams, and marriage, Quina just wants to eat frogs. (A/N: Hope I don't insult any female readers out there. ;))
"There is plenty of stuff in the world that tastes better than frogs." Zidane said.
"Really really!?" Zidane nodded. "Okay, I go with you!"
Quale and Zidane groaned as if they made a terrible mistake as Quina waited with the Freya outside and Zidane who just made his exit.
As Vivi and I head out, he turns back around, looking at Quale.
"What's wrong, Vivi?" I asked.
"Um... That man looks exactly like my grandpa." Vivi said, shocking me.
"Your grandfather?" I said. "Your grandfather was a Qu?"
"Yeah... Maybe he knows my grandpa." He said. "I'm gonna go talk to him, Ron."
We both walked back to the Master Qu and Vivi was starting to examine his face.
"What wrong? Something on my face?" Quale asked.
"Um... Do you know a man named Quan?" Vivi asked.
Quale gasped before quickly composing himself. "...I not know that bigot!" He muttered quickly, but Vivi and I weren't convinced, so Vivi asked him another question.
"Grandpa Quan was a bit strange, but... How do you know him?"
"I-I no can answer." Quale stuttered as if he tried to get out of something.
"Grandpa Quan looks exactly like you, Mr. Quale..." Vivi stated.
"Of course. We from same tribe." Quale responded normally.
"So you really do know him!" I shouted at him.
"No!" Quale shouted back. "I not know this Quan!"
"Honestly...?" I said.
"Honestly…." He answered.
"Truthfully?"
"Truthfully."
"Did he do something to hurt you in anyway?" I quickly asked.
"Yes, he…" Quale was about to answer but quickly caught on. "I know not this Quan, go away!!"
I decided to end it there because it must've been pretty devastating for him. "That's too bad... Let's go, Vivi."
"Okay..." Vivi muttered as he took one final look at Quale before leaving behind me. We all saw Zidane and Freya outside waiting for us.
"What was all that commotion about?" Zidane asked.
"Just getting directions to a helpful place." I asked, and gave Vivi a looking saying, 'Don't worry, I won't blab about that incident in there.' He nodded as he adjusted his hat.
"To where?" Freya asked. I then notice the predicament I put myself in.
'Uh oh! Think of something, quick!' I thought while hiding my anxiety. I then snapped my fingers. "I remember now, east of this place is a forest with paths to valuable treasure that's said to help us."
"That's great, as soon as Quina's done we move out!" Zidane exclaimed.
"What's Quina doing?" Vivi asked.
"Training." Freya said bluntly. Soon enough, Quina showed up.
"I finish! We go now?" Quina asked.
"Yeah to the east!" I said as everybody left the marsh.
(End music)
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Walking through the Mist and across the bridge, we fought and killed off some weak monsters like these little red things called Hedgehog Pies. I know, but I didn't come up with the name. If I did, they would be actually pies! No one would eat them though. It was pretty uneventful until...
We saw a large pink dragon coming up towards us.
"An Ironite, how very droll." I said, getting my fists up.
"Don't worry, I've fought these before." Freya said. "Just follow my lead."
Freya lead us in the battle against the ironite. She was able to lead the dragon in her direction with her spear, letting Vivi smack it with a blizzard and Zidane striking with his double-bladed sword. When that happened, the dragon tried to slice us with its wings but at the wings stabbed down by Freya and I.
"Wow that was easy!" Vivi said looking at the bruised dragon that was failing to fly.
"Yeah, but we need to kill it before it call for backup." I said, about to slice off the head.
"HUNGRY!!!" But Quina had other plans, she rushed past me and started to stab and slice the dragon down with her weapon, which turned out to be an oversized fork! Strange, I know, but it does the job so I'm not complaining. But the next thing she did made me, turn away: She took the slice up pieces of the dragon and swallowed them whole; her stomach's like a bottomless pit!
"Oh…"
"…My…"
"…God."
Zidane, Freya and Vivi said as they looked on at Quina as she devoured her light snack as she puts it.
"Is it over yet?" I said still turned around.
"Yeah." Zidane said. I turned back around to see no trace of the Ironite left.
"Damn, you can put it away can you?" I said in astonishment.
"Let's just get to this forest, before I lose my lunch." Zidane said as we all came across the forest in question. We head into the forest and find another moogle riding on a wild chocobo. The chocobo took caution as it stood back a couple of steps before settling it eyes on me while it tilted its head a little.
'Is that chocobo staring at me?' I thought.
"Kupooo!!! I'm Mene, master of this forest!" The moogle said. "This chocobo is my friend, kupo. His name is Choco."
"Kweeeh!" Choco gave out a cry that might have meant 'Hello.'
"And this is Chocobo's Forest!" Mene said while raising its small arms around the place.
"Hey, did a cute girl with long hair come by here?" Zidane asked the moogle.
"No. But an ugly girl came by here." Mene answered.
"Oh... I guess she didn't come this way." Zidane said looking down. "Maybe she's heading toward Burmecia after all... I'd better get movin'."
"Yeah, and from the sounds of it, Queen Brahne's in that direction, too!" I added.
"You in a hurry, kupo?" Mene asked.
"Yeah, sort of." I answered.
"Then take Choco." He said looking to the chocobo. "You won't run into monsters if you ride Choco. Choco, come here."
Choco still looked at me with a vacant expression on his face.
"It's okay. Don't force him..." Zidane said.
"No." Mene said. "If Choco hates, Choco runs away. Choco, come on! Kupo!!!"
"Kweeeh!!!" Choco shouted as it ran towards me.
"Huh?" I saw the yellow bird running towards me. "Hey, stop!" I shouted putting my hands out. Suddenly, Choco just stops right in front of me. "Huh?"
Choco then starts rubbing his face towards mine. His feathers were soft against my cheek as I started to pet him.
"He likes me?" I asked no one in particular. Zidane was also confused to how one minute the Chocobo wanted to rush at me, the next he's being buddy-buddy with me.
"I guess so." Mene answered. "I can just get to the point, kupo." He pulled out a pouch full of green plants shaped like a claw. "These are Gysahl Greens! You can call Choco outside the forest with these. Find chocobo footprints outside anywhere in the world,kupo. Use Gysahl Greens there, and Choco will come. Choco likes you, kupo. You call, and he'll come! Please train Choco! Make him strong! I'll also tell you a big secret, kupo."
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Choco has the power to seek out treasure from ancient tablets I call Chocographs, kupo!" Mene said pulling out a stone which looked like it had a picture of a river on it.
"It has a picture on it?" I asked, looking over the acclaimed Chocograph.
"Yes, I think it leads to treasure, kupo!" I said. "Can you figure it out?"
'Hmm, from the looks of this, I see that this location is just right outside!' I thought as a flash over that river we crossed to get here.
"I'll be right back!" I said. "I know where to find this!"
"Okay." Zidane said as the others nodded.
I looked at Choco who was already crouching down so I can mount him. As soon as I got on his back, he lifted up and walked out of the forest.
"Okay, Choco?" I asked.
"Kweh?" He looks up to me.
"Look at this graph then check your surroundings for the location, kay?" I informed him.
"Kweh!" He nodded as I let him look at the graph. After a minute, we set off across the bridge near the shores. "KWEEEHHHH!!!"
"You found it?" I asked. He responded by using his beak and the claws on his feet to start digging. It took about 10 minutes before the treasure was dug up, afterwards Choco was tired. "I guess that's what Mene meant about training you to be strong." I opened the treasure by punching the worn-out locking and it reveal some battle gear!
"Alright, let's get this to the guys!" I fed Choco some greens and he was good to go. His endurance was okay, but his speed was amazing, maybe because he knows the way home.
"Hey guys, I'm back!" I shouted as me and Choco entered the forest.
"What did you find?" Vivi asked.
"Battle Gear!" I said tossing a new Oak staff to Vivi, a Battle Vest to Zidane and some gauntlets to Freya. I got some boots that felt good against my feet. After a few minutes of outfitting we set off to Gizamaluke's Grotto, just hope we're ready to stop Brahne…..
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Sorry this is a short chapter, but I'm having problems with my beat up laptop so I'll save the action for the last 3 chapters. That's right I'm almost done with Book 1 of the Melodies of Life Chronicles! Wish me luck!
Next Time: We reached the Grotto but all is not going well for the good side. We see wounded and dead Burmecian soldiers left and right, while the Black Mages are cleaning house. Also, where's this Master Gizamaluke when you need him? You'll hate the answer.
Next Chapter: Only Way Out: Fight the Master!
Please Rate and Review! See ya!