Chapter 11: The Castle In The Lake

The trip back to the Marshwoods took slightly less time than making their way to Nimufu's tower had, since they were descending the mountains and had a better knowledge of the terrain on their second trip. All the same, it was just as wet, and thus unpleasant, as their previous journey had been, and they were all in relatively poor moods by the time they finally reached their destination and walked back inside to meet Jean.

"Ah, mon amis!" The giant frog cried as they approached. "Please, please, tell me you have the cure for this curse?"

"We do, Jean," Nina told him. "We should have figured it out ourselves. One of us is going to have to kiss you."

"Ah?" The frog blinked, then smiled. "Ah, of course! Such a simple thing! By all means, then, kiss me as much as you like!"

"You want to do this, or should I?" Katt asked her; the men, wisely, all chose to remain silent for the moment.

"He's one of my oldest friends," Nina said, sounding as if she was about to put her hand into a fire. "It's to help him. I'll do it. I can definitely do this. If everybody would just... look away for a moment, please?"

"Yeah." Ryu nodded quickly, as did the others. "Right, of course." They all turned their backs, Katt included, and waited. A few moments of silence passed, and then they heard Jean speak again.

"Ah, mademoiselle Nina, you are-ooooh!" The giant frog started to say, then broke off, ribbiting repeatedly. There was a sudden explosion, and they all whirled around to see Nina stumbling out of a cloud of smoke, coughing. She wasn't alone; a young, green-scaled Creeper clansman followed her out, choking as well. He was overweight, but not grossly, and taller than any of them save for Rand, like most of his Clan. Fortunately, it seemed his clothes had transformed with him; he wore an expensive-looking doublet in white and blue with gold trim and matching boots with green hose. A red scarf was wrapped around his neck, the same color as his cheerful eyes, and a rapier hung at his waist.

"Prince Jean, I presume?" Ryu asked, offering him his hand.

"Indeed, indeed!" The Prince seized his hand and shook it warmly. "Bonjour, everybody! My name is Ekaru Hoppe de pe Tapeta, but please, just call me Jean! Merci beaucoup for saving me!" His voice was surprisingly deep, and the accent odd, but melodious. "Yourself especially, mademoiselle Nina, yes?"

"You'd have done the same for me, Jean," Nina told him. "It's good to see you again. You've become quite handsome, haven't you?"

"Ah, you are too kind, mon ami!" He put a hand to his chest. "True, but kind, though I pale in comparison to your own beauty, and that of this charming young lady as well! Will you not introduce me to... ah, but wait!" He blinked. "I seem to recall a necessity to travel to Simafort, my dear home, do I not?"

"Yeah," Sten agreed. "We're chasing down a thief, and that's where the trail leads."

"A thief?" Jean's eyes glittered. "Then we must make haste! Introductions can wait! Tonight, we dine in Simafort! Follow me, mon amis!" Without waiting for a response, he dashed out of the Marshwoods.

"Does he actually think we can make it to Lake Sima in one day?" Rand asked in the silence that followed.

"I get the feeling that thinking isn't really his strong suit," Ryu pointed out. "Come on, let's follow him. We don't want him to get lost."

"Depends on how much he keeps up the sweet-talking," Katt commented as they started after him. "Only so much of that I can take before I start punching, you know? And I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to do that to royalty."

"Only pretty sure?" Rand muttered.

"You'd be hard-pressed to do worse to him than his sister has, from the stories I've heard," Nina told her.

"Sounds like the kind of girl I'd get along with," Katt replied, glancing around as they emerged from the Marshwoods. "Now where did he go?"

"Yo." Sten pointed to the west, where Jean was hopping up and down, waving his hand. "Looks like he's found something he wants to show us."

"It had better not be a pretty flower," Ryu muttered. "Let's go check it out." As they approached, they saw that he'd found a river, and was standing on the bank. Before they could reach him, however, there was a splash behind the Prince, and a gigantic catfish with muscular arms and legs pulled itself out of the water. "Hey, look out! Behind you, man!"

"Ah?" Jean turned his head as the catfish lunged for him. "Oh, no! Mon ami, you are making a terrible mistake! I implore you to reconsider!"

"Shit and double shit!" Sten snapped as they ran towards the Prince, then blinked, noticing that Nina was hanging back and smiling. "Huh? Wait a second here..." The catfish had taken another swipe at him, and missed just like it had the first time, webbed hands brushing past the Prince without drawing blood.

"No? Ah well, I warned you!" Jean said, drawing a thin rapier from his belt. Sliding the catfish's next attack away from him with a delicate flick of his blade, he lunged and took it through the heart. Pulling the rapier back out, he leaned back and gently pushed it back into the river with the toe of his boot as it died. "May you be wiser in your next life, yes?"

"Can't say I expected that," Rand commented as they all slowed down to a halt around Jean, their assistance clearly not required.

"You've been keeping up your practice, I see," Nina said as she joined them at a more sedate pace.
"It pays to be able to defend yourself, yes?" Jean daintily cleaned his blade before sheathing it with a flourish. "I may not be quite up to the same standards of such experienced professionals as yourselves-any of you would have executed that poor creature before it could even attack, yes?-but neither am I helpless."

"Pretty slick," Ryu conceded, hastily reevaluating his initial opinion of the Creeper Prince; by the looks on the others' faces, he wasn't the only one doing so. "I hope that wasn't what had you so excited that you called us over to see it, though."

"Ah?" Jean blinked, then chuckled. "Ah, no! No, this is our way back to my home! This river connects with Lake Sima!"

"Can't say I'm all that great a swimmer," Katt told him, eyeing the river skeptically; it wasn't exactly raging, but neither was it still.

"I do a great anchor impersonation," Rand agreed, and Sten nodded as well.

"I can manage in a lake, but this looks a bit out of my depth."

"No, no, no, no, no!" Jean corrected them. "That will not be necessary! Observe, mon amis!" He closed his eyes, and in a puff of smoke, transformed back into the shape of the gigantic frog they had first seen him as. "Simply climb onto my back, grab hold of my ears to steady yourselves, and we shall be off!"

"The Breath of Rivers." Ryu snapped his fingers. "I get it. The witch didn't transform you into that. She just froze you in that form so you couldn't turn back." He glanced at the others. "Well, people? I don't know about the rest of you, but making Simafort in one day sounds like a good idea to me."

"Yeah, can't argue with that one," Rand agreed, clambering on; even his massive frame was dwarfed by the huge frog's size. The others followed him, Ryu with more difficulty than Sten and Katt; Nina, of course, simply flew over and landed on his back.

"We're all ready, Jean," she told him once they'd all grabbed hold of the ear fins.

"Most excellent!" The frog replied, leaping into the river with a hop that rattled them all and a splash which doused the land where they'd been standing. He began swimming south, keeping his back and head above water, at a pace that had trees and bushes whipping past them as if blown by a ridiculously strong wind.

"Fast," Sten commented after a few minutes.

"Yep," Katt agreed. There really wasn't much more to say aside from that, and so none of them bothered. After the back-and-forth of the previous weeks, it was nice to just relax, hold on and enjoy the ride down the river. The speed was fast, but not so much as to be uncomfortable, and Jean seemed experienced at carrying passengers, enough to keep from disturbing them as he made his way back to his home.

Eventually, the river opened up into Lake Sima, the colossal body of water at the center of the kingdom. Jean's pace slowed then, without the water currents to assist his swimming speed, but he still moved at a fast clip, and it wasn't long before the shoreline was no longer visible behind them. Being surrounded by water as far as the eye could see on the back of a giant frog was slightly disconcerting, but for obvious reasons, Ryu didn't actually say so.

Soon after that, a speck in the distance rising from the water began to grow larger and larger as they approached, becoming clearly visible; it was Simafort, the capital of the country and the only city in the world to be built on water. Steep, moss-covered gray walls loomed forebodingly overhead, impregnable and unscalable, with towertops inside peeping over the edges. The only entrance above the water was a single, solitary dock protruding from the south end; it was this that Jean homed in on like a magically guided arrow, hopping on as soon as he reached it.

"And here we are!" He announced happily as they climbed off, transforming back into his normal form once they were clear. "Come, come! All the pleasures of Simafort await us!" He took off, running across the unguarded dock towards the main entrance, and the others followed in his wake more sedately.

"Something occurs to me," Nina murmured.

"Yeah?" Ryu glanced at her. "What's that?"

"This is going too well," she explained. "It's too easy. Considering our track record, what are the odds that we'd suddenly wrap this up this quickly and cleanly?"

"Not too likely," Sten agreed, stretching his arms out a ridiculous length in front of him. "We'd better get ready for something bad happening."

"Come on, guys, cheer up!" Katt grabbed him around the shoulders and knuckled his head fur. "We finally get our lucky break, and all you do is complain about it?"

"She's got a point." Rand smiled briefly. "And it's not like we didn't earn this, after everything we had to do to turn him back to normal."

"What they said." Ryu grinned. "I'm looking forward to this."

Sten and Nina exchanged a glance, but didn't argue the point further.

"Welcome, welcome to Simafort!" Jean crowed, throwing the double doors open as he ran inside. Stopping in the front hall, he whirled around to face them again, spreading his arms. "This is my home! Lovely, no? All that you see is at your service!" He seemed unaware of the way startled courtiers in blue doublets and golden gowns were backing away from him, or of the pair of guards who had taken one look at him and taken off immediately.

"Not bad at all," Ryu had to admit, looking around with feigned casualness. The castle's halls were both elegant and intimidating, a warren of passageways and balconies spreading out in every direction possible. Everything was the same grim gray stone as the exterior, but tapestries, lush carpets and stained glass windows lent the surroundings a more polished touch. The overall effect was like an old soldier who'd taken up butlering in his retirement; smooth and cultured, but with an intimidating presence still visible behind it all.

"Ah, my people!" Jean had finally noticed the courtiers, whose scales displayed a wide variety of colors, though the men seemed to tend towards the same green as his own while most of the women were a vibrant pink. "Come, come, your beloved Prince has returned! Shower me with love and affection!" He paused, frowning for a moment as they all backed away further, muttering to each other under their breaths. "What is wrong? Do not be shy!"

"I knew it," Sten and Nina muttered in unison as the two guards who had left before returned, accompanied by a dozen more.

"This is the one, all right," the apparent leader said, nodding at the first two. "Good job, men." They were all wearing a somewhat archaic style of gold-painted armor that looked more ornamental than functional, with crested, open-faced helmets. Vests and skirts of plate mail were worn over crimson shirts and leggings, and their shoes were pointed. Despite that, the swords they all wore at their waists were still very real, and they all drew them in unison as they surrounded Jean, ignoring the rest of them.

"This isn't looking too good," Sten muttered under his breath. "I'm out of touch with the political situation in Sima, but this doesn't look like a coup, in any case. They'd be reacting differently if that was it."

"Sir, could you come with us?" The leader asked, advancing on Jean with his hands held out cautiously; he was the only one without a blade. He moved like a snake, suddenly pulling Jean's head down and pinning him.

"No no no no no!" Jean protested, struggling. "Ow ow ow ow ow! Do not put me into a headlock! This is no way to treat your prince!"

"That's right, that's right," the guard captain kept saying in a soothing voice as he forced Jean to the floor. "You're a good boy. Just take it easy." A nod from him prompted two of the guards to sheath their swords again and grab him by his arms and legs, hoisting him into the air, and they carried him off down a side passage.

"Hey hey hey hey hey!" Jean continued to yelp. "It is fun to be carried, yes? But this is most embarrassing! Everybody is staring at me! As your prince, I must protest! I insist that you release me at once, or I shall become cross!"

"Why do all the weirdos come out in the summertime?" The guard captain muttered as they left. "I'd better get hazard pay for this."

"Well," Ryu said once they were gone. "That sure was something." Deprived of the main event, the courtiers were all staring at them now, whispering to themselves.

"You're sure he was the prince?" Rand muttered to Nina.

"Positive." She nodded. "It's been a long time, but not that long. Something very wrong is going on here." Another group of soldiers was approaching them, and the courtiers were departing the hall, some of them very quickly.

"Kuwadora, Kuwadora!" A voice said from the center of the group, rich and resonant; the accent they all had made him sound cultured and refined rather than silly. The soldiers parted, revealing a tall, brawny Creeper Clansman with bright blue scales. He was handsome, with a strong jaw and cheekbones, and muscular without being massive; the white and gold vest he wore with matching leggings showed off his well-built arms to maximum effect. He wore a red cape down to the backs of his knees, and a thin, light gold crown as well. Despite his good looks, his eyes were cold and emotionless as he looked them over. "You are the ones who brought... that man... to us, yes?"

"That's correct, your highness." Ryu met his gaze, and noted a small smirk pass the man's lips for a moment. "He told us that he was Prince Jean of Simafort."

"As he tells many others." The man shrugged. "He is a well-known imposter, with a history of mental illness. In short, he believes he is me. I am Prince Ekaru Hoppe De Tapeta, you see. We keep him in custody to prevent him from harming himself and others with his delusions, but he recently escaped."

"Really?" Nina's gaze was openly hostile. "How strange. It's been some time since we last met, your highness. Do you remember me?"

"Should I?" The Prince met her eyes, a challenging gleam coming into his. "While you are a beautiful young lady, of course, I must confess you have me at a disadvantage. When was this, and under what circumstances?"

"I..." Nina started to say, then hesitated, and the tiny smirk crossed his face for only a moment once again as she looked downward, clenching her fists. "It was many years ago, while you were visiting Windia. It's unimportant. Forgive my rudeness."

"Of course, of course." The Prince turned his gaze back to Ryu. "I suppose I should express my gratitude to you for returning the madman to us, even if you were gullible enough to believe his foolishness."

"It was no problem, your highness," Ryu said, eyes narrowing, as Rand put a cautious hand on Katt's arm. "We're Rangers. We're used to doing public services."

"Is that so?" He raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Good, good. Then we can simply brush this entire matter under the table, yes? Say, perhaps, that I hired you to recover an escaped lunatic, and then, say that you did so, and I paid you for your troubles. By some coincidence, I believe a boat will be waiting at the dock outside to return you to the mainland, and that a sizable sum of money has been carelessly left in said boat."

"You're a generous man, your highness," Ryu replied calmly. "That sounds logical enough to me, I suppose."

"Excellent." He nodded. "Forgive the rudeness, then, but I must ask you to be on your way. We are not... fond... of casual visitors, here at Simafort, you see. Oh, I know we must seem to be nothing but luxury and elegance to such people as yourselves, but many of the people here are not quite as pleasant as they appear." His face assumed an expression of tragic regret. "In particular, there is a faction of court which is not in favor of cultivating relationships with other Clans. I am afraid I could not guarantee your safety if you were to remain."

"We'll be on our way immediately," Ryu told him. "If we could only ask for a moment more of your time first? We're searching for a female thief with-"

"My time is valuable, Mr. Bateson," the Prince interrupted him, and the last part of the puzzle clicked into place in Ryu's mind; he hadn't given his name. "I cannot waste it on such nonsense. I know nothing of any thieves, female or otherwise. We do not have such things here at Simafort. Conduct your search elsewhere."

"Your highness." One of the guards stepped forward. "What about the..." He trailed off as the Prince turned his gaze on him.

"Was there something, soldier?"

"Ah... no, your highness." The guard backed off, pale and sweating suddenly. "I was mistaken. Forgive me."

"Perhaps." The Prince turned back to Ryu. "Now then, I must insist that you leave immediately. A storm is coming, you see, very soon, and if you were to be caught over open water in a boat... it does not bear thinking about, no?"

"I suppose not," Ryu agreed, nodding slowly. "We'll be off, then."

"Merci! Thank you for your understanding." The Prince turned away, and Ryu's group did so as well, only to freeze when he spoke again. "Ah, one last thing. Should your business take you to the land of Tantar sometime soon, please convey my regards to my good friends, Augus Conte and Joker Heart, yes?"

When they turned their heads back to stare in disbelief, he was gone, leaving the guards to glare at them.

"We'd better get out of here, boss," Sten hissed under his breath. "Otherwise, this is going to turn real ugly, real fast."

"I'm aware." Ryu turned on his heel and began walking towards the front door, fists clenched. "Let's go."

"Ryu," Katt muttered as they walked with him. "That guy's-"

"I know," he snapped. "And it's not our problem. Not unless we're getting paid for it, which as far as I'm aware, wer'e not. We'll talk about it once we're out of here."

"What about Jean?" Rand asked. "I don't think I have to tell you-"

"I know." Ryu shoved the doors open and walked out onto the dock. "I said we'll talk about it once-now what the hell is this?"

In the short time they'd been inside, a young Creeper woman had apparently arrived on the dock by some means other than the door. Her gown was golden, and she wore a heavier crown than the Prince's on her head, with a wimple attached to it. Her scales were pink, and more vibrant than most of the other women inside; in a flash of insight, Ryu realized that they were her natural color, and the other ladies had painted theirs, likely for fashion. More importantly, she was lugging a rock somewhat larger than her own head across the dock with impressive strength.

"Not bad at all," Katt commented quietly, watching her go. "I'd always thought courtiers would be useless, but she's pretty good."

"Don't think courtiers wear crowns," Sten pointed out. "You said Prince Jean has a sister, right, Nina?"

"Yes, Princess Petape," Nina replied; they'd all paused to watch. "I've never met her, though."

"Come on, come on..." The Princess was muttering to herself as she trudged across the dock, arms shaking. "Only a little bit more... you can do it, Petape!"

"Hey, wait a second!" Rand yelped as they all looked at her apparent target, a small rowboat. "That's our ticket out of here!"

"Shit!" Ryu yelled. "Hey, wait!"

"Heave ho!" Petape cried, ignoring them, and dumped the rock into the boat as they all rushed up. The massive stone smashed through the bottom of the boat like it was made of paper, and the vessel filled with water instantly. All five of them and the princess stood side-by-side on the edge of the dock, watching the broken remnants sink out of sight in silence.

"So much for our boat," Rand said eventually.

"And our money," Sten added with a sigh. "Why does this place keep making me think we've walked into a comedic play?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Ryu turned on the princess, growling. "If you don't mind, an explanation would be nice, your Highness. Have we met?"

"Of course not!" She snapped, then paused, seeing the angry looks on all of their faces. Before any of them could say anything, she'd thrown herself on Rand, burying her face in his chest and starting to sob. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I really had no other choice! Forgive me!"

"Uh... ma'am?" Rand asked, looking uncomfortable. "Could you, uh..." He glanced around. "Guys? A little help here?"

"And what, exactly, do you want us to do?" Nina asked archly.

"You are the ones who came in with my brother, yes?" Petape asked, pulling away from Rand suddenly; her face bore no traces of the crying fit. "Then you are my only hope, and his, and all of Simafort's! Please, let me explain!"

"That's what we just asked you to do," Ryu pointed out, but the princess had turned her head to stare at the front door.

"Somebody's coming!" She hissed. "They can't know you're still here! Quickly, into the water!"

"Wait, what, whoa!" Katt protested as she began shoving them off the dock. Rand was first, and his flailing knocked both Nina and Sten in as well; before Ryu or Katt could respond, the princess had shoved them in the drink too before jumping off herself. The big man sank immediately, and with a significant glance, Petape dove under as well.

"What was that noise?" A male voice from the dock said as the other four followed them down, Katt and Sten diving after Rand, who was paddling frantically. Something was wrong about how heavy he felt, but Ryu wasn't sure what it was.

"Those people who were here must have dropped something when they were leaving," another man replied, their voices sounding strange through the water. Rand was still sinking, despite Katt's and Sten's efforts to help him. With a glance at Nina, Ryu swam over as well, as did she. "Funny, I can't see their boat."

"Never mind that, what do we do, Tata?" The first one demanded. "Who would have thought the real Prince would have returned? We all thought he was gone for good!"

"Don't be a fool, Pepe!" The second one snapped. "The Prince returned here months ago. That man is the imposter, not the first one! Isn't that right?"

"Of course, of course," Pepe agreed quickly. "I'm not stupid, Tata. I'm just saying, if other people decide there would be some gain in supporting this new imposter, things could get very ugly at court soon. You know as well as I do that the first prince doesn't look anything like his Highness used to, while this second one..."

"I know, I know," Tata growled. Ryu began looking frantically around for Petape; they weren't having any luck getting Rand to the surface, and his lungs were killing him. "Something's going to have to happen to him, then, before anybody gets any ideas."

"You two!" A third voice suddenly yelled. "Stop slacking off! You're both on guard duty for the Prince imposter!" A short silence followed that, during which Ryu suddenly remembered he'd been wearing chain mail, before one of them spoke again.

"Do you mean the first one, or the second one?" Pepe asked hesitantly.

"Idiots!" The third man shouted. "I mean the one in the cells! How many imposters do you think we have around here? Get going!" There was the sound of a door slamming.

"He can't possibly be that stupid, you know," Tata scoffed. "He's just pretending to be, because he's smart. And if we're smart, we'll do the same. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Pepe muttered. "I'm just saying, even for Simafort, letting this happen to our own prince is..."

"Fine, fine!" Tata said sharply. "Look, if we're watching him, that means we can make sure nothing happens to him, right? Right! And if we sneak him a little extra food and water, nobody'll be able to stop us, right? Right! Now come on, let's go before he comes back!"

"Hey, hey, I was just talking!" Pepe protested, voice fading away as they left. "I don't want to stick my neck out!"

If Tata said anything more, Ryu didn't hear it. His breath was gone, and he couldn't rise to the surface; none of them could. As darkness filled his eyes and his mind, the last thing he saw was a gigantic pink frog swimming towards them, and then he was gone.

Power. We need your power. God needs your power. Give yourself to our God. Pray to God. Praise God. Sacrifice your bodies and souls to God. You are destined to become God's power...

Ryu's eyes shot open, and he threw himself from the bed, rushing past his startled friend and the princess to the open door he'd seen out of the corner of his eye. He made it to the toilet just in time to violently throw up an astonishing amount of water. Once he was done, he glanced wearily at what seemed to be an indoor waterfall before shrugging and using it to clean himself off, noticing in passing that he was thankfully still fully dressed.

"Don't know about you guys, but I think that beats all of our wake-ups, hands down," Sten commented drily from the doorway.

"Shut up," Ryu growled, turning around. They were all there, looking soaked and miserable but still alive, save for Petape, who was watching him curiously as if nothing at all amiss had happened recently. "Everybody okay?"

"Define 'okay,'" Katt replied irritably. "We're still alive, at least."

"Probably the best we're going to get, under the circumstance,." Ryu muttered, then glared at Petape as he walked back out. They were in what looked like a guards' bedroom, with multiple bunks lining the walls. "Well?"

"Well yourself!" The princess replied testily. "If you couldn't swim very well, why didn't you say so? And wearing armor while doing so! How silly can you get?"

"That does it!" Katt yelled. "I'm gonna-"

"Easy." Rand put a hand on her shoulder. "No pummeling princesses. It'll give us all a bad reputation."

"Aw, come on!" Katt struggled to break free of his grip. "Come on, Ryu! Let me punch her just once!"

"Rand's right, I'm afraid," Ryu said reluctantly before turning back to Petape. "We're professionals, your Highness. A certain amount of equipment is sort of requisite. I'm sure this has all been very amusing for you, but I believe we're done here, so if you'll excuse me, we'll be on our way now."

"No, wait!" She protested as he walked past her. "You have to help me!"

"Bet?" Sten asked as they began putting their armor back on.

"You seem to be under some misconceptions, your Highness," Nina told her as she watched the others reclaim their gear. "We're not heroes. We're hired adventurers, and we're under no obligation to assist you."

"Not unless you're paying us," Katt added. "And after what you just put us through, sister, I don't think even you have that much money."

"What I..." Petape started to shout, then paused. With a great deal of effort, she kept her voice calm as she continued. "Didn't anything seem odd to you about how easily that boat broke? You saw it, didn't you?"

"She's got a point," Rand admitted, stopping in his tracks. "I'm no sailor, but I know wood, and that was weird, even with how heavy that rock was."

"You saying that it was rigged?" Sten asked, eyes narrowing.

"Exactly." Petape nodded firmly. "You never would have made it back to the other side of the lake before it sank. The imposter was trying to kill you, and I saved your lives, so at least hear me out, will you?"

"If he wanted to do that, he could have just had those guards take care of us," Ryu replied, but he hesitated as well.

"That's not the way they do things here," Nina told him. "Outright shows of force are... frowned upon, at Simafort."

"Ha!" Petape snorted. "That's a polite way of putting it. I'd have said it would be the same as admitting to the court you didn't have the finesse to do it subtly. Nobody gets 'taken care of' here at Simafort. They just... disappear. That's why I need your help, all of you. If somebody doesn't save him, soon, my real brother will be next." She was acting completely differently from her previous show of hysterics now; sitting down in a chair, she continued. "You heard those two on the dock, right? Everybody here's the same."

"They all know he's an imposter, then?" Katt frowned, still trying to keep up. "So then why don't they do anything about it?"

"Exactly!" Petape pounded a fist on the arm of the chair. "They should all be crying, 'kill the imposter,' and forming a mob! But no, this is an opportunity. The moment he showed up here, they all started thinking about how they could play the situation to their advantage." She sneered. "The imposter has established that he's very generous to his friends, you see. He's a smart one, I'll give him that. He's playing the entire court like a lute."

"So why don't you do the same thing?" Nina asked mildly. "You can't tell me you don't have any power at court yourself. You're the princess, after all."

"I don't play their games," Petape said firmly. "I never have, any more than my real brother did. That's part of why he spends so much time out in the countryside adventuring; he's always hated all of the corruption here. Even if I was to start playing politics now, nobody would risk themselves by taking my side. They all think I'm a hysterical, spoiled, self-centered, melodramatic adolescent."

"I wonder why," Sten muttered under his breath.

"Shh." Rand hushed him.

"I guess I can see why you wouldn't want to get involved in that," Ryu admitted, and Katt nodded as well. "Sounds like a dirty business. There's still your father, right? The King? You can't tell me he doesn't know his own son."

"My father is about to have his seventy-fifth birthday," Petape replied quietly. "I'm afraid I can tell you that. His mind is barely there on a good day."

"I was afraid of that." Nina sighed. "I'd heard the rumors, of course, but... well then, that just leaves one question. Why us?"

"You're my brother's friends, aren't you?" Petape demanded. "If this goes on, you know what will happen to him." She paused, then narrowed her eyes. "Or is it about the money? The coins the imposter put in the boat with you were false. I checked them while I was waiting for you all to wake up. I don't have much zenny on me right now, but I'll access the treasury as soon as possible. Would 4,000 zenny be sufficient?"

"We'd, uh... we'd appreciate that." Ryu coughed, trying to keep from reacting visibly to the amount. "Normally, we'd ask for half up front for a job like this, but you're right about one thing. Jean's an okay guy, so we'll make an exception. The money can wait until later. We'll take this job for you if you'll be willing to officially hire us as Princess of Simafort... and if you tell us everything you know about the fake, and about a young female thief with black wings who we've heard is in the area. That's what we're here for, you see. We chased her all the way from Auria."

"I see," Petape murmured. "You're smarter than you look, aren't you? Very well. We have a deal. I don't know how you heard about it, but that description does indeed match a thief who attempted to steal the royal sword of Simafort a week ago."
"Is she still here?" Katt asked quickly.

"She is." Petape nodded. "We caught her, and she's been imprisoned."

"Yes!" Ryu pumped his fist in the air. "Finally! We did it!" He whooped as the others all cheered as well, raising their own fists up to bump his. "Of course, we'll have to clear things up here first, but once we do, I take it you won't mind if we haul her back to Auria to account for some crimes there?"

"By all means," Petape agreed, smiling slightly. "If you came all this way chasing her, it must be something significant. Now, as for the imposter, I have no idea who he is. He just came in one day, pretending to be my brother, and several members of the nobility backed him up. Paid for, of course. Whoever he is, he's independently wealthy, very well-connected, and a deadly fighter. I'd think he was just a puppet for some faction of court trying to seize control, but looking at him... I can't believe that he'd let anybody else tell him what to do easily. He's probably been planning this for years."

"This isn't going to be easy," Nina murmured. "We'll have to either prove beyond a doubt that he's an imposter, in a way the court will accept, or we'll have to discredit him politically. Either one will be highly difficult."

"We can work on that later," Katt chimed in. "The first thing we've got to do is make sure he doesn't have any 'accidents.' Even I know that much. We've got to bust him out of that cell he's in before the imposter gets rid of him."

"Oh, here!" Standing up, Petape crossed to a chest and opened it, rummaging around inside. "I know I hid them in here somewhere... aha!" Turning back around, she produced them with some strange devices; glass tubes that looked like they were meant to rest around the neck, with vented apparatus for breathing through and mechanical boxes on the rear ends. "Here. You'll need these if you want to operate around here."

"Mind if I ask what they are?" Ryu asked skeptically, then glanced at Sten, whose eyes had widened. "Sten? You recognize these things?"

"Those are artificial gills, aren't they?" The Highlander asked, staring at the devices. "Do you have any idea how much the Maniro clan charge for those things?"

"Why do you think the Creeper Clan has been trying to build our own models?" Petape replied, smirking. "I'm afraid we haven't been completely successful yet; these only work in fresh water, not salt water. But they should be perfect here."

"Wait, wait, wait." Rand blinked. "Artificial gills? As in, these things will let us breath underwater?"

"Oh, hell yes." Katt grabbed one quickly, and the others all followed suit. "All right, you're forgiven for that whole mess."

"I'm glad to hear it," Petape said dryly. "You'll need those; obviously, you won't be able to just walk around the castle openly. With these gills, you can take the underwater back passageways. That's how I got you here." Walking over to a corner of the room, she lifted a hatch, revealing the waters of the lake. "Climb down here, turn right, and take the second left to reach the dungeons. If you need to leave Simafort, by the way, it's the third right from here to return to the docks; I've already had one of my personal guards leave another small boat hidden by the tunnel where this comes out. One that won't sink on you, this time."

"We'll know how soon we're going to need that once we get into Jean's cell." Ryu settled the gills around his neck. "The sooner we get down to that, the better, then. Especially since we're already wet."

"Man's got a point," Katt agreed. "You use it like this, right?" She fitted the breathing apparatus over her face, and Petape nodded. "Okay, cool. We're pretty lucky you had all the right sizes."

"No kidding," Rand muttered, adjusting his uncomfortably. "Shall we, then?"

"Right." Ryu glanced at Petape. "Stand back and let us handle the rough business, your highness." He led the way down a ladder into the underwater tunnel; the gills worked perfectly, as if he was breathing from a supply of air. Once he was at the bottom of the passageway, he walked slowly forward through the water, following Petape's instructions. At the end of the side tunnel she'd directed them to, another ladder brought them up into a hallway lined on both sides with barred cells, most of which seemed to be empty.

"Hold it right there," a Creeper clansman in a full suit of plate armor told them, covered head to toe in solid steel. Standing up from the chair he'd been sitting in, he loomed over them, casually holding a spear in one hand. "You're the guys who came in with this idiot, right? Don't tell me you're here to visit him."

"Maybe we are," Ryu replied casually as the others formed ranks around him. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Afraid so, seeing as how I've been instructed not to allow visitors," the guard explained unsympathetically. "Ever. Which means the only way you're going to get into his cell is by going through me. And you guys would be pretty stupid to try that."

"All right." Ryu shrugged, glancing over his shoulder as Petape climbed off of the ladder. "Hey, your highness! How much to kill this guy?"

"Wait, what?" The jailer blinked.

"If he's standing guard here, the imposter's paid him off," Petape said angrily. "How does adding another thousand to your bill sound?"

"Good enough!" Ryu decided, drawing his sword and blocking the jailer's first startled jab. "Take him down, people!"

"All right!" Katt darted forward and swept her staff at the back of his legs; though the wood completely failed to penetrated, it did bring the armored man crashing down to the floor, and she was able to sidestep the thrust he made at her with his spear as he fell.

"Not good enough, chump-whoa!" Sten yelped as his own charge was interrupted by a fireball that caught him in the chest, blasting him back into the water.

"It's not going to be that easy, mon amis!" The jailer taunted them, then howled as Nina and Rand both struck out with twin bolts of lightning, the electricity roaring through his steel armor like a living being. "Merde..." Smoking and hissing, he raised a hand once the spells were done, and an avalanche of healing magic poured over him, at least three times as powerful as any spell Bow or Rand had ever cast before.
"Oh, no you don't," Ryu grunted, kicking him onto his back and stomping on his spear. Katt pinned his other hand down with the butt of her staff, and then Sten was back, climbing over him to pull his helmet up and cut his throat with one clean slash.

"End of the line," the Highlander said bluntly, jumping off of him. The jailer tried to croak something out, but failed, and died with a sigh.

"Wow," Petape whispered, eyes wide. "You really..." She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

"Killed him?" Katt shrugged. "Sure we did. We're mercs, aren't we? It's how we make a living." She examined her wooden battlestaff distastefully. "Of course, if we're gonna be going up against assholes like that on a regular basis, I really need to get a better weapon. This one won't cut it against plate mail."

"Jean always told me that armory here was very diverse," Nina told her. "Perhaps once we've taken care of this problem, they'll have one."

"Jean?" Petape glanced at her. "You know my brother, young lady?"

"Er." Nina's face went pale. "Yes, we've met before."

"Hmmmm." Petape looked her over slowly. "I see. Well, it's none of my business, really. Let's get him out of that cell, shall we?" She walked past her down the hall, leaving her still trying to work out what she'd meant.

"Wait," Nina sputtered. "Does she... I mean... that's not..."

"Seems our wandering Prince has quite the reputation," Sten said, whistling. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Oh, stop," Rand told him firmly before glancing at Nina. "Don't worry. She says it's none of her business, but I'm pretty sure she won't be able to go five minutes without asking Jean about it, and he's not the kind of guy to let her keep making that kind of misconception."

"So then she'll know who Nina is," Sten pointed out. "Hardly preferable. Thought we were trying to keep that under wraps."

"We can always explain employee confidentiality to her," Ryu replied. "Vigorously, if necessary."

"I'd be cool with that," Katt agreed. "Paying our bill or no paying our bill, she still kind of pisses me off, you know?"

"Jean!" The Creeper Princess shrieked from the now-open cell at the end of the hall, and they all sighed.

"All right, what's the problem now?" Ryu asked as they peeked around the corner. Jean was standing with his back to them, looking no worse for wear, and he was painting at an easel, delicately dabbing at the parchment with a brush. In the harsh cell, it was a spectacularly bizarre sight. Petape was standing next to him, looking frustrated.

"Huh," Rand said after a moment. Nobody else could add anything to that.

"Oh, my friends!" Jean glanced over his shoulder at them. "Tell me honestly, was my sketch a bit off?" It was actually an impressive landscape of a house by the shore of a lake; the grass looked almost real enough to touch, and the sky practically more of a vibrant blue than the real thing. Admittedly, it was the first time Ryu had ever seen a house that was solid red, but there were stranger things in the world.

"Looks pretty good to me," Rand said after a moment, and Ryu and Katt both nodded in agreement.

"Maybe a little, with the house's east wall," Sten said after a moment.

"Yes, but it's not noticeable unless you're intentionally looking for it," Nina added. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"I don't believe this!" Petape shouted. "You're encouraging him! There are more important things to do right now than paint!"

"Ah, but of course, little sister!" Jean cried, slapping his forehead. "Where are my manners? I am ashamed!" He put the brush down, turned and bowed to them. "Monsieurs and mademoiselles, please, come in! I regret that I cannot entertain you at this time, for as you can see, my current domicile is hardly hospitable. Still, anything that is mine is yours!"

"No, no, this is plenty entertaining, actually," Sten commented as Petape's face darkened. Katt kicked him.

"We need to escape, you fool!" Petape shrieked. "We went to all the trouble of sneaking in here and killing that jailer to get you out of here, and you just stand around painting? What's wrong with you!"

"Who's 'we'?" Rand muttered under his breath.

"You... came here to save me?" Jean asked slowly, the light of comprehension appearing in his eyes. A smile suddenly crossed his face. "Oh, and you must have gone to such trouble! All out of the goodness of your hearts! I have made such wonderful friends, have I not, sister?" He grinned at Petape, who was looking as awkward as they were.

"Uh, yes, brother," she eventually managed to reply. "But we really should be leaving now. We wouldn't want to waste all their effort, would we?"

"But of course!" Jean agreed. "We can depart as soon as I have finished my painting! And yet..." He turned back to it, frowning. "Perhaps it would be best to start again from scratch. That east wall, as you said..." He smiled again. "I know! I shall give you the painting once it is finished, as a token of my appreciation! Yes, I must try again; anything less than perfection simply will not do!"

Petape began banging her head against the wall.

"This keeps up for much longer, I'm gonna be joining her," Katt predicted quietly.

"Ditto," Sten added.

"Yo."

"Me too."

"It's a definite possibility."

"This isn't the time for... for... for this!" Petape shouted, turning back to Jean. Making a visible effort to control herself, she spoke again with enforced calm. "Listen, doesn't it bother you to be treated like an imposter?"

"Why would it?" Jean asked, baffled. "If nobody wants me to be prince any more, than that is fine! As you've always told me, I was never any good at it anyways, yes? Now I can simply be plain old Jean, instead of Prince Ekaru, and that will be best for all, I think. I appreciate your concern, as always, dear sister, but really, I don't mind."

"You... you..." Petape started to snarl, but couldn't get the words out. Instead, she hurled herself on him and began sobbing hysterically again. "I was so worried about you, and you don't even care at all?"

"No, no, no, no, no!" Jean hugged her. "Don't cry, dear sister! You should save your tears for the man you love!" He grunted. "Um, sister, as pleased as I am to see that you have grown so strong while I've been away, I am having... difficulty... breathing..."

"You realize this is probably going to go on all day if we let it, right?" Katt pointed out to Ryu. "And getting caught like this isn't really my idea of a good time."

"Right." Ryu glanced around. "Any ideas?"

"There is one..." Nina murmured, watching Petape continue to strangle her brother. "Prince Jean?"

"Ah, yes, your highness?" He asked politely, even though his face was turning dark. "Ah, forgive me, I meant mademo-"

"Your what?" Petape demanded, releasing him and whirling on Nina.

"So much for that secret," Sten muttered.

"We'll explain later," Nina told Petape before turning back to Jean, who was wheezing. "Jean, this might be what's best for you, but what about Sima? If this goes on, the country will be left in the hands of an imposter. A man who impersonated you in order to gain control of your kingdom. We've met him, and trust me, Sima would suffer horribly under his leadership. Our responsibilities might be unpleasant, but they still bind us, all the same."

"Ah..." Jean frowned, a look coming into his eyes they hadn't seen before. "I had not thought of it in quite that light before. You make a very good point, mademoiselle Nina, albeit a distressing one to consider."

"That's not all," Sten added darkly. "This guy's the kind who won't stop at anything to achieve his goals. Your father... he's not in the best of health, isn't he? If this guy gets his feet under him, he might decide to speed up his ascension."

"Oh, no." Petape put a hand to her mouth, horrified. "I hadn't even thought of that! He would, wouldn't he? Oh, father..."

"This cannot be tolerated, then," Jean said decisively. "Of course, you are all correct. We must establish the truth and discredit the imposter immediately, before it is too late! But how?" He thought for a moment, then brightened up. "Ah, of course! The royal ring! Only members of our family possess one!"

"That's right!" Petape's eyes widened. "Of course, why didn't I think of that! I'm such a fool!" She began slapping herself. "Fool, fool, fool, fool, fool!"

"Ah, no, sister!" Jean tried to stop her. "You will spoil your beautiful face!"

"This is like a play," Rand grumbled. "A bad one."

"I take it this ring is difficult to replicate?" Sten asked. "Those sorts of things usually are, as far as I know."

"Extremely." Petape put a hand into a pocket of her dress, and withdrew it a moment later, holding the hugest, gaudiest piece of jewelry Ryu had ever seen. Topped by a topaz the size of a cherry, it was a massive hunk of gold carved to resembled a frog holding the jewel on its back with its front legs, the hind legs forming the band. Two smaller rubies were set in the eyes, and a third in the mouth. "I can't bring myself to wear it except on state occasions."

"I can see why," Ryu replied, both amazed and horrified. "There's certainly no way anybody could mistake that for anything else."

"Exactly!" Petape slipped it onto her finger. "Put yours on, Jean, and let's go! We can settle this before dinner tonight!"

"Ah..." Jean coughed. "There is one tiny little problem, yes? You see... I gave the ring to a charming young lady of my acquaintance, as a token of my regard for her. I am afraid she was not much impressed, however..."

"You gave the royal ring to one of your girlfriends?" Petape yowled. "I don't believe this! You, you..."

"It's okay, it's okay," Ryu said quickly. "We can go find this girl, whoever she is, and get the ring back. Just tell us how to find..." He paused as a horrible suspicion entered his mind. "Wait. Don't tell me..."

"You are already acquainted with her, monsieur Ryu!" Jean replied cheerfully. "The beautiful witch Nimufu, whose curse you so generously freed me from! I know it is quite an imposition, asking you to go see her again, but you will help me again, yes? Sil vous plait?"

"A witch?" Petape kept yelling. "Of all people, you gave it to a witch? Why on earth would you do that?"

"But she is not such a bad witch, sister!" Jean replied. "She was so lonely, my heart wept for her! I could not help myself!"

"I'll show you weeping!" She snarled. "Come here!"

"It's fine, it's fine." Ryu held up his hands placatingly. "We'll, uh... we'll go back up to her tower again, I guess."

"Not again." Katt groaned.

"Ah, wait!" Jean's eyes brightened. "The summer is almost over, yes? And the Autumn Equinox approaches?"

"Well... yeah," Rand confirmed. "It's in a week. What's that have to do with anything?"

"I recall something she said to me while we were playing in her tower," Jean explained. "On the day of the Autumn Equinox, her old schoolmates will be having a class reunion, at the Wildcat Cafe. Perhaps you will find it more convenient to catch her there."

"The Wildcat Cafe?" Sten frowned. "Rings a bell, but I don't know where from."

"I've heard of it," Nina said grimly. "It has a nasty reputation."

"Nasty reputation's an understatement." Katt spat on the floor. "Every Woren in the world knows about that place. The assholes running it have been giving our entire Clan a bad name for generations now."

"It's run by Woren Clansmen, then?" Ryu guessed.

"Only if we're talking spec... spec..." She struggled with it, then threw up her hands. "Whatever! Point is, the family running the joint were kicked out of the Clan decades ago."

"I didn't even know you could do that," Rand said, eyes wide. "What the hell did these guys do?"

"It caters to a rather... specific kind of patron," Petape explained, looking ill. "Unrecognized clansmen such as the Kimoto and Ogres form most of its clientele. You see, the menu consists almost entirely of intelligent life."

"They eat people?" Ryu yelled, and Katt nodded.

"And serve them to their customers," she continued. "You see why the Woren Clan kicked the Wildcat family out. They're a stain on all our names. The only reason the Council of Prima hasn't hunted them down and executed them is because they cut some sort of deal with the royal family of Sima for protection."

"Our grandfather was... not the most pleasant individual," Jean admitted, looking embarrassed. "Fortunately, our father shares almost nothing with him, but he holds to treaties and arrangements his ancestors made, like a good king."

"We can at least show you where it is." Petape produced a map from somewhere in her dress, unrolled it, and pointed at a spot on the west coast. "It's right there, in a cave. They couldn't exactly set up shop in a town, of course."

"Of course," Ryu echoed weakly. "All right, we'll... we'll go stop by there and have another little talk with Nimufu. If we set out today, we should get there right on time to meet her there."

"And I shall continue with my painting, so that I may present it to you upon your return!" Jean turned back to his easel with a flourish. "Until then, mon amis!"

"We've already gone over this!" Petape shouted. "We need to get out of here, before something happens to you!"

"Let them figure this part out?" Sten suggested as the siblings continued to bicker.

"Oh, yes." Ryu nodded. "Hey, your highness! Where's that thief?"

"Hm?" She glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, she's not down here. They're keeping her working in the kitchens to pay off her debt to Simafort, or something like that. Just take the passageway across from this one. The cooks won't bother you."

"Now she tells us," Katt grumbled as Petape returned to yelling at Jean and the five of them turned back around to head back down the hallway. Going straight across, they rose out of a staircase into a kitchen storage room similar to every other one Ryu had ever seen, save for the cages and pens full of huge, live insects.

"Hey, what are you guys doing down here?" A passing cook asked suspiciously. "You're outsiders. Don't see many of those around here."

"Rangers, from Auria," Ryu explained, showing his badge. "Princess Petape said there was a dark-winged thief down here?"

"Oh, her." The cook looked amused as he pointed towards a pit in the floor covered with a steel grate. "They've got her working as a cockroach herder. She's pretty good at it, since she doesn't snitch any of them. You'll probably need her highness to talk the guards into letting her out, but you can go look at her all you want." Turning away, he ran off.

"Um... ew?" Nina murmured.

"Definitely ew," Katt agreed as they walked over.

The pit was ten feet deep, and crawling with hand-sized cockroaches. Most of them were clustered on one side; in the other corner was the thief Ryu had run into that night in Hometown several months ago. She was huddled down, arms around her knees, but as she saw them she leaped up, startling the roaches. Now that he could see her more clearly, it was obvious that she wasn't of the Wing Clan at all; her wings were black as night, but they weren't feathered, resembling those of a bat or flying lizard more.

"Ack!" She yelped, kicking the roaches away. "Get back! I hate bugs! Yah!" Once they were cleared off, she looked up at them and put on a charming smile. The effect was somewhat spoiled by her week-old makeup; she'd ladled on far too much of it as well, probably in an effort to make herself look older than she really was. "Hi there! Listen, I don't know who you are, but if you can get me out of here when these guys aren't looking, I'll make it worth your while! What do you say, huh? Help a girl out?"

The five of them exchanged amused glances.

"Oh, we'll get you out of there, all right," Sten agreed, smirking. "Maybe not right away, but hey, you're tough, right? You can wait a little longer."

"No, please!" She tried to jump and grab the bars overhead, and failed miserably. "Look, I've got a lot of money hidden near here. Get me out of here and I'll show you where some of it is. What do you say?"

"Well, that's very nice of you." Rand chuckled. "But what we'd really appreciate is if you took a little trip with us once we spring you. All the way back to Auria."

"Auria?" The girl frowned. "I can't go back there yet, they might still be looking... for... me..." She trailed off as the light dawned. "Oh, crap. You're not here to rescue me at all, are you."

"Sorry, nope." Ryu raised his badge again. "Ranger, here to haul you in for stealing Count Trout's magic hood."

"Dammit!" She kicked the wall next to her. "You chased me all the way here for that? That was months ago! What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, it's not about you," Katt explained cheerfully. "You see, because you were so slick, a buddy of ours caught the rap on that one instead. We just want to clear his name, and it's your bad luck that we have to bring you in to do it."

"Great," the girl muttered, slumping down in her corner again. "From one prison straight into another."

"It's nothing personal," Nina told her. "Strictly business. Now be a good girl, and we'll be back to fetch you soon enough." They all waved mockingly before walking towards the underwater tunnel. "You know, that actually made me feel a little bit better."

"I know I do," Sten agreed.

The return trip through the water-filled back hallways went as smoothly as their first one had; following Petape's directions brought them back up onto the dock again, as she'd told them. The small boat she'd mentioned was quickly located, and after a little fumbling with the oars, they were able to maneuver it out onto the lake again. With Nina watching for monsters, the other four took turns manhandling the oars as they slowly crossed over to the west side of the lake, under the bright red sunset.

"All right, let's just get this out in the open so we can stop pretending we don't all know," Katt said eventually. "That imposter's a demon, and one with some serious balls, too. He practically told us he was. He wanted us to know."

"Ray said that one of their leaders was probably located here in Sima," Sten reminded them. "And this guy's not like Augus or Joker. He's a mystery man, with no past and no name. Total question mark. In other words, not too likely to be a sucker like they were. No, this guy's definitely one of their higher-ups."

"He's certainly set himself an impressive task," Nina murmured. "Gaining control of the entire country of Sima... that makes Augus and Joker look like, well, like jokes. What's worse, he might be able to pull it off. As good as this plan is, I doubt that simply proving him false will be enough to stop him. He's a cunning one; I can tell already."

"So what do we do about it?" Rand asked simply.

"We do what we're being paid to do," Ryu replied. "Prove that Jean's the real prince. We'll figure the rest out when the time comes. Until then, we're just a bunch of guys doing the job we were hired for."

Nobody had any objections to that.

DON'T LOOK TO A STRANGER