Chapter
27
Trial, Trial Again
Before they left for the present era, Alexander had made a decision. Since it was still likely that all of them remained convicted and wanted from the trial earlier in the adventure, it would be better to switch Ayla out and bring Lucca in. That way, if any good deeds were done during their revisit (and he knew that they would have to be done), then all of them would be redeemed without any remaining suspicion of any missing party members.
Edward, however, didn't buy a word of it. "Spare me the bullcrap, Alex," he responded when the Interference made the suggestion, rolling his eyes and smirking. "You just want to be around Lucca some more, don't you?"
Alexander was caught a little off guard at this; Edward had struck a nerve with the accusation. "D-Don't be ridiculous," he stuttered as he used the Lockshield to create a portal to the End of Time. Ayla went through, and the cavewoman motioned for the mechanic girl to exit.
"Miss me already?" Lucca joked as she stepped onto the castle grounds. Edward sighed and shook his head as they gave the girl a moment to collect the memories of the recent adventure. Lucca's eyes shot open quickly as she reached the end, though. "We're going back to the castle of our time!?" she asked incredulously.
Marle nodded, having mixed feelings as well. "I've been away from Father for too long, I think. And Alex says this particular sidequest ends there anyway."
Alphonse stepped toward the Epoch. "Well, maybe your father has had some time to think about things, and he'll understand some more when we come back."
Alexander and Edward heard a dark chuckle in the empty airspace that followed.If only it were that easy.
Guardia Castle, 1000 AD was only a short time warp away in the Epoch. The six fighters left the Epoch at the foot of the main staircase of the grounds, and climbed up the stairs to the main doorway. Marle led the way, pushing the doors open with an unexpected vigor.
Their presence was immediately noticed. "Princess Nadia!" a guard shouted.
The great doors to the throne room opened up with a bang, and the Chancellor came rushing out to meet Marle. "I've been worried, Princess!" the Chancellor exclaimed. With a sigh, he said, "I understand your pain. But the king really only cares about his realm... Yes, even when your mother, Queen Aliza, passed away, he worked all day!"
Marle scowled. This kind of talk didn't help her opinion of her father. "No one could do that! That's inhuman!"
The Chancellor pretended to shrug it off, turning away. "Oh, child, it's ancient history now..." At this, Alexander suppressed a chuckle. Joumae made no such effort.
Marle, however, was completely taken in by this tale. She ran around the Chancellor to face him again. "Tell me more!" she demanded angrily.
Crono, meanwhile, was looking around nervously. The guards were eying the rest of the party with some suspicion. Both the guards and the party had the same thing on their minds: Would the order come to arrest them again?
The Chancellor frowned. "This may be difficult... Well, Queen Aliza's condition suddenly changed for the worst. She desperately wanted to see the king one last time, but he couldn't find the time to drop by... Said he had some work to do..." With a sigh, he continued, "But knowing nothing about death, you waited faithfully by your mother's side... Aliza passed away in sorrow... It's as if the king indirectly killed her... It's such a shame..."
"Is he serious?" Alphonse whispered to Alexander as they watched the Chancellor drag on, though it was hard to whisper with his voice echoing from the armor.
Alex glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye. "What do you think?" was all he said. He decided that it was the best way to express it indirectly.
Alphonse straightened up and stared at the Chancellor and Marle. The young princess certainly seemed to be on the verge of tears, hearing this news from the Chancellor. But the Chancellor... well, it seemed that his tale had been tailor-made to paint this kind of picture...
"What!!" Marle finally shouted out loud, causing the guards to flinch a little. "Father killed...? ...my mother...?!!"
"But what do I know!" the Chancellor was quick to respond. "There are reasons for everything, right dear?" He walked beside the angry princess and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now... so glad to see you back again. Please go and visit the king."
With that, the Chancellor left, and everyone else began to relax a little. No order had been given to capture the members of the party, so apparently they were allowed to wander freely with the princess.
Speaking of which, Marle started walking back to the party, obviously trying to hold back tears. "Killed...?" she muttered under her breath inaudibly.
Lucca looked at her worriedly. "Marle... I'm not so sure about this... Something's fishy."
Marle's sad face turned into a scowl. "You're telling me? Well, I know if there's one person that can answer this, it's Father. And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. It sounds just like something that Father would do!!"
She turned back around sharply and stormed up the steps, and the rest of the group reluctantly followed her up. However, Marle didn't make it too far before she found herself facing two guards blocking the door to the royal court. "The King ordered that the court be locked until the trial's over."
A collective physical expression of "Huh?" emanated from the group. "Trial?" Edward echoed in surprise. "What trial? Whose trial?"
A guard on the lower level chuckled. "Whose, you ask? King Guardia's, of course!"
Marle gasped. The guard on the other side of the staircase looked over at his companion and nodded. "They say the King sold off the royal treasures."
"My father!?" Marle shouted, shocked by all of this news that was coming to her. In a moment, though, she finally came to grips with herself and assessed the information properly. "Then... we'd better get to the courtroom!"
The party ran to the east wing of the castle and climbed the long upward set of stairs. Just before the stairs, however, they noticed an entire new stairway to the side leading downward. But, ignoring that, they climbed to the top of the staircase and entered the adjacent hallway. At the other end they found the large double doors to the courtroom, which a couple of guards were barricading.
"No entry allowed!" one of them shouted as they approached.
Marle's scowl went another notch deeper. She took a deep breath of air, braced herself, and screamed, "Let me through!!" at the top of her lungs.
The guards, clearly unprepared in dealing with such an outburst from the princess, flinched and flustered for a moment, until finally standing aside. Marle thrust the doors open and ran through without any hesitation.
Indeed, court had been long since in session. The defendant was the King himself, and the prosecution was none other than the Chancellor. There was no lawyer acting on the King's behalf, either.
The Chancellor grinned and declared, "Had any of you heard of this 'Rainbow Shell?' I, too, had no idea until I found this..." That being said, he procured a piece of parchment from one of his large pockets. "It's an ancestral will. It says, 'Unveil the Rainbow Shell to the people at the Millennial Fair.'"
The King was incredulous. "What are you talking about!?" he demanded. "We have no family heirlooms here!"
"So this is a forgery?" the Chancellor countered, raising an eyebrow as he put the parchment away. "Why does the defendant deny the people a glimpse of the 'Rainbow Shell?'" With a sudden, commanding tone, he shouted, "Because he no longer has it! He sold the heirloom for cash! Witness, please!"
At that precise moment, Marle ran into the courtroom and stood next to her father. The Chancellor was very much surprised by this. "Wh-What is it, Nadia? We are conducting a trial here."
"Father!" Marle cried out, ignoring the Chancellor.
The King was immensely surprised and somewhat relieved to see his daughter again. "Nadia! The Chancellor is trying to frame me!" he said in a pleading tone.
"He hurls insults!" the Chancellor growled. "Confirm your innocence with proof!"
Marle paused for a moment. "Proof?"
"Yes," the Chancellor said with a scowl, as if he didn't really want to say what he was going to say. "If he hasn't sold the heirloom, it should still be in the castle. Show me the 'Rainbow Shell,' and I'll accept his innocence... heh, heh..." He added that small chuckle as he walked back to the plaintiff's place beside the judge.
Dumbfounded, King Guardia shouted, "Chancellor! What kind of trickery is this?!"
There was a moment of silence in the court, but then the Chancellor turned around quickly and ordered, "Remove them!" Acting on that order, a guard came through the doors, grabbed Marle, and quickly pushed her toward the entrance.
Marle came back out to where the party was, and the guards stepped back in to block her path. "No entry allowed!" the other guard declared, more assertive this time.
"Let me through!!" Marle screamed again, trying the same tactic as last time.
But the guards held firm, even though they did flinch. "...Princess, not even you may enter."
The party was quiet for a moment. Then Alphonse stepped toward Marle, his armored feet clanking on the ground. "If we find the Rainbow Shell," he offered, "we can prove the King's innocence!"
"What are you saying!?" Marle queried. "It's a lie! There is no heirloom!"
Lucca jumped into the argument. "We changed history back in 600 AD, so the Rainbow Shell should still be in the castle!"
It took a moment for it to dawn, but dawn on Marle it did. "Aha! The Rainbow Shell we gave to my ancestor 400 years ago is still here." After a moment's contemplation, she added, "It's probably in the basement!"
The party went down the new set of stairs leading to the basement, and came to a hallway that made a small U-turn. Next to the bottom landing, there was a guard lying down on the floor. "Augh... A rat bit me!" he groaned. He seemed to be in a bit of pain.
All six fighters went around the turn... and came across a sight that most of them weren't expecting to see. They were now facing a long, wide hallway, but there was an obstruction in their immediate presence. It was two large, purple snakes of a type they'd seen back in 600 AD. They were called Gnashers.
"Mystics!" Lucca exclaimed.
One of the Gnashers grinned. "The boss has been itching to avenge the grudge that's been in the family for 13 generations!" it said, its voice heavily accented by its natural hissing. "Gee hee!"
"He's gonna frame the king!" the other one said. "Ga haw!"
"Great," Edward muttered, clapping his hands. "Our first opponents are Dumb and Dumber." He placed a hand on his automail arm, and blue sparks zapped through the air as he creating his armblade from the metal.
The Gnashers recoiled a little as the rest of the party took fighting stances, but they were quick to return the favor. The two large snakes lashed out toward the party, but Alex quickly stepped in. "Power!" he yelled, and bright light shot out from his garments that struck the Gnashers. When the light was gone, Alex's clothes had become bright red, he wielded the Heartless Seal and the Crimson Catalyst, and Crono had disappeared.
Before the Gnashers could react, Alex charged in and spun around, slashing both creatures up with the blades of the Lockshields. It didn't even require all that much effort anyway; a couple of hits and both creatures went down. They seemed to be rather low-level creatures, which was very disproportionate to the growth the party had made.
Marle placed her hands on her hips. "So there is a plot! Let's hurry!"
Alexander nodded, and started dashing forward at a high speed. It seemed that the Valor Form had a natural Haste effect on it. "I'll clear the way!" he shouted as he ran ahead. He didn't want to waste the time he had in his Drive Form, after all...
"I confess," the merchant stated before the court, the Chancellor, and the King. "I bought it from the King. He said he needed the cash."
The King's jaw dropped. "Liar!! I've never even seen you before!"
"Order in the court!" the judge declared, banging his gavel on his desk several times.
The merchant walked back to the Chancellor, grinning. "Heh heh... Was I convincing?" he whispered to the Chancellor, unheard by everyone else.
The Chancellor grinned back. "Perfect!" The merchant then quickly left the courtroom, and the trial continued onward.
Alexander ran through a doorway, entering a room with a bunch of supplies taking up all the space on the left. A Gnasher popped out from the supplies, and a Naga-ette appeared from the doorway ahead. Alex went for the Naga-ette first, slashing it a few times.
Then, Alex placed one Lockshield on the ground, flipped over, and kicked the Naga-ette in an uppercut. The Naga-ette began to disappear into red light, while the Gnasher lashed out toward Alexander. Still using his momentum, Alexander spun around using the Heartless Seal as his central point, bringing the Crimson Catalyst around to catch the Gnasher right in the mouth.
The snake was almost split in two by the force, and it faded into red light. Alex got back onto his feet and kept running, entering the next hallway. A Naga-ette came rushing toward him at a great speed, almost matching Alexander's. The two passed each other, and Alex made a couple of quick slashes as he went by. The weakened Naga-ette staggered a bit, and was given the finishing blow by a shot from Lucca's gun as the rest of the party tried to keep up.
Alexander kept on dashing forward, entering the next hallway. A Gnasher from out of nowhere crossed his path as he ran, almost tripping him, and two large flames immediately preceded the appearance of a couple more Naga-ettes. Alex wiped out the Gnasher with the blades of both of his shields, and a quick spin took care of the Naga-ettes as well.
Geez, these are just like the Mystics we found at the cathedral before! Except we're much stronger, and they haven't improved in the least!
At last, Alexander reached a couple of large doors and opened them, leading into a large storeroom. At the very back of the room, sitting on a large rug, was a gigantic jewel they technically hadn't seen in 400 years.
Marle and the other finally caught up with Alexander, and the princess cheered at the sight of their discovery. "The Rainbow Shell!!"
Alex allowed himself to revert from his Drive Form, and Crono appeared beside him. All six of the fighters stood in front of the Rainbow Shell, gazing at it for a few moments. Lucca noticed something beside the shell and grabbed it. "What this... a letter?"
Her eyes widening in surprise, Lucca handed it to Marle, who read the first few words. She became equally surprised. "To Marle...?" the princess read aloud.
Dearest Marle,
I know things are tough between you and your father. But nothing can break your bond of blood. Neither words of anger, or great distances. Someday, when you have children, you will understand. This special bond is part of a family tree which links us together.
–Queen Guardia XXI, Leene
There was a small silence as these words were digested by the group. Then Edward let out a laugh, to everyone's surprise. "Boy, can she tell it like it is!" he remarked with a smirk.
Marle smiled. "Father. Hang in there, we're coming!" She walked over to the Rainbow Shell, and picked up a small shard of the crystal.
"Members of the jury..." the judge intoned. "If he is guilty, stand to the left. If innocent, stand to the right."
One of the jury stepped into the room and approached the judge. "Guilty." That man stood on the left side of the room. The jury began to file in as such, one by one...
Until finally, there were four men on the left and one on the right. "The verdict is in!" the judge proclaimed. "Guilty!!!"
Gasps came from the viewers above, and the King hung his head in shame. Meanwhile, the Chancellor made no effort to hide his greedy glee. "The Guardia line ends here," he stated. "This domain shall be mine! Take him away!"
Two guards approached the King...
"Wait!!!" a young woman's voice came seemingly out of nowhere.
The Chancellor, fairly surprised, looked around curiously. "Who is it!?"
A large silhouette appeared on the gigantic stained-glass portrait behind the judge. The silhouette seemed to step back for a moment, and then charge through with great force. The silhouette quickly became a figure, none other than Alphonse crashing through the stained glass, with Marle very close behind.
"Father!!!" Marle shouted, running toward King Guardia.
The guards and the jury fled the room, all being scared by this wild display of courage. "Nadia!" the King exclaimed.
Edward scowled as he stepped through the broken glass, soon followed by Alex, Crono, and Lucca. "Geez," the alchemist muttered, "if you had just let us in through the front door..."
The Chancellor's jaw had dropped. "P-Princess!" he shouted, struggling to maintain any posture. "Control yourself!" But finally, he regained some measure of confidence and sneered at her. "You're too late! The King has been found guilty. Even kings are subject to our laws."
"No, this was a set up!" Alphonse argued as the party came into the main circle of the court.
"Nonsense!" the Chancellor shot back. "The King's a crook!"
Marle fished the Rainbow Shell's shard out of her pocket. "But the treasure is right here!" The shard shined with its rainbow sparkle into the entire court, and everyone stared confoundedly at it.
"Impossible!!" the Chancellor screamed, moving as far away from the party and the King as possible.
Edward grinned and cracked the knuckles of his left hand menacingly. "You're little scheme is over, Chancellor! Creating this fraud to usurp the throne... Nice try! It seems its your turn to wait three days for the guillotine!"
The Chancellor coughed and turned away, suddenly looking flustered. "Grrr... I mean... uh..."
Marle tilted her head to the side a little. "Huh?" Now everyone was confused by the Chancellor.
The old man paced back and forth for a few moments, but then suddenly laughed evilly. "Hee hee hee! It's not the plot you think! I'm here to avenge my ancestors!"
Alexander looked toward the judge and the King. "Your Honor! Your Majesty! I suggest you vacate the room immediately!"
The judge quickly got out of his seat and bolted toward the door. The King looked at the Chancellor, then at his daughter, and then at Alexander. With a nod, he quickly turned around and left the room as well.
The Chancellor moved his hands in an incantatory manner. "Super, ultra, presto... transform-o!!!!!!" Everyone jumped back as the Chancellor was covered in a multicolored light accompanied by electrical energy. Two bright flashes filled the room as the transformation completed, and what was in the Chancellor's place surprised everyone.
It seemed to be a giant, blue-skinned cross between a bear and an insect. Lucca drew out her gun. "Great. A monster posing as the Chancellor."
Edward frowned. "This guy kinda looks like..." He paused, and his expression instantly became one of shock. "Oh God! It's Yakra!" he cried out, remembering the beast that had been their first boss battle at the very beginning of the adventure.
"Yakra's descendant!" Alexander corrected the alchemist, summoning the Lightning Guard Lockshield to his hand as both sides prepared for battle. "Yakra XIII!"
The young alchemist snarled. "Well, that sure explains one hell of a lot!" Glaring at Yakra XIII, he growled, "I guess we get to pay you back for landing us on death row earlier, don't we?!"
Yakra XIII growled in return, and stood up on its hind legs, opening its mouth wide. But from its blind side, a blue spark of energy traveled across the ground and made contact with Yakra XIII from behind. Suddenly, Yakra was encased in a block of ice at the moment it was about to release its attack. From Yakra's still-open mouth, a brown smog spewed forth violently. Or, at least, it would've if the block of ice wasn't in the way. With nowhere to go, the smog was forced back down Yakra's windpipe, and then pressurized by the rest of the attack that was on the way.
By the time the ice faded away, Yakra was choking and gagging on his own attack. Lucca grinned and fired a shot at the beast, hitting it right above a claw. Crono then brandished his katana and charged, and Yakra finally managed to recover.
Yakra reared up again and then slammed back down onto the ground, causing very powerful tremors to race through the ground, throwing everyone off their feet and onto either their stomachs or their backsides. Then it grinned. "Heard about you from the ancestors!" it declared in its deep deformed voice. At this, Alexander panicked and started running toward Yakra XIII using his improved Quick Run ability.
"Your weaknesses are... This is it!" Yakra shouted, and two pores on the beast's back opened up wide and shot out two projectiles. Alexander stopped in his running and looked up at the projectiles. They were three gigantic needles revolving concentrically through the air... and Alex could see, as the needles angled downward, that they were bearing straight down on him!
Alexander quickly switched his Lockshield to the Heartless Seal design and called out, "Reflega!" The needles impacted the barrier of light that immediately surrounded him and bounced off into wild directions. Edward, a fair distance away, was forced to dodge to the side as one of the deflected needles was thrown into his direction.
The spell petered out, and an explosion of light sent the potential damage hurtling into Yakra XIII's body. And yet, it didn't really seem to do all that much. Yakra got back up quickly, and Alexander took a tentative step back as the beast looked ready to charge.
Then, unexpectedly, Yakra XIII was slowly lifted off its feet and up into the air. Underneath it, hefting it up in an impressive display of strength, was Alphonse. As Yakra XIII squirmed above him, Alphonse looked toward his brother, who definitely didn't look surprised by this turn of events.
"Catch!" Alphonse shouted as he launched Yakra into the air, sending the beast hurtling with a feral roar.
"Heh," Edward said as he clapped his hands. "Batter up!" The alchemist began to transmute the ground as Yakra flew through the air. A stone pillar started rising up from the ground at an angle, catching Yakra XIII in the stomach and carrying him over to the wall at a high speed... over to where one of Yakra's needles was sticking out of a crack in the wall.
Everyone had to cover their ears as Yakra's scream permeated the courtroom. The pillar began to crumble with the force of the impact, and Yakra crashed into the ground. The combined forces caused a lot of dust and debris to get kicked up into the air, concealing the view of Yakra from the party, who only now began to regroup and watch the beast's position tentatively.
The dust finally began to clear, and they all saw an angry Yakra on the ground, with a gigantic needle sticking out of the middle of his back. The beast slowly tried to move toward the party, hatred seeming to pour out of his beady eyes. "Must... take... vengeance... Ancestors..." it choked out as it tried to inch its way toward the party.
Edward sighed. "You still aren't dead yet?" he whined, scowling at the weakened Yakra. He shook his head and then looked toward Alex. "You don't mind if I make the finishing blow, do you?"
"Not at all," Alexander replied after a moment, mostly curious to see what Edward had in mind.
The Fullmetal Alchemist grinned and stepped toward the middle of the courtroom. There was a slight shifting of the space around him as he summoned up his magic, and he then conjured a fireball in his hand. The fireball revolved around Edward as the alchemist rose slightly into the air, and then it suddenly disappeared into his heart.
Very slowly, a sphere of heat began to expand from Edward's body, denoted by wavering in the air along with a slight red discoloration. The sphere slowly expanded, even passing over the party without effect, until it enveloped the entire central circle of the courtroom. Yakra began to panic, and he squirmed under the intense heat.
Edward then suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Flare!" In a single instant, the entire sphere of Fire magic ignited into intense flames, burning and scalding just about everything inside it except for the party. A couple of bright flashes shone through the nearly all-encompassing flames as Yakra XIII faded away under the pressure.
At last, the large sphere of flame petered out, leaving the party all on their own in the courtroom. Everyone else was absolutely impressed by the high-level magic. Alexander especially. "W-Wow!" he exclaimed. "That's... That's Flare!?" That was certainly much cooler than it looked on the 16-bit game itself.
Of course, everything's cooler in reality than in a 16-bit game, Joumae reminded him.
Okay, but still!! Alexander protested, determined to hold Edward in high regard for his use of the magic.
Lucca smirked. "Well! I guess I have that to look forward to, then." Holstering her gun and rubbing her hands together, she said, "I can hardly wait..."
Alphonse stepped into the middle of the group and said, "Heal." A small light washed over everyone, healing their wounds. Which was good; they'd sustained a small bit of damage over the course of the entire ordeal.
Crono walked over to Yakra's old spot and looked at the ground.
Meanwhile, Marle looked over to the door, where King Guardia slowly made his entrance into the room. She looked downcast, and mumbled, "Father... I..."
The King turned away and hung his own head. "No, don't say it," he interjected. "I was wrong to be so stubborn."
Marle walked to her father's side. "No," she insisted, "I didn't even think about how you felt." The princess shook her head, slightly frustrated. "Um... I know it in my heart, but the words just came out wrong."
"I, too, have that problem," the King admitted, finally looking at his daughter. "I thought you left me, but then realized that it was I... who abandoned you."
The princess shook her head slowly, but then turned away to hide her face. "But I'm here now," she said quickly, sounding as if she was trying to cover up tears. "We'll talk about everything that's happened. About Crono, and mother, and..."
"Your mother..." the King repeated with a sigh. "How sad! It has taken me so long to understand what Aliza meant with her last words. 'Someday when Nadia grows up, she will bring her beloved to meet you. Welcome him warmly. It will be a day you remember forever.'"
Crono blushed. Marle blushed. Edward nudged Alex in the side with his elbow and grinned. Alex blushed. Lucca glared at Edward. Alphonse noticed that Crono had picked up a key from Yakra's last position.
But then Marle realized the implications of the King's statement. "You... heard her last words?"
"Of course!" the King confirmed with a small laugh. "You were so young! You ran around saying, 'Daddy, it's fun having all my favorite people here!' Seeing you so happy, she felt reassured, and left us quite peacefully."
Marle nodded and took a few steps away, contemplating. "So that's how it was..."
The King nodded. "Yes, why?"
The princess was silent for a moment, but finally gave her father a sideways, inquisitive glance. "I used to call you 'Daddy'?"
"You did," the King said with a small smile.
Marle's lip quivered, and she walked over to her father again. She embraced him in a strong embrace and said, "I'm sorry... Daddy. I'm really sorry for doubting you."
Later, in the throne room...
"I'll let you leave the castle..." the King said from his throne, "but... you be careful, now. Take care of her!"
Edward nodded. Lucca gave the King a small salute. "Yessir!" Alexander simply nodded as well. Crono and Alphonse, however, weren't present at the moment. They had gone on some kind of errand.
The doors to the throne room opened. "It's my turn, now..." an old man's voice said. Everyone turned around and saw the familiar face who had just entered the room.
"Melchior!" Marle exclaimed.
"Can't let you run the whole show," Melchior protested. "Let me make some weapons from the Rainbow Shell!" As he turned to walk away, he added, "Finally time for me to do somethin'. Watch and learn!"
As Melchior left, the King added, "Sorry, fellas. I'm terribly embarrassed... Take care of Princess Nadia, okay?" He paused for a moment, and then something suddenly crossed his mind. "But, wait... What happened to the real Chancellor?"
"I'm right here!" a voice called out as the throne room doors opened up again. It was the Chancellor walking through the gates; the real Chancellor. He was closely followed by Crono and Alphonse.
The King was surprised. "Well, that is some surprising news! If I may ask, where was he?"
Alphonse rubbed the back of his helmet sheepishly. "Would you believe me if I said he'd been stuffed into a chest on the fourth floor?"
Alexander's eyebrows shot up. "Hold it! Stuffed into a treasure chest...?" He still quite distinctly remembered the previous Chancellor they'd rescued, back in 600 AD...
"The nerve!" the Chancellor exclaimed. "That beast, tying me up and locking me in there..." Then his jaw dropped as he suddenly remembered something. "I don't have time for this! I have to get to work on the Moonlight Parade!" With that, he dashed out of the building.
The rest of the party started to chuckle, but Alex was still left dumbfounded. Joumae was also laughing, and he managed to say, Yep, the game universes still get their weird moments, no matter how hard you try to rationalize them.
Disclaimer: I only own Alexander, Joumae, and the Lockshield. Every other element of this story belongs to their respective owners. Namely Square-Enix.
