"So... you're saying that the Wight Knight was mistaken Princess Simona with someone named Mona. And that he comes from a nation called Brigadoom... and that you're going to help the man out by learning the nursery rhyme, which Simona says one of our former maids used to sing to her when she was a wee lass?" King Schott asked, me nodding at that.
"Yes, and he didn't even attack us once. And, as we promised, we did not allow a single scratch to your daughter," I said, King Schott looking at Princess Simona and then at me.
"I see... well, though I'm not one for believing things such as this, if Simona says it to be true, then I feel I need to give an apology towards this Wight Knight fellow... but I can't very well leave the castle to go after the man that I demanded my soldiers to attack, now can I? So, you will go give him my apology for me whilst also finding out the truth of this Brigadoom place," King Schott said, me smirking at that.
"We'll deliver your message, my king. And we'll find out what and where Brigadoom is," Dillon said with a smile as we then left before Simona then followed us down the stairs.
"Um... what's up, princess Simona?" I asked, her smiling at me.
"Please, call me Simona. No need to be formal," she said, me tilting my head at that. "While you spoke with the Wight Knight... I could feel something. Some kind of voice speaking to me in my head... it was asking for a final dance... a final dance with her beloved knight... I don't know why I think this, but I think it may have something to do with the Wight Knight's beloved. I'm going to ask my father to allow some soldiers to lead me after your group from a distance, but I'm going to need to change my appearance beforehand, so we'll catch up in due time," Simona said, me looking at the others in the group and they simply shrugged their shoulders.
"Very well, Simona. Just be sure not to get into any trouble. There are a lot more monsters around as of late," Crux said as we then left the castle and proceeded to go out of the town once again and towards the town of Zere. We went north past Loch Storn and through the cornfields where we found some Ragged Reapers and Betterflies that were more annoyances than they were enemies because of the Weird Dances and the poison attacks. Though luckily, Veronica had some spare Magic waters and antidotal herbs for these issues.
We finally arrived at Zere to see the main attraction in the form of the giant tree, which looked very cool to see in-person and with all the facts of this world looking more like the Final Fantasy 7 movies in terms of looks.
"Okay, now time to find out where this maid is and what her name is, not in that order," Valerie smiled as we then started to ask around, finding the answer from the little girl who was playing with her pet cat.
"Oh, that's miss Alana! She used to work for princesses! She's currently visiting her friend Petra at the house over there," she said with a smile as she pointed to the house that was at the northeastern side of the tree.
"Thankies," Keira smiled at the little girl as we then went in that direction and knocked on the door, just for politeness's sake.
"Och? More visitors?" we heard a voice on the other side ask as the door opened to reveal the kindly old face of Petra. "Hello there, dearies. What brings you around these parts?" Petra asked as I then smiled.
"Well, we wanted to ask a question to Alana. Long story short, we want to learn more about Brigadoom and Princess Simona said you used to tell her a nursery rhyme about it," I said, that making Petra smile.
"Ohoho, you've met Princess Simona, hmm?" said another kindly voice in the form of Alana, who sat at the table inside the house. "Come inside and Petra and I will sing it to you," she said, our group doing so and the duo then starting to sing the song. But of course, the only real thing to note was the last verse, which was repeated twice.
"~Bird go north Brigadoomward on, tell her that her knight is gone~," the final verse was sung by Petra as I then looked at the others.
"So... it says that the bird flies north to Brigadoom? I guess that's the only lead we have, but it's better than nothing," Dillon said.
"Och! Are you by chance hoping to find Brigadoom?" Petra asked, me nodding.
"Yes, and it's because of a reason that must be kept secret. We've encountered this 'Right Knight' that was mentioned in the song and he needs to find his beloved Mona. And our best bet is to find Brigadoom," I explained.
"Och, that's a hard nut to swallow there, haha!" Alana smiled as I then facepalmed. Don't think dirty, don't think dirty, it's an old lady, don't think dirty...
"Anyway, I think we should be going by now. Thanks, miss Alana and miss Petra," Keira smile as we then left and proceeded out of town, where Keira then spoke again. "You do realize that I could see the sweat beading down your face from her saying 'hard nut to swallow', right, mister Drake?" she asked, me gulping as the other two looked at me with a smile before then laughing.
"I am feeling very uncomfortable right now... I just... it's something not worth explaining," I frowned.
"It's okay, mister Drake, heehee! I know what you were nervous about. Innuendo and stuff, right?" she said, me facepalming again and simply laying myself on the ground afterwards.
"Are you doing okay, Drake?" Crux asked me.
"I just need to lay down for a bit, wondering how a kid at age 12 could know what the term innuendo means and everything that comes with it..." I admitted, the others then laughing at me as the 12 year old in question then grabbed my hand and started to try and pull me up. Emphasis on try, considering the size difference of 6 foot to 4 foot.
"Come on, mister Drake! If you don't get up, I'll say more innuendos," she said, me then getting up after she said that as I then dusted myself off and sighed.
"Please, tell me, someone, why she knows about innuendo talk at such a young age," I demanded in annoyance, Dillon chuckling.
"It's because Armamentalists are much more mature at young ages than normal people, especially when they are born with the gift of being one. Hence why she knows about sex stuff," he said, me looking at the small girl and sighing.
"At least you know not to do anything naughty at such a young age, right?" I asked her.
"I do not. I've had sex in the past with other people my age and ol-" Keira was about to say before I silenced her with a hand over her mouth.
"How about let's not? We need to meet up with the Right Knight and I'd rather not have to talk about stuff like that? Because, where I come from, girls have to be at least 18 to do that stuff," I frowned, the little girl frowning and nodding.
"Okay, okay, fine. But so you know, there's no laws about that in this world. Heck, my mommy was 10 when she gave birth to me," Keira said, me smacking myself in the face again. "But I'll keep in mind that you're not comfy with it," she said, me nodding.
"Thanks, I'd appreciate the mouth to be silent on this matter," I said, her nodding at that. We then found the black-clad knight outside of the western side of Zere, who looked at us and spoke.
"So, what did you find out?" he asked.
"Well, mister Right Knight," I said, him gasping at that. "Yeah, that's what the song called you," I said, him nodding.
"Yes, that is what I was called by the citizens of Brigadoom," he spoke.
"Anyways, the rhyme only really had one clue. That there was a bird that went north to Brigadoom," I said, the knight nodding.
"Then I guess there's nothing but to follow the bird's example. Northward, ho!" he shouted as we then followed him and Keira simply giggled, and I knew why.
"Don't you dare say a word," I said to her with a small smile.
"Okay, heehee, I won't," she smirked.
"Those count as words," Veronica said smugly as we then started to go towards the Doomingale Forest, where we immediately noted all the poisonous swamps and the abundance of monsters. These included the Bodkin Fletchers, the Ram Raiders, and the Cumauluses, which the latter was surprisingly more difficult to take down, since it was, you know, a sentient cloud. But a quick bit of magic enhanced to my blade via Keira's Fire Fource and I was able to kill the cloud with a flame-berge! And when I told the joke to the others?
"Ugh, that's one of the oldest and most told jokes out there among warriors," Dillon groaned at me as we then finally were able to see Brigadoom. And it looked just as dark and depressing in person as it did in the game.
"This... this can't be Brigadoom! How long have I been away for my home to have regressed to this state?... And where is my beloved Mona?!" the Right Knight asked as he then got off of his horse and proceeded to rush through the place, us following suit after the guy because of this fact. "Mona! MONA!" he shouted constantly as he drove his lance through numerous monsters on the way, including three Lunaticks, two Healslimes, a couple skeletons, and even piercing through a Leery Lout's shield! And we managed to gain experience to Level 12 for the others and level 14 for me and Crux before we finally got to the room that I was worried about. The one with Morag.
"Oh, mae beloved Right Knight. Ye finally made it back 'ome, ye did? Dinae expected ye tae get back on yer own," said the witch in one of the hardest-to-understand accents ever heard by human ears... but I guess that was to be expected when that was how the text was like.
"YOU! You're the wicked witch, Morag! I finally remember now! I set off to defeat you for what you did to Brigadoom, but then I got captured! Well this time will be different!" the Right Knight said angrily as he flipped up his helmet, which showed off the skeletal face within, our group then joining alongside him and Morag simply giggling at our group of 5.
"Och, but ye forget, I always 'ave the upper 'and," Morag said as she then had her piercing red eyes glow brightly and I simply stepped in front of the knight, hoping that Crux would be able to ward off the curse... it still hurt like all hell to get hit by the beam. "Heeheehee! Ye decide to take mae beloved's place, do ye? Well, the more the... eh?" she was about to say before the curse completely evaporated and I then looked at her with seriousness. "NO! Impossible! I've access tae the most foul curses known to mortalkind! They kin never fail!... Unless..." she said as I then smirked.
"I suggest you surrender right now, or would you rather fall to the taste of a Celestrian's blade?" Crux asked as he took control of the broadsword and Morag then looked to be spooked. She then tried to use the same curse on the others in the group, but they also were unfazed by it, which made her shocked.
"W-Wait, w-w-we can work somethin' out, right?..." Morag asked in fear as I frowned at her.
"How about, instead, you tell us why the hell we'd let you live on after you completely trashed Brigadoom. And tell us where Mona is," I said, Morag looking to be crying tears of acid before then frowning.
"I didn't destroy Brigadoom! I came here and it was just the same back then as it were today! It was destroyed long ago because of the Gittish Empire taking over the country an' the Stornway rulers destroying this kingdom along wiv the Gittish soldiers," she said, that making Veronica raise her eyebrow.
"The Gittish Empire? You mean the ones that tried to rule over the world over 300 years ago? The same ones that nearly conquered the world, had it not been for the Almighty's interference?" she asked.
"Yes, that!... B-But as for Mona. Ye cannae turn back the centuries since her demise. I found ye 400 years ago an' Mona 'as long since been lost to time. There's nothin' left to do fer 'er," Morag said, the Right Knight kneeling to the ground in defeat.
"My beloved Mona... I thought I could find her if I came back... but instead, I find you," he said with agony in his voice. I then felt something... touch me. I looked in the direction of it and saw that it was... a spirit! But not just any spirit. It looked exactly like Simona, only with brown hair and wearing a red outfit.
"Morag," she said, that making the witch look spooked.
"Wha? W-Who said that?" she asked as she looked around before the spirit spoke.
"I am the spirit of Mona," she said, Morag gasping, as did the Right Knight. "I know that you do love the Right Knight. Well, so do I... though what you have done is wrong, two wrongs do not make a right," Mona said as she then floated towards Morag and simply touched her ghostly fingers to the witch. "I want to be able to have one final dance with the Right Knight. But I want to share it with you."
"Uh..." was all I could muster because of the fact that Mona was being VERY generous and forgiving to the witch that ruined her relationship. Morag simply reached her arms out and hugged Mona, both of them then melding into one another in a bright flash of red and yellow light... and when it died down, we all gawked at how the result was the two having been merged together into the form of... a purple-skinned woman with normal eyes (with red irises), the hairstyle of Mona and the purple hair of Morag, two arms and two legs that were normal, and the dress being a combination of Mona's and Morag's.
"Is this... a dream?" the Right Knight asked in shock as the combine duo simply walked down to him and smiled.
"If it is... then let us not ever wake up... at least, not until we have our first dance as man and wife," the new form said as she held her hand out to the Right Knight and I saw that Veronica got out a small harp and proceeded to strum it, which sounded beautiful as the duo then started to dance together, which we also noted that Simona was watching from the sidelines. I wonder how much of the instance that she saw.
The duo (trio?) danced together for a good 3 minutes before their bodies started to glow brightly and they started to float in the air. But despite that, they never once stopped dancing. And with one final bow, they all then moved onto the afterlife.
"So beautiful..." Simona said with a sniffle from behind us, me looking at her with a smile.
"How much of that did you see? Just out of curiosity," I asked her.
"I saw the two women merging into one, one being a witch and the other being Mona... but while their combine forms were dancing, I could feel a voice in my head... it was telling me to thank you. For being merciful to the witch, despite the wrongs she committed," Simona said, me smiling as I then saw that the two of the spirits left behind 3 bright hunks of Benevolescence, which I then was surprised to see that Dillon, Veronica, and Keira were able to pick up.
"These must be Benevolescence, right, Drakerux?" Keira asked, me looking at her and simply motioning her towards me with a finger.
"Come here, little one," I said, her doing so and me then simply flicking her on the nose.
"Ow! What was that for?" she asked out loud, mostly from surprise.
"When speaking about the Celestrian stuff such as Benevolescence, refer to us as Crux. When talking about the mortal stuff, refer to us as Drake," Crux said for me. Great minds think alike, I suppose.
"Teehee, you get along like siblings," Simona smiled as I then looked at the others and then at her.
"Well, I'd say that our time here is finished up. Let's get going back to Stornway with our heads held high with quite the story to tell," I smirked.
"But what about the knight's horse? What are we going to do with him?" Dillon asked.
"Actually, it's a her, and he stole that horse during his escape from Stornway. He's currently waiting outside the castle with some of my other guards. I'm going to ask my father to retire her, allow her to roam the streets of Stornway and beyond if she wants to," Simona smiled, me nodding as we then left the castle out the top and I then, once we made the shortcut with the red door, we met up with Simona's guards and went back to Stornway, just as the moon was starting to emerge from the sunset.
"Maybe we should take a rest at the Quester's Rest after we meet with King Schott before we get going to the Starflight Express? We need sleep after all," Dillon asked as I simply nodded at his request.
"That we can do, Dillon," I smiled as I noted that I had over 2 thousand gold coins from all the monsters that the Right Knight slew on the way to Morag's room. We then reached the soldiers and the horse, where I then flung a Chimaera Feather in the air and Crux shouted for me.
"Stornway!" And in a snap, we flew through the air before then finding ourselves back at the front gates of Stornway, which felt like my feet were liquid when we landed afterwards.
"Oogh... is that what it's like to use one of those things?... I feel like my feet are melted," I complained.
"Easy, sir Drake. After all, you'll need to be rested up when my father weds us tomorrow," Simona said. And when she did, that made me do a legit double-take.
"Excuse moi?" I asked in French.
"You helped protect me at Loch Storn and from monsters on the way there and back. You're also the leader of your group. And by the royal code, that means that we are to be wed," Simona said, me then sweating a bit because of the main reason of... well, I knew literally nothing about her!
"Um... o-okay... h-how about, I'll only accept, s-so long as it's platonic at first?... Also, I may not be able to spend much t-time until our quest is done," I said awkwardly, Simona smiling at me warmly.
"I'm prepared for that. Just promise that you'll visit Stornway every now and then and I can accept your request," Simona said, me sighing a breath of relief.
"Thanks..." I puffed out.
"You're either very noble to be accepting of this... or very gone in the head," Crux said to me, which I sighed at.
"Kinda both... to be real," I said.
"So... now that we know you're going to be a newlywed soon, are you staying at Quester's Rest? Or could we get a bit of sleep at the castle?" Dillon asked, that making Simona giggle.
"But of course," she said. And all I could think of was one phrase...
When is this dream going to end?