Here's another chapter for all of you. I worked hard all week to get this one ready for you for the weekend. And let me tell you about the week that I have had. At the beginning of the week, I had to walk through the rain three days in a row to go to driver's training. Then my bedroom got invaded by a bunch of ants. Then I had surgery on my lower back. And yet, despite all this, through all the pain and suffering I have endured, I have persevered and gotten out another chapter for all of you to enjoy.

Anyway, this chapter has a bit of everything. Sleeping, eating, screaming, shopping, learning, singing, walking, comforting, fighting, remembering, and many other assorted verbs. And for all of you who were somewhat disappointed by Jessica's anti-climatic secret last chapter, please have faith in your author. I know what I'm doing, and what I'm doing makes sense.

Once again, here is the simple legality that I need to include, lest I want hordes of lawyers knocking at my front door tomorrow:

Dragon Quest IX is property of Square Enix and Nintendo and not me and probably not you.

What I do own are the characters that I make up, such as Michael and Jessica.

All we have left to do now before we can start the chapter is to go through the reviews. Here we go!

Yurei Hanatsuki: Yes, yes. I'm going to be a senior. A senior taking beyond-college-level classes in high school. It should definitely be fun. And I'm glad we could come to an agreement.

princessdaisy01: Thank you. As for your suggestion, this chapter will show why it really can't happen that way.

Casamora: Worry not. I have a plan for Jessica that will be revealed in a few chapters. Granted, I don't think anything in this story will be as dark as what you have mentioned, but I digress. As for my favorite vocations, I can't say what my four favorite ones are because that would be a spoiler to the story, but besides those, I really like Luminaries because they attack by dancing and Rangers because they summon wolves to attack for them.

Luckenhaft: You're right. There may be another guy on the team. There may also not be another guy on the team. We will have to wait and see, won't we?


Act 1 - Part 5: Neither Here Nor Zere

(Michael's POV)

The next morning, I woke up a little while before Jessica did. Not wanting to wake her, I quietly got dressed and began packing my bag. While doing this, Stella appeared next to me, stretching. "About time you woke up," she said. "The sun's already been up for hours."

"I know, Stella," I replied. "But we're both exhausted from our battle with the Wight Knight last night."

"Whatever," she shrugged. "I don't know what you were so worried about earlier. The Wight Knight wasn't that scary or that hard to beat."

I just smiled and shook my head. "Whatever you say, Stella." After that, there was a small period of silence where I worked on sorting the contents of my bag. Being essentially bottomless, it took longer than one would think to organize everything I was carrying.

Soon after I finished, Jessica began stirring. She sat up in her bed and stretched, yawning at the same time. "Morning," she mumbled sleepily.

"Good morning," I replied.

She got out of bed and walked to the window. "What time is it?" she asked. "The sun is already really high in the sky."

I looked at the clock on the wall. "About eleven thirty. We can go get breakfast as soon as you're ready to go."

"Okay. Just give me sec."

After Jessica finished getting ready, we had a quick breakfast, courtesy of Erinn, and went back into town towards the castle. At the front gate, the guards recognized me from the day before. "Hey," one of them called. "It's great to see that you're still alive."

"Um… Thanks, I think…" I replied. "It's great to see that you're still alive, too…" I heard Jessica stifling laughter behind me.

"Yeah, well, you better head on inside," the guard told us. "The king is expecting you."

"Thanks," I said, already heading inside with Jessica right behind me.

When we reached the throne room, both thrones were now occupied. King Schott still sat in the right one, but now there was a woman with short blonde hair in a purple dress sitting in the left one, no doubt the queen. This intrigued me. How could Simona have brown hair if both her parents had blonde hair? Very interesting indeed.

It seemed we had walked into the middle of a conversation, so we just stood quietly in the back and listened as Simona spoke to her parents. "Mother, Father…" she began, "I've decided that I'm going to give answer to the knight's demands."

The queen began sobbing into her hands. "Oh, no, Simona, please!"

King Schott looked at her, annoyed. "There's nothing to cry about, you silly besom!" he said. I was surprised to hear him talk to his wife so rudely. "I'll never allow her to go. Ach, they'll be the death of me, these two…" That's when he noticed Jessica and I standing in the doorway. The queen and Simona, seeing his distraction, noticed us as well. "Ah!" he said. "It's you! I've been waiting on the edge of my throne for you to come back. Hurry closer, now!" We approached the thrones and bowed. "It's good to see you back with us, Michael. And who is this with you?"

"I'm Jessica, sir," Jessica responded. "I'm Michael's partner."

"Ah, good, so you did follow my advice, Michael," said King Schott. "So tell me, what news is there of the Wight Knight?" We quickly recounted all the events from the night before, from the time we waited before the battle to the conversation we had with the Wight Knight afterwards. After we finished, the king sat quietly for a second before speaking again. "Och! So you're telling me he just lost his memory and mistook my Simona for his fiancée? And he told you he's going off to find Brigadoom now, so he won't be bothering us here again?"

"Yes, your highness," I answered.

All of a sudden, he rose from his throne and exploded in anger. "And you believed him!?" he bellowed. Jessica and I both took an involuntary step back in surprise. "Sounds like a ham-a-haddie to me! The blethering skite can't be trusted!"

"Father!" Simona exclaimed. "Why do you have such a low opinion of him? What did he ever do to you?" I was amazed by how much she resembled her father – not in appearance, but in her inner strength.

Schott sat back down with his mouth set stubbornly. "Hmph!" he said. "I've never even heard of Brigadoom for one thing. That proves he must be lying." He looked back at us. "Here's the situation. I'm sure that miscreant will be back here before long after my Simona again. So until you put a stop to him once and for all, you can forget about trying to collect any reward!"

Simona clasped her hands before her chest in disbelief. "Why do you refuse to believe their story, Father?" she asked. "If he really is all on his own miles away from home, it must be terrible for him."

Schott looked to her, shaking his head. "Och, lassie. I'm doing this all to protect you, you know. Do try to understand." Simona didn't seem to be listening. When he finished talking, her face lit up and she suddenly turned and ran out of the throne room. "Simona!" King Schott called out, but she was already gone.

Figuring that we were no longer wanted, Jessica and I left throne room, our spirits dampened. Stella appeared out of nowhere again. "What was that!?" she complained. "We go through all that effort, and for what? Nothing! There's no way we're getting any Benevolessence now with the king being so ungrateful!"

I was about to shake my head when I suddenly heard someone call my name from the left. "Michael!" We turned towards the voice and saw Princess Simona at the end of the hallway. She was looking about, as though to make sure no one was watching. "There's something I need to talk to all of you about. I don't want anyone to overhear." She pointed to a door down the hallway. "My room's through that door and to the east. Could we talk there? It's about Brigadoom." Without waiting for an answer, Simona went through the door.

I turned to Jessica. "What do you think? Should we follow her?"

"I guess," she answered. "We have nothing else that we can do, and if she really does know about Brigadoom, it could be useful."

"Alright, then. Let's go." As we headed through the hallways, Stella continued to complain about every little thing. I was really starting to get annoyed by her. Thankfully, we quickly reached Simona's room, where Stella had to stop talking.

Upon entering the room, I was surprised to see that, compared to the rest of the castle, her bedroom was rather simple. Of course, it was still ridiculously grand – her wardrobe alone was probably worth more than most of the buildings in Angel Falls – but is was sparsely furnished.

Facing us from in front of her bed, Simona began talking. "Sorry to ask you to come here like this," she said. "Father would just try to interfere if he overheard. You see, I actually have heard of Brigadoom." Jessica and I looked at each other in surprise. "I remember it from a nursery rhyme one of the maids used to sing to me when I was a wee girl. Maybe that song can give us a clue as to how we can fix all this! The maid's gone back to live in Zere now. It's a tiny village just to the west of Loch Storn." She sighed. "The Wight Knight isn't the evil character that Father thinks he is. I just know it. He needs help, Michael. Please, do whatever you can. You too, Jessica."

"We'll do everything we can," I promised.

"Yeah, you can count on us," Jessica added.

Simona smiled. "Thank you, both of you. Now go, quickly, before my father comes looking for me."

We thanked the princess for her help and quickly left the castle along the path we came in through. As we were passing through the market, I suddenly remembered something important. "I need to get something. I'll be right back," I said, running into a nearby store before Jessica could respond. In the store, I quickly found what I wanted and purchased it. Back outside, Jessica was patiently waiting where I left her, curious to see what I ran off to get.

"What did you get?" she asked.

"A world map. I've meant to get one for a while now, but I kept forgetting. Let's take a look at it." I opened up the map and held it in front of me.

"Where are we?" Jessica asked.

"Right here." I pointed to a drawing of a castle in the middle of the northwestern land mass. There were six main land masses in total: two in the west, one in the center, and three in the east. Interestingly, there was a blank area on the north central area of the map. I wondered what was there…

Looking around some more, I found Angel Falls, which was denoted by a waterfall. To the north of Stornway, I also determined the location of Zere, which was marked by a large tree. "There's Zere," I said, pointing to it.

"That's not too far," Jessica said. "We can totally get there in a few hours, no problem."

"Great. Let's go."


The beginning of our hike north took us through familiar territory, as it was the same path that we took to Loch Storn the night before. However, instead of going east towards the Loch, we turned west towards the continuing land mass. After a while, we came across vast fields of grain. "Are the people of Zere farmers?" I asked.

"I think so," Jessica answered. "I read somewhere that Zere is a really small town, so I don't think that they'd have much else."

I looked around. "Well, whatever the reason, they really enjoy making scarecrows. Look how many there are."

"Yeah, that's strange," Jessica replied. "Let's hurry up and get to Zere already.

For the next few minutes, we walked in silence, just enjoying the sound of the wind passing through the grain. Suddenly, I got the feeling that I was being watched. I looked behind me, but I didn't see anything but grain and scarecrows. Looking closer at them, I noticed that some of them were holding scythes in their hands.

"What's wrong, Michael?" Jessica asked, concerned.

"Nothing. I just thought I felt something," I explained. "Let's walk a little faster. I don't feel comfortable out here."

The following minutes passed in silence as well. The whole time, I kept thinking about the scarecrows with the scythes. Why did they seem so familiar to me? I kept trying to remember where I had heard of them before, and after a few moments, I figured it out.

Many years ago, I had listened to a report from the Guardian of Zere. She had mentioned a group of monsters that resembled scarecrows with scythes that were damaging the crops and harming local farmers. I believe she had called them Ragged Reapers. I also remember that, a few years later, she had reported that the monster population had been decreased to a non-damaging level around Zere. If that's the case, then why were they here again? Did they return with all the other monsters after the earthquake? While I was thinking this, I heard something behind me. I froze.

"Jessica, stop moving," I ordered.

"Wh-"

"Shh!" I cut her off. I had heard the sound again. It sounded like something stepping on a piece of grain. I waited to hear it again, holding my breath so I wouldn't miss it. I slowly reached for my sword, and pulled it out quietly.

'crack'

That time, it sounded like it came from right behind us. We both quickly spun around and came face to face with a Ragged Reaper, which was trying to sneak up on us. Realizing that its cover was blown, it held up its scythe and brought it down in a swinging arc, causing both of us to jump out of the way. It cackled creepily and pulled back its scythe, preparing to attack again. I rolled under its blade, slashed across its front with my sword – revealing that it was made completely from dry straw – and leapt back a few feet, dodging another pass of the blade. It appeared completely unaffected by my attack.

Getting tired of trying to hit me, the Ragged Reaper turned towards Jessica, figuring she would be easier to get, but was immediately hit with a fireball to the face. Catching on fire, it ran around in a panic until it was completely engulfed in flames, leaving nothing but a small cloud of purple dust swirling around in the air.

"That worked rather well," Jessica remarked.

"No kidding," I said. "If we ever run into one of those again, make sure you start with a Frizz spell."

"Totally," she agreed.


It seemed that news of our – or maybe I should say Jessica's – brutal destruction of the Ragged Reaper had quickly spread among the monsters in the field, as they all ignored us as we walked past. I figured that they didn't want to fight us, but didn't want to look cowardly by running away, either. Jessica said they were actually completely paralyzed in fear of her firepower. I didn't bother arguing with her.

We eventually managed to reach the other end of the fields, where we could see Zere just up ahead. The most prominent feature about the village was the giant tree that stood in the center, with the rest of the village built around it. That being said, I could easily tell that Zere was very, very small. It was even smaller than Angel Falls.

When we arrived, we began looking around town and stopped at the local store to pick up supplies. I bought a stronger sword and some better armor while Jessica picked up a more powerful wand and a new pair of shoes. We both also got new shields that were much more durable than our old ones. While selling our old equipment, I decided to ask the shop owner for directions. "Excuse me," I began, catching his attention. "Do you know anyone who lives here that used to work in Stornway?"

"Aye, Alanna lives on the other side of our tree," he said. "She used to work as the princess's nurse – imagine!"

We thanked him, and continued looking around the small village. When we reached the other side of 'their tree,' we found one house atop a small hill with its door open. As we approached the house, we saw two grey-haired women sitting at a table, having a conversation. "Wheesht, Alanna!" said one of them. "There you go again, blethering about the old days."

The other woman, Alanna, smiled. "I was actually a wee bit jealous of you back then, Petra," she said, stopping abruptly when she noticed Jessica and me at the front door. "Aye?" she asked.

Petra turned in her seat and looked at us. "Och, we've company! Welcome, welcome!"

We stepped through the doorway. "Sorry to bother you," I began, "but, we have a quick question we need to ask you."

"What would that be, dearie?" Alanna asked.

"Were either of you Princess Simona's nurse when she was a child?" Jessica asked for me.

"Aye, that's right," Alanna said. "I used to look after Princess Simona. Why do you ask?"

"We were wondering, could sing one of the songs you sung for her for us?" I replied. "The one about Brigadoom?"

"Well, I can't deny a request like that, can I?" Alanna asked. She turned to Petra. "You'll sing along with me, won't you, Petra?"

"The Right Knight ditty?" Petra asked. "Aye, I could sing that in my sleep." Jessica and I glanced at each other with confused looks. The Right Knight? Everyone so far had called him the Wight Knight. Even he called himself that.

Alanna and Petra, however, didn't seem to notice our confusion as they prepared to sing for us. Petra began the song. "Giddy up, giddy up, and away he goes!"

Alanna continued: "The Right Knight sets off on his steed

"In search of evil he rides

"If he can defeat the terrible beast

"He'll be home to wed his bride.

"The town is full of laughter, preparing a feast fit for a queen,"

"Och! But then, Disaster!

"The Right Knight's nowhere to be seen!"

"Bird, north, Brigadoomward on,

"Tell her that her knight is gone,"

"Bird, north, Brigadoomward on,

"Tell her that her knight is goooone!"

Alanna smiled. "Well, that's the song, dearie. I hope it was to your liking." She paused. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why would you come all this way just to hear an old nursery rhyme?"

I hesitated a moment, before telling her, "We're actually trying to find Brigadoom."

"Oh," Alanna responded, "so you want to find Brigadoom, do you? In that case, I'd pay special attention to the part about the bird flying north. Why don't you try flying north yourself and seeing what you can find?"

"We'll definitely give it a shot," Jessica replied. "Thank you, both of you."

"It was no problem, my dears, no problem at all!" Alanna responded. "I wish you luck!"

We thanked both of them one more time before leaving their cottage. Outside, Jessica turned to me. "North, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Let's check the map." I pulled out the map and looked at Zere. To the northwest of Zere, there was a strip of land that we had yet to explore. There was just one problem with that. "It looks like we're going to have to go through the Doomingale Forest," I told Jessica.

Her face paled. "The D-Doomingale Forest?" she repeated. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. I don't think there is going to be anyway around it. That's all there is north of Zere."

Jessica sighed. "I guess that makes sense. If a lost kingdom no one has ever heard of before exists somewhere, it would probably be in that cursed place."

"My thoughts exactly," I replied. "Let's get going. I don't think the Doomingale Forest is a place that we want to be caught in during the dead of night."

However, as we headed back around the tree, we heard a shout from the entrance of the village. "S-somebody, help me!" yelled a large blond man, who had just come running into the village. Right behind him, riding his black steed, was the Wight – I mean Right – Knight. "Aargh! We're done for! Help! Heelp!" the man continued yelling, growing ever more frantic.

"Why do you run from me?" asked the Wight – Right – Knight. "I just want to talk with you. I mean you no harm."

"Dinnae gie me that!" yelled the man. "I saw that witch in the woods out lookin' for ye, so I did! A real piece o' work, she was, red eyes a-blazin' and all! Asked me if I'd seen her slave, the Wight Knight, so she did! That's you, I'd wager. Ye're her slave, are ye not?"

"Do I look like a witch's slave to you?" the knight demanded. "I've never heard anything so ridiculous!" That's when he noticed me and Jessica standing over by the church, watching the unfolding events. "It's Michael, is it not?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"We're trying to find more about Brigadoom," Jessica answered.

"You've been trying to find out more about Brigadoom?" the knight asked. "You really didn't need to go to such trouble on my account." He paused for a moment. "So…were you able to learn anything?"

"Your real name is the Right Knight, isn't it?" I asked.

"The Right Knight," he repeated. "Yes, that's what they called me back in Brigadoom. However did you find that out?"

"There's a song about it," Jessica answered. "Hey, Michael, you're a minstrel. Why don't you sing the song for him?"

"What!?" I said, immediately tensing up and turning on Jessica. "You want me to do what!?"

"Sing the Right Knight ditty."

"N-no, I couldn't," I argued. "I don't remember all the words. There are too many people around. I don't have a good singing voice. I-I-I-" I saw the look on Jessica's – and everyone else's – face. They all wanted to hear me sing. Why, I'll never know, but they all really wanted me to sing. "Fine," I conceded. "I'll sing it." I took a deep breath, released a string of curses under my breath, and began singing the nursery rhyme loud enough for everyone to hear it.

When I finished, the remaining silence was extremely unbearable. I looked down at the ground, refused to look at anybody, and felt my cheeks grow very warm. After a moment, I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw that it was Jessica, who had a small smile on her lips. "That was really good, Michael," she said.

A smile slowly crept onto my face. "Do you really think so?" When she nodded, I definitely felt a lot better, though I was still super embarrassed about the ordeal.

In the meantime, the Right Knight seemed to be consumed in his own thoughts. "Surely not!" he said. "There's a song about me! This is all very odd. Surely I'm not just the figment of a storyteller's imagination?" He looked towards us once more. "'Bird, north, Brigadoomward on'? That's the only clue there was in the song?" He turned his steed around. "Then I suppose there's nothing for it but to follow the bird's example. Northward ho!" he cried, and he galloped out of the village and to the north.

Jessica and I stood there for a few moments while everyone else went back to their regular business. Then Jessica asked, "Should we follow him north?"

"I think we should follow him," I answered. "He is from Brigadoom, and if anyone would be able to find it, it would be him." Jessica agreed, and we left the village after the Right Knight, following the hoof prints of his steed to the north.


Well, there you go. I hope you liked this chapter. I feel it served to expand upon the relationship forming between Michael and Jessica. And poor Michael, having to sing in front of everybody. I could never do that. I would sooner have a heart attack (I probably would, too).

And just like last chapter, the contest to see if anyone can make a good suggestion for how the other two party members will be joining Michael's party is still going on. In case you didn't catch them last time, here are the rules again:

1. Please make only one suggestion per review.

2. I have already decided most of the defining traits of the two other party members. Your job is only to describe how they meet Michael.

3. In your suggestion, please include the place where it takes place and how exactly the meet. The gender and vocation don't necessarily have to match, but it would definitely make things a lot easier on my part.

4. There will be AT MOST 2 winners. There could easily be none. It all depends on how good your suggestions are.

And, as with every other chapter, please point out any typos, errors, or inconsistencies that you notice in this chapter. I'm not perfect, but that doesn't mean I can't try to be.

If you like what you have read, please follow, favorite, and review. It means a lot to me to hear from you guys.

Until next time, this has been D~F.