Yeah, this one is a few months late. In my defense, I was graduating college, and then spent a month in Spain. Let's just pretend that it's still April for now so we can celebrate the fifth anniversary of this story. Woo!

I think this chapter definitely has some good points, so I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer

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

What I do own are my own original characters, including, but not limited to, Michael, Jessica, Allison, as well as some of the crazy things that happen to them.

Reviews:

AuraFighter23: Ah, I see you are also a fellow man of taste. And I appreciate such high praise. And, in regards to the fourth party member, there's only a couple more chapters until they show up. Can't make any promises about who or what they are, though.

Typhlosion-777: Rocket Slime, huh? You know, you're not the first person to mention that game to me. I guess I should get around to playing it one day. P.S. Have a merry June and a happy July.

pokemonking0924: I'm glad you've enjoyed what I've done with the story so far. You're not the first person to mention the other Jessica, but I assure you that the naming was purely coincidental. In regards to the fourth party member, see above. It is a great personal shame of mine that I unfortunately haven't played any other DQ games outside of IX and part of XI, so I don't actually know what's in the other games that I could add to this story. Even then, though, I probably wouldn't, as this story is a celebration of everything DQIX. As for a list of all of the character abilities and magic, I can try to put one at the end of this chapter.


Act 2 – Part 10: Fruits of the Sea

(No One's POV)

A heavy silence filled the room, intensified by the natural dampness of the cave it was housed in. On one end of the room stood the vain Luminary Sarah who, despite appearing slightly distressed at the moment, managed to maintain her perfect pink hair and makeup. Her companions lounged behind her, letting Sarah deal with the current situation herself.

At the other end of the room sat two men, one older and more muscular and the other younger and thinner. The pair appeared deep in thought, thinking about the plan just proposed to them by their younger sister.

"Hmm…" the larger brother sighed, finally breaking the silence. "Do you really think this is a good idea?"

"Yeah," Sarah answered. "It'll be just like old times…"

"If I reckon correctly," her eldest brother recalled, "you hated the old times."

"Yeah…" the other brother added. "In fact, we gave those times the 'eave-'o cause of you. Why would you want us to go back to 'em now?"

Zachary, who seemed interested in the current state of the conversation, adjusted himself so that he could better focus on it, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Sarah.

"I know what I said in the past," Sarah pleaded to her older brothers. "But I need you guys to do this just this once. Please…"

The younger brother turned towards the other. "What do you think, Guv?"

The older brother looked at Sarah and shook his head, sighing. "Aight, little sis. If it's that important to you, we'll do it."

A small smile crept onto Sarah's face upon hearing their agreement. "In that case-"

"On one condition, though," he interrupted.

"What is it?" Sarah asked cautiously.

"You 'ave to stay and 'elp us pull it off."

"What?" Sarah asked in shock. "Why?"

"It's your idea, yeah?" the younger brother answered. "Why should we do all the 'ard work for you?"

"Um…"

"That seems fair to me," Zachary suddenly interjected.

"Really?" Sarah asked, surprised.

"Of course," Zachary calmly reassured. "Plus, with your help, the three of you should be able to complete the plan without any problem." He briefly dropped his voice to a whisper so only Sarah could hear him. "And if something does go wrong, it'll be on you."

"Right…" Sarah nodded, understanding. She turned back towards her brothers. "Then, I suppose I'll stay here with you guys until the job is finished."

"Only for that long?" the older brother asked.

"Oh, yes," Zachary answered. "She's a crucial member of our team. We'll need her back as soon as possible."

"I'll rejoin you as soon as I'm done."

"Good," Zachary exclaimed, standing to leave. "Don't disappoint me."


(Michael's POV)

"Are you sure you don't want to ride in my bag anymore, Stella?" I asked. "I didn't mind."

"Nah. I'd rather hang out here with you guys. It gets lonely in the bag," Stella explained. "Besides, do you know how flapping heavy your bag is already? I'd feel bad for adding to it."

"It's not that heavy," I argued. "Look," I said as I lifted up my bag and dropped it. It made a resounding crash as it hit the ground, cracking the earth beneath it as countless pieces of equipment and items could be heard tumbling over each other from within.

"Well, I had left it organized in there…" Stella lamented.

I just stared down at my bag and its impact crater in shock. "Almighty…" I breathed. "I dropped this on your face, Jessica?"

Jessica turned away from what her and Allison were currently working on. "Why do you think I nearly burned you alive?"

"You threw it back…"

"I was angry."

"That angry?"

Jessica just smirked before turning back to continue helping Allison. On the way to Bloomingdale, they decided to stop where the path splits off towards Zere Rocks and fix the sign that stood there.

"There," Allison exclaimed. "All finished."

I looked at the sign to see a new set of directions crudely etched into the wood. 'North-west of here lies the town of new beginnings, Dourbridge.'

"'New beginnings,' huh?" I asked.

"I thought it was fitting," Allison explained.

"It sounds good. I like it," I said. "Good job, guys."

"Thanks, Michael," Allison responded with a smile. "And thanks for waiting while we did this."

"No problem. Now, are we ready to go see just how great of a town Bloomingdale truly is?"

"There better be some spectacular flowers there, or I'm going to be sorely disappointed," Allison answered.

We laughed as we followed the path south. We crossed over another of the many rivers in this region and rounded a bend. There, we stopped, completely awestruck. Before us, where there would normally be grass, were endless fields of flowers of every type and color. A soft breeze blew over the field, bringing with it a mix of the different aromas of each flower. The scene was broken only by the occasional Slime romping through the flowers and a large town sitting in the distance, overlooking the field.

"These are some spectacular flowers…" Allison breathed.

"Do you think it would be okay if I took some of them?" Stella asked.

"What for?"

"To put in my hair, of course," she explained. "These flowers are flapping beautiful. They're perfect for me."

"I suppose you can…" I allowed, not really seeing a reason why she couldn't.

"Flap yeah!" she shouted before quickly flying off to gather flowers. While she was off doing that, we continued along the path towards Bloomingdale, admiring the scenery around us.

"Incredible," Allison exclaimed, looking at a patch of Wakerobins. "They even have healing items growing here."

"Everything seems so peaceful," Jessica observed. "Do you think there's even a Fygg around here?"

"It's hard to say," I replied. "Each Fygg seems to manifest its curse in a different way." I looked out towards Bloomingdale, which was much closer at this point. The calm ocean behind it could now be seen. "In any case, Bloomingdale is a port town, and there's supposedly a boat just sitting there unused. At the very least, we should try to see if there's some way we can get to use it."

"Having our own boat would be nice," Allison admitted.

"Hey, guys, look at all these flowers I found!" Stella suddenly shouted excitedly, returning from her brief trip. The usual pink carnation she wore in her hair had been replaced with a group of white daisies. "I have enough flowers to wear a different one every day of the week!"

"Only a single week?" I asked incredulously, staring at the massive bouquet of flowers in her hands.

"Okay, fine," Stella conceded. "Maybe for a couple of weeks. Let me just put these in your bag, Mich-" Stella was about to put the flowers in my bag before catching herself. "Actually, can I put these in your bag, Jessica?"

"Oh, uh…sure," Jessica answered, surprised by the sudden request.

"Thanks!" Stella cheered. "You're the best." She picked a small, purple flower out of her bunch and handed it to Jessica. "You can have this one to put in your hair," she offered.

"That's sweet of you, Stella," Jessica happily accepted as Stella placed the rest of her flowers into Jessica's bag.

"That's…a Sleeping Hibiscus," Allison pointed out, concerned. "It'll put you to sleep, Jessica."

"Only if she's not careful with it," Stella defended. "She'll be fine."

Jessica gingerly placed the Sleeping Hibiscus in her hair, sliding it underneath the Silver Tiara she was still wearing. "How does it look?"

"It looks nice," I answered, causing Jessica to smile.

"Thanks, Michael."

"Anyway, it's almost midday. Let's hurry up and get to Bloomingdale," I directed. "Then we can spend the rest of the day looking around for any clues about the location of the next Fygg and how to get ourselves a boat."

Reaching the outer wall of the town, we stepped through the stone archway to enter Bloomingdale proper. Inside, even more flowers greeted us. Flower beds stretched across the city, winding around buildings and skirting around sidewalks. A large mansion sat at the top of the city. Below it, the town sloped downward until it reached the harbor, which was filled with many boats both small and large.

A woman who was standing near the entrance welcomed us as we entered. "Welcome to Bloomingdale, the rose of the south," she greeted. "Are you travelers?"

"Yeah," I answered.

"I bet you wish you had a ship, don't you?" she asked.

"Well, as it turns out-"

"The Pride of Bloomingdale," she interrupted, "our very own magnificent vessel, once sailed the high seas from Slurry Quay to Stornway. Pretty good, eh? Interested?"

"Y-"

"I know you are!" she continued. "How jolly! You'd better start buttering up Ms. Marion Bloome, then!"

As the rest of us stood flustered by the woman's conversation, which ended as quickly as it happened, Stella twirled around with a smile on her face. "Hey, guys, did you hear that?" she exclaimed. "There actually is a ship here! And it's up for grabs! Just think how much easier our Fygg hunt would be if we had our own boat." She turned to me with a look of determination. "Come on! You've got to find this girl who owns it and charm her into to letting you have it! Should be a slice of cake!"

"Michael?" Jessica scoffed. "Charm a lady? You must be joking."

"Ooh, you're right," Stella acknowledged. "We might need a different plan, then."

"Maybe we should have Allison talk to her instead," Jessica suggested.

"What!? Why me?" Allison asked, confused.

"You are the most sensible out of all of us," Stella explained. "I'm sure she'll take a liking to you once she gets a chance to talk with you."

"What…no…that's…not…" Allison stammered in response.

"Are we done?" I asked, amazed by the conversation unfolding before me.

"Oh, sorry Michael," Jessica apologized. "No offense."

I rolled my eyes at I started walking farther into town. "Whatever. Just remember: I got all of you to follow me somehow."

"He makes a good point," Stella admitted as she flew after me.

"No he doesn't," Jessica argued. "…Does he?"


Knowing only Ms. Marion Bloome's name and not where she was in town, we decided to ask around for directions, and also look for any clues about a Fygg. Since the inn was nearby, we checked there first. Looking around, we found a staircase that led to a bar in the basement. A few staff members were walking around, serving drinks to the handful of guests sitting in the dimly lit room.

I walked up to the counter and got the attention of the bartender. "What can I get for you?" he asked.

"Actually," I began, "I was wondering if you could tell us where we could fine Ms. Marion Bloome."

"Bloome," he repeated, nodding his head thoughtfully. "I was formerly the butler at the Bloome residence, you know. The head of the household staff. Ahhh, those were the days!"

"Did someone mention Ms. Bloome?" a chef asked, having overheard the bartender as he walked by, along with a serving maid.

"Yes," the bartender answered. "These people are trying to find her."

"Are they?" the chef exclaimed. "You know, Ms. Bloome's always been a frail little thing. She was confined to her bed almost from birth."

"Well, then, where can we find her bed?" Jessica dared to ask.

"Oh, she's not in her bed anymore," the chef explained. "It was only after eating that peculiar fruit that she finally developed a bit of strength at last."

"Peculiar fruit…" I repeated. "Was it a shiny, golden fruit?"

"Yes it was, actually. …Hm? How do I know?" he asked, misinterpreting the looks on our faces. "Oh, all of us staff here at the inn were employed at the Bloome residence once upon a time."

"I shouldn't gossip," the maid joined in, "but I'm terribly worried about Ms. Bloome. She's not ill any more, but she's still all alone up in that mansion…"

"Mansion?" I asked. "You mean the big one that sits at the top of the town?"

"Yes, that's the one," the maid sighed. "That's where everyone in the town goes to take advantage of the poor mite."

"You're not planning on taking advantage of her, too, are you?" the bartender asked accusingly.

"What? No!" I defended. "Of course n-"

A loud burp from another man sitting at the bar interrupted our conversation. "He he he hic!" he drunkenly giggled to himself before noticing we were all looking at him. "Just a bit of advanced ceberat- Cerebra- Celebratin'!" he explained, raising his glass to us. "Our sister came to visit an' – hic – we're gonna 'ave a good time pretty soon!"

Having gotten the information we needed, we took advantage of the man's interruption to excuse ourselves from the conversation and head back outside.

Not wanting to waste any time, we quickly walked straight through the center of the city up to the front gates of Ms. Bloome's mansion. A young man stood outside the gates, seemingly guarding the entrance.

"Hm? I don't believe we've met," he greeted us with a suspicious look. "Are you travelers?"

"We are."

"This is the Bloome residence, home of Ms. Marion Bloome," the man explained. "Perhaps you were looking for the Bloomes' ship, the Pride of Bloomingdale? You'll find it moored at the harbor on the edge of town. It really is most spectacular. I can highly recommend it if you're looking for some sights to see during your stay."

"We're not here to sightsee!" Jessica began to object, but I cut her off.

"Come on," I directed. "Let's go take a look at the boat."

"But, why, Michael!?" Jessica argued. "It'd be a complete waste of time! We know that a Fygg went inside that mansion and caused who knows what kind of trouble when it was eaten by this Ms. Marion Bloome, who – may I remind you – owns the boat we're interested in and whose permission we need to take it. How is anything taking precedence over getting inside!?"

After making sure Jessica was finished, I took a deep breath before responding. "Well, we may as well make sure that the 'Pride of Bloomingdale' is worth all of the trouble we're going through to get it," I calmly answered.

"You're not seriously suggesting we just walk away from where we know a Fygg has been, are you?" Jessica asked in disbelief.

I sighed. "What would you propose we do instead?" I asked. "The man standing at the gate kindly told us to go away."

"Yeah, I don't think he's going to let us through any time soon," Allison added in support.

"Well, what if we tried to sneak past him? Maybe climb over the wall and then find a way to break inside," Jessica suggested. "Or, maybe-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Stella interrupted, "because I know you're not so flapping stupid that you of all people just suggested we try to break into the mansion."

Jessica covered her mouth with her hand as her blind anger quickly evaporated into sheer shock at the realization of what she had just said. Her eyes flickered between mine and Allison's equally shocked faces before finally dropping her gaze, defeated. "I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I lost control of my temper again, didn't I?"

I put my hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Come on. Let's go take a walk down to the harbor."


We were met with the familiar scent of a sea breeze as we approached the harbor. The harbor was bustling with activity as sailors worked to load and unload various types of cargo on and off their boats. We passed several of these boats as we walked along the main pier, but none of them appeared to be the Pride of Bloomingdale. It wasn't until we reached the very end of the pier that we found a beautiful ship far larger than any other. It glistened in the mid-afternoon sun as it rocked in the gentle waves near the shore.

An old sailor approached us as we admired the vessel. "This is the harbor, my friend," he greeted us. "…But I'm sure you didn't need me to tell you that." He turned to face the ship, joining us in admiring it. "She's a fine specimen, don't you think?"

"Yeah…" Allison breathed.

"This ship used to rule the high seas from the Lonely Coast to the shores of Coffinwell. The Pride of Bloomingdale, she's called!" the sailor revealed, catching our attention enough to look away from the ship and focus on him. "But ever since her owner passed away, she's been left to rot. He was a merchant, you know. A bit of a tycoon, truth be told." He sighed. "I used to work for him, you know. I was the ship's warden back then, employed by the fine folks up there in the mansion."

"Well, maybe you can help us out, then," I suggested.

"What's that, lad?" the old sailor asked.

"We've been looking for a boat that we can use to travel across the ocean," Allison explained.

"And a lot of people have suggested this one in particular," Jessica added.

A smile slowly formed on the man's face. "You've been looking for a boat? So someone still has need of the old girl… You'd better speak to Ms. Bloome up at the mansion, then," he advised. "I'm sure she'll oblige. She's an outrageously generous young woman. Tell the doorman you ran into me at the ship and I'm sure he'll let you in to see her. Marion's her name."

Thanking the old sailor for his help, we turned and started heading back towards the top of town.

"See?" I asked. "Everything ended up working out for us."

"There is no way you could've known that that was going to happen," Jessica asserted.

"Of course not," I agreed with a smile. "But aren't you glad we decided to check out the boat, first?"

"Michael," Allison called out. "I think that's enough on the subject. Right, Jessica?"

"Yeah…sure…" Jessica mumbled, but I noticed she seemed relieved from Allison' interjection.

A flash of remorse passed through me as I realized I had started to become a bit of a jerk again. "Hey, Jessica, I'm sorry," I apologized. "And…um…don't worry about earlier. You were right about how getting inside should've been our highest priority. At least you had a plan on how to get inside. That's more than I had at the time."

Jessica sheepishly smiled at my words. "Thanks, Michael."


(Allison's POV)

"I'm telling you, it's going to happen," Stella quietly insisted.

"No," I refused in a whisper.

"Are you even looking at the same Michael and Jessica as I am?"

"There's nothing there!"

"How can you not sense it!?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Just let it go."

"One day you'll see that I'm right. Mark my words!"


(Michael's POV)

As we approached the doorman, he started giving the same speech from earlier. "This is the Bloome residence, home of Bloomingdale's most munificent citizen, Ms. Marion Bloome." He paused. "Aren't you guys the travelers from earlier? Weren't you going down to the harbor and away from here?"

"We did go down to the harbor," I explained. "We met a friend of ours while we were there. He's the warden of the Pride of Bloomingdale, and he suggested that we meet Ms. Bloome."

"…Hm? You're a friend of the ship's warden, you say?" the doorman asked. "Why didn't you mention that earlier!? Then you're very welcome here! Do go in." He stepped to the side and opened the gate, letting us through.

We thanked him as we stepped into the inner courtyard. As we did so, I briefly caught a glimpse of a large, muscular man wearing a helmet standing off to the side, sizing up the exterior walls of the mansion. Something about him didn't feel quite right to me, but he quickly passed from my vision and my focus returned to the large mansion standing before us.

Stepping through the ornate front doors, we found ourselves standing in the mansion's large foyer, which was decorated with even more flowers, as well as some painted portraits of who I assumed was the Bloome family.

A merchant standing nearby noticed us enter. "Well, well," he called out. "Are you another hopeful? Hopeful of getting into Ms. Bloome's good books, I mean?"

"…Yes," I answered cautiously.

"So was I until just recently. But now my dreams have come true!" the man exclaimed. "She's so generous! So wonderfully, wonderfully generous!" Apparently overflowing with glee, the merchant practically danced away, leaving us to explore the mansion ourselves.

"This place is very empty and quiet," Jessica remarked as we walked around the ground floor. "A house this large, and there's almost no one inside of it."

"Remember what they said at the inn," Allison reminded. "Everyone there use to work here."

"The staff at the inn still seemed to care about Ms. Bloome. I don't think they would have all just left" I mused. "Do you think she fired everyone?"

"Why would she do that?" Stella asked. "You don't seriously think she's taking care of this whole house by herself, do you?"

I looked around where we were standing before answering, noticing the thick layer of dust that covered everything and how most of the plants were wilting. "No, I don't think she is," I concluded. "In fact, this whole place looks like it has been abandoned."

Continuing farther into the mansion, we crossed paths with an elegant-looking lady, who was intensely admiring something as she walked out of a set of doors at the end of the hallway. "Look at this! Isn't it beautiful?" she laughed as she walked past. "Ms. Bloome gave me this necklace as a symbol of our friendship! Honestly!"

We stopped and watched as she turned down the path we had just come from, her joyful laughter echoing through the otherwise silent mansion.

"Michael," Jessica asked, "I know we already got the Fygg of Greed in Porth Llaffan, but…don't you kinda feel like it should've been here instead?"

"It is somewhat peculiar," Allison remarked.

"What is?" Stella asked.

"Both here and in Porth Llaffan, we had to deal with a recently orphaned young girl who is being taken advantage of by the people in the town they live in," Allison explained. Jessica clenched her fists as Allison spoke. "It's too similar to be purely coincidental."

"But, in Porth Llaffan, that was a direct consequence of the Fygg affecting everyone," I pointed out. "None of the four remaining Fyggs would be able to be directly responsible for something like this."

"Hey, well, we can ask all the flapping questions we want," Stella interjected, "but the only way we're going to get any answers is if we find this Marion and ask her ourselves."

Knowing she was right, we made our way to the end of the hallway and opened the doors that the lady came out of. Three people were already inside. A male martial artist and a female dancer were both standing in front of a table. On the other side of the table daintily sat a young girl on a couch. The young girl was wearing a fancy, yet youthful red dress with a matching red bow sitting in her long, blonde hair.

"Good day to you both," the young girl politely greeted her two guests. "What fun have you in store for me today?"

"Well, Marion– Ahem! I mean, Ms. Bloome…" the martial artist began. "I thought something sweet might be nice." He walked around the table and presented a dish to Ms. Bloome. "So I've baked you this delicious strawberry sponge cake. I do hope you like it."

"A spun…cake…? A…gunge…cake…?" Marion attempted to repeat. "Ah, thank you. Yes, I shall have it set in one of our finest vases and put on display." Her last statement drew incredulous looks around the room.

"On dis…?" the man struggled to comprehend. "Erm, Ms. Bloome… It's a cake, not a…" The man cleared his throat. "I mean…Ahem! Yes, yes! Of course. As you wish."

"Marion, Marion!" the dancer called out. "Don't you want to know what I've got for you?"

"What is it?" Marion asked, turning her attention to the woman.

"Well, we girls prefer clothes to fatty old food, don't we?" the woman explained. "And you're always wearing the same old ribbon, so I got you a new one!"

The smile faded off of Marion's face and her tone turned deathly serious. "I don't want it."

"What?" the woman recoiled in shock. "B-But… What? Why!? It's really prett–"

Marion stood up and glared at the woman. Despite her young age and shorter height, Marion somehow managed to tower over the woman. "If I say I don't want something, I don't want it!" Marion screamed. "My ribbon is the same as my one true friend's. It's perfect in every way. I shan't just replace it with something else. No! No, no, no! Get out of my sight! I want nothing more to do with you!"

"B-But I… I…" the woman cowered, on the verge of tears.

Despite the woman's pleas, Marion stayed true to her word and paid no more attention to her. Instead, she turned towards the doorway and acknowledged our presence for the first time. "Who are you?" she asked, returning to her original cheerful demeanor. "Are you a new friend?"

"We are," Jessica answered, surprisingly sounding like she was trying to match Marion's cheerfulness.

"Pleased to meet you," Marion curtsied. "We…haven't met before, have we?" she asked nervously.

"Nope, this is our first time meeting," Allison answered with a smile. "And…if you don't mind us asking, we'd like to use your boat."

"Hm?" Marion hummed, looking relieved. "My ship? You'd like my ship? Certainly. You can have it. Take it away with you. Go wherever you please. All I ask is that you let me be your frien…" As she was talking, her eyes drifted from the two girls to me, and all her warmth vanished the instant we locked eyes. The sudden silence caused the entire room to tense up as Marion continued to stare intensely at me.

"Marion…?" Jessica asked, concerned.

Marion took a step back, almost as if she was afraid. "You're… You're not the same as the others…" she breathed, focusing only on me. "You've come for Marion, haven't you?"

"No…" I answered, confused.

"Liar!" Marion screamed, causing everyone to jump. "I know you have. You've come here for Marion. Well I won't let you! No, no, no! I hate you!" she shrieked. "You're not my friend. I take it back. You can't have my ship. Get out!" She emphasized her final demand by slamming her hand on the table.

"Really, Ms. Bloome," the martial artist tried to calm her. "There's no need to get so angry."

"Yes, let's all kiss and make up!" the dancer suggested. "We can make up, can't we, Marion?"

Marion's glare only intensified as she clenched her fists and shook her head in anger. "No, no, no! I hate you! All of you! Get out! Get out, get out, get out! GET OUT!" she roared so intensely, the room actually shook, causing dust to fall from the ceiling.

"Dear me!" the man recoiled. "Un-Until tomorrow then, Ms. Bloome…"

"Bye-bye!" the woman said, before both quickly ran out of the room.

Marion also quickly left the area, instead running through a door in the back of the room, slamming it shut behind her with a clicking sound signifying that the door was now locked. Right before the door closed, though, I thought I sensed some kind of magical energy coming out of the room.

"Phew!" Stella exclaimed. "What a handful, eh? Any idea why she boiled over like that? She bolted totally out of the blue."

"I mean, I know I was joking earlier," Jessica remarked, "but seriously Michael!? You barely said a single word to her, and you managed to ruin everything."

"I think there was a bit more to it then just that," I defended myself.

"Yeah, and the way she was referring to 'Marion' as if she was a different person was strange," Allison observed.

"Look, I'd tell you not to touch her with a large pole," Stella advised, "but if you can't patch things up, we won't get that ship. I wonder if there's anyone around here who knows how to get inside her good books…"

Lacking any other ideas, we made our way out of the mansion. It seemed that even the few people who were here earlier had already fled after Marion's outburst, leaving Marion as the only person left in the mansion, all by herself.

Stepping outside, we were immediately confronted by the doorman. "Oi! You there!" he called out. "How dare you upset Ms. Bloome!" We apologized and tried to continue on our way, but the other people from the mansion were standing outside the gates, waiting for us.

"It's all because of what you said to her!" the dancer accused. "That's why Ms. Bloome got so angry. How am I supposed to get by now? Agh! You're going to get you and the rest of us back in her good books, do you hear?" she demanded, poking me in the chest. "Start by asking her old nanny for some advice."

"Her nanny…" I repeated, shocked. "Where…?"

"Hm? Where can you find her nanny?" she interrupted. "She lives in the house just across from the mansion."

Not wanting any more drama, we quickly fled from the area and found a quieter street where we could catch our breath. "Okay, so, her nanny," Allison suggested. "We should probably find her."

"She lives in a house across from the mansion, right?" I asked. "It should be one of these houses nearby, then."


"That's right, I was Ms. Marion's nanny, bless her," replied the elderly woman who lived in the house we were currently checking. "I do miss the job, I must say."

"Can you help us, then?" Jessica asked. "She got really angry earlier and shut herself inside of her room."

"…Goodness me!" the former nanny exclaimed in surprise. "Are you sure? She's locked herself in her room? Oh dearie me. That's an awful worry, but I don't know if I can help. I don't know if she'll want to see me… Ever since she got well, it's like she's a different person. She's very hard to handle now. She won't talk to us staff at all. I don't know what… Oh, wait," she said, suddenly remembering something. "There is someone she might listen to, I suppose."

"Who?" I asked.

"The toymaker," she answered. "He made her a doll, you see, and she absolutely doted on it, bless her. He lives just next to the church. Yes, if Marion's having one of her temper tantrums, I should think the toymaker's our only chance."


"Oh, hello," a middle-aged man greeted us from a crafting table as we entered into house, which also served as one of the shops in town. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Randolph. This used to be my workshop once upon a time. I was a toymaker, you see. But I'm getting on a bit now, you know. I retired a while back. Now all we sell are the shoes that my son makes."

"We're actually here about your toys," Allison explained. "Or, rather, one of them in particular. Did you ever make a doll for Marion Bloome?"

"What's that? Did I ever make a doll for Marion Bloome?" Randolph confirmed. "Goodness! How on earth would you know…? Ah… You were talking to her nanny, I suppose," he said, answering his own question. "Oh, yes. That takes me back! But how in the name of the Almighty did you get on to that subject?"

"Marion got upset recently and locked herself in her room," Jessica explained, "and we think you're the only one that can get her to come out."

"What!?" Randolph exclaimed. "Marion's being difficult? And she's shut herself in her room? Oh dear, oh dear. That is a worry. Thank you for letting me know. I don't really know why, but Ms. Bloome has always had a soft spot for me. Even when she'd banished the rest of her servants from the house, she would always agree to see me." Randolph nodded, having come up with a plan. "Why don't we go over and see if I can't coax her out of her room again this time."


"Hellooo! Ms. Bloome!" Randolph called out from within the mansion's foyer. "It's Randolph!" We walked through the mansion towards her room, with the place feeling as still and quiet as it had before.

"Marion, are you in there?" Randolph asked, knocking on the door at the back of the room where we first met her. "Whatever is the matter, my dear? You haven't fallen ill again, have you?" He tried the door handle, and, to everyone's surprise, it opened. "Well, the door appears to be unlocked. Perhaps she's gone out somewhere…" He turned the handle once more. "I-I'm coming in now, Ms. Bloome!"

Opening the door, we entered into her room and found…no one. "Well, that's most odd," Randolph remarked. "There's no sign of Marion or the doll I made her." He walked farther into the room and noticed a piece of paper lying on the bed. "…Hm? Look at this. There's a letter on the bed. Well now, let me see…" he said, trailing off as he started reading.

"'We got the girl. If ya wanna see 'er again, you better bring all yer dough to the cave up norf,'" he shakily read aloud.

"My goodness!" he exclaimed in horror. "Th-This is outrageous! I mean, the spelling is just… Ahem! I mean, we must raise the alarm at once!" He ran out of the room as fast as he could, leaving us to comprehend what had happened. As we simply stared at each other in shock, Randolph's shouts could be heard from a distance, confirming what we already knew.

"Ms. Bloome's been kidnapped! Everyone! Ms. Bloome's been kidnapped!"


Zachary and Sarah are up to something, our heroes' boat seems just out of reach, Ms. Marion Bloome has been kidnapped, and the fourth Fygg still hides itself. Whatever will our heroes do? Find out next time!

If you liked this chapter and you haven't already, please feel free to favorite, follow, and leave a review. I really appreciate all of your feedback.

As for the next chapter, I'd love to say September, but I no longer have a college schedule to depend on, so the whole schedule may be moot. In any case, the next chapter will come...at some point...hopefully soon.

Until next time, this has been D~F


Character Abilities and Magic

(Note that I'm only listing skills that are actually relevant to the story. Yes, Michael technically knows "Clap Trap," but I don't even know what that does, so it's not relevant.)

Michael:

[Magic]

- Other - Zoom

[Abilities]

- Sword - Dragon Slash

- Sword - Metal Slash

- Other - Egg On

Jessica:

[Magic]

- Fire - Frizz

- Ice - Crack

- Ice - Crackle

- Blast - Bang

- Wind - Woosh

- Other - Safe Passage

Allison:

[Magic]

- Healing - Heal

- Healing - Squelch

- Status - Snooze

- Support - Buff

- Healing - Cock-a-doodle-doo

- Healing - Midheal

- Healing - Tingle

That's...kind of about it so far, honestly. Zachary and Co. don't really have any defined movesets to note, and physical abilities aren't really something that Jessica or Allison use. Granted, this is something that might change in the future. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.