"The name of this next story is called The Pied Piper," Canas said.
"Why was he pied?" Nils asked curiously.
"Well that's simple," Canas said. "It's because he—" Canas stopped suddenly. He looked puzzled, and tilted his head. "Well, it's because he... Um... I'll be honest with you, Nils. I have absolutely no idea why he's pied."
"What does pied mean?"
"It means piebald, spotted. Unless the piper had some kind of infectious disease, it may have something to do with his clothes."
"Oh, okay."
"Alright. On with the story."
Lowen wheeled the tray into the dining room.
"Smells good!" Eliwood exclaimed. "I'm starved."
Lowen picked up the large platter, topped with a dome, and placed it in the middle of the table. "This is my patented chicken-fried chicken, with a delectable bread stuffing and smooth pepper sauce."
Eliwood and Lyn were positively drooling from the delicious smell wafting from beneath the dome. They gasped expectantly as Lowen pulled the dome away, only to scream in horror.
"Rats!" Eliwood screamed.
"They're everywhere!" Lyn cried.
"You ruined my meal!" Lowen groaned. "Off my food! Shoo, you evil little beasts! Shoo!"
"It's been like this for the past week," Lyn grated. "What's with this sudden infestation of rats?!"
"I believe I've found the source!" Canas exclaimed, running into the dining room.
"Oh, do tell," Eliwood muttered. He stood on his chair and tried to stomp the little rodents on the table with his foot.
"It seems Nergal decided to leave us a little gift upon his defeat," Canas explained, leafing through a book. "After his body disintegrated, these rats began showing up all over the palace. In the bed sheets, under tables, hiding in suits of armour, everywhere! I'm still researching how he was capable of such a legacy as a plague of rats, but I have no doubt that he is responsible. You'll note how similar the rats appear to Nergal."
"You're right, they do bear a vague similarity." Lyn gave a startled cry as a rat with a violet sash around its head, just like the one Nergal had, grabbed a cube of cheddar cheese from her plate and made off with it, cackling wickedly.
"So what do we do about them?" Eliwood asked.
"Matthew, Leila and Karel are trying as hard as they can to lower their numbers," Canas explained. "But they've reported that for every one they kill, they see two more. It's truly a genuine plague. If it does have magical sources, then it must be fought with magic."
"No offense, but I'm more partial to the bow and arrow method," Lyn said grimly. She drew her bow and an arrow at lightning speed and picked off a rat scurrying next to the wall.
"Nice shot!" Eliwood exclaimed.
"Effective, but much too slow," Canas admitted. "I'll begin research on reversing the problem right away."
Lyn sighed. "Isn't there anyone who knows how to rid the castle of Nergal's rats?"
One by one, the villagers started gathering around a spot on the main road through town. As more gathered, more noticed the knot of people, and the crowd grew.
In the centre of this crowd sat a little boy with green hair and crimson eyes. With a flute to his lips, he played a merry tune that intrigued the crowd with its beauty, and the expertise with which it was played. But this was not the only reason the people were fascinated. As the boy played, six fat, gray rats were dancing happily in a circle. They would make formations sometimes like acrobats, creating a star or a sphere. A trilling crescendo finally drew the song to a close, and the rats gave a little bow.
The crowd laughed and cheered. The boy smiled sweetly and untied his yellow scarf, holding it out expectantly. Several gold coins flew the air into the sash, and he grinned as he tried to catch them all. The crowd began to disperse, and the rats scurried away.
The boy got up and picked up the coins he had missed, stashing them quickly into his pockets. He turned around and found some behind him, but froze when he was suddenly covered in shadow. He lifted his head slowly, and his mouth dropped open in horror at the sight he saw. The fact that it was an armed knight on horseback was bad enough. The man also had pointed ears and a swishing tail the same red as his hair. This was an armed werewolf knight on horseback.
The boy hastily tied his scarf up and scrambled to get away.
"Wait! Boy!" the knight called. The boy continued to run, but was stopped short when the horseman intercepted him. He froze in terror as the cavalier dismounted.
"What were you doing to those rats?" the horseman asked him.
"It's a type of magic, sir," the boy replied shakily. "The music from my flute can make anyone do what I want it to."
"How would you like to perform for Lord Eliwood and Lady Lyndis?" the cavalier asked.
The boy's eyes lit up. "Truly? It would be an honour!"
"Very well. Come with me."
"What an adorable little boy!" Serra gushed.
Erk sighed exasperatedly. "Leave the boy alone, Serra."
Serra placed her hands on her hips. "You're just jealous, aren't you? I think you're an adorable little boy, too, ya know!"
Erk sighed again.
"I understand you have the power to control rats," Lyn said to the young bard. "What's you name?"
"Nils, milady," the bard replied, "But some people call me the Petit Piper."
"Well, Nils, we need your help, badly," Eliwood said. "We seem to be suffering from a serious rat infestation. Do you think you can help?"
"I should think so," Nils said thoughtfully. "I should be able to do it, despite the vast numbers."
"How many do you think we have?" Eliwood inquired.
"If it's any indication, there's one on your head."
"Gah!" Eliwood bellowed, flailing madly at the top of his head. He grabbed the rat and flung it to the ground. He turned on Lyn. "Why didn't you tell me that thing was there?!"
"I dunno," Lyn shrugged. "I thought it was kind of cute."
"Kind of cute?!" Eliwood exclaimed. "Those things have bugs! My head itches! Quick, someone fetch the anti-lice shampoo!!!"
"Can you show us your power, Nils?" Lyn asked, ignoring Eliwood's frantic shouting.
Nils brought his flute to his lips and began playing a tune. Two rats by the wall stood on their hind legs and perked their ears at the sound. They came waddling over between Nils and Lyn, and soon were dancing the Charleston flawlessly.
"Those are some talented rats," Erk commented.
"Can you summon more of them to you?" Lyn asked.
Nils furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. The music had emanated from his flute shifted smoothly over into a different tune. The two rats stopped dancing and scuttled over to Nils's feet. They jumped up and down, as if trying to reach him. More rats came from wherever it was they were hiding and joined the first two. The other four in the room stood agape at the sight of so many rats in one place. The music soon stopped with a strangled scream from Nils. The only visible part of him was his fist clutching his flute from out of a furry, gray pile of rats.
"Get off of him, you vile things!" Lyn shouted. She, Eliwood, Erk and Serra began picking the rats off of Nils and throwing them to the ground.
When Nils was freed, he took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think I can summon them to me... I just shouldn't be standing in one spot when I do it."
"Perhaps tomorrow, you can try and fix our pest problem," Eliwood suggested. "If you can rid all of Caelin of the Nergal-rats, you will be rewarded."
"With cash?" Nils asked, stroking his chin.
"Of course," Eliwood replied. "Whatever you like."
Nils smiled. "I'll do it! Tomorrow at dawn, I'll rid Caelin of every Nergal-rat within her walls."
As the sun rose the next morning, flute music filled the corridors of Castle Caelin. Many of the residents awoke in an irritable mood at having had their sleep disturbed by the infernal instrument, but soon found themselves delighted when they discovered that rats were no longer nibbling on their toes.
Lowen was wandering degenerately about the kitchen, searching for any food for breakfast that had not been eaten almost entirely by rats. He was shocked to find that there was a loaf of bread still intact, as delectable as the day it came out of the oven. As he began to wonder why the rats had not gotten to it before he did, a large group of them crawled over his feet. He yelped and sat up on the counter. He watched as they scurried past and out the door, into the hall in search of the source of the flute music.
Nils navigated every corridor of the castle, playing the mystical tune on his flute as he went. It was a big castle, so he tried to make the trip as short as possible by moving quickly. But not too quickly; he did not want to lose the ear of any of the rats, either. He glanced behind him nervously every once in a while, the rats collecting in a giant mass of gray fur and pursuing him closely.
A maid from one of the rooms along the corridor opened her door and stuck her head out. "What's all this ruckus?! If you don't— ACK!" She slammed her door shut when she saw the tidal wave of gray fur pass by.
When Nils reached the castle vestibule, Eliwood, Lyn, Sain and Kent were waiting for him.
"Holy Gods, that's a lot of rats!" Sain exclaimed.
"Holy Gods?" Kent repeated. "As opposed to what?"
Nils pulled his flute away from his lips for a moment to shout, "I'm running out of saliva!"
"Quickly, get him some water!" Lyn ordered. Sain and Kent ran outside.
"They're taking up the entire corridor!" Eliwood cried, staring, horrified, at the wave of rats. "They'll crush us all! Run away!" He grabbed Lyn by the wrist and dragged her outside, well out of the way of the rats.
Nils continued into the town, and Kent ran up to him with a cup of water. Nils stopped playing for a moment, downed all the water in one go, then went back to his flute. He travelled up and down all the streets of town, which took some time. He asked for water periodically, which Kent and Sain delivered to him.
As people saw the giant Ratzilla monster coming their way, they ran and hid inside their homes. They were surprised and relieved to find a distinct lack of rats in their homes. Although, they felt quite sorry for the little boy, innocently strolling along and playing his flute, unaware of Ratzilla following close behind him.
Nils had made his rounds of the castle and the entire town and was now travelling out into the meadows of Caelin. He was quickly tiring. His lungs and his lips burned from exhaustion, and more often than not he found himself stumbling.
"That poor boy is fading fast!" Kent said. "Should one of us go and carry him?"
"The Really Big Cliff is only a few feet away," Sain said. "That must be his plan: to send them all over it to drown in the river below. As soon as he's finished, we'll go get him." Sain tilted his head thoughtfully. "Who named it The Really Big Cliff, anyway?"
"I don't know," Kent replied, "But I assume creativity wasn't their strong point..."
Meanwhile, Nils stood at the very edge of The Really Big Cliff, playing the very last stanza of his tune. All the rats were following his fatal instructions, leaping into the chasm and plummeting all the way to the bottom. Miniature googly eyes searched desperately for a way to save themselves, but they fell to their doom nonetheless. Little purple sashes were scattered on the edge of the cliff from where they had fallen off their owners.
Finally, Nils saw no more rats going over the edge and very gratefully stopped playing and pulled his flute away. He gasped for air, rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand sorely. He looked over and froze, seeing one final rat looking up at him with its lower lip trembling and its one visible eye big and unusually shiny. Nils glared bitterly, and gave it a boot over the edge of The Really Big Cliff.
With that, he collapsed from exhaustion.
Sain and Kent rushed over to attend him.
"Let's get back to the castle," Sain suggested, carrying Nils in his arms.
After Nils had been properly hydrated and given some time to rest, he was summoned to the throne room, where everyone was there to meet and congratulate him on a job well done. He was offered many hugs and pats on the back and the top of his head before he finally reached Eliwood and Lyn in the back of the room.
'And now,' Nils thought happily, 'I get my reward!'
"Nils, we don't know how to thank you," Lyn said.
"That's alright," Nils said dismissively. "Because I do."
"We're very proud of you," Eliwood continued, "And we all agree that you deserve every bit of this. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, respect, and fear you."
Nils opened his hand expectantly. Eliwood dropped the reward into his outstretched palm, a single coin. Nils, not to be so easily discouraged, studied the coin enthusiastically. Perhaps it was an old and valuable coin, or a special coin printed especially to be worth more than it appeared. His smile faded when he realized it was neither.
"A quarter?"
"You deserve every penny," Eliwood said, ruffling his hair.
Nils looked up at him blankly. He was waiting for the laughter, the boisterous exclamation of "Just kidding!" But it never came. He clenched the cheap prize in his fist and tried to put on a grateful smile.
"I shall treasure it..." Nils gritted. "...always..." He turned stiffly away, past everyone and out of the room. "Fare...well..."
"It's so good to have all those ugly rats gone!" Lyn exclaimed. She suddenly shivered. "But it's freezing in here!"
Canas noticed something strange about the wall. He ran a hand over it, and found his palm covered in icy cold slush.
"Frost...?"
The sun was just beginning to lift its head over the horizon. No one was awake enough for it to really register, but music floated in and out the castle walls. Through the corridors and wafting into the chambers, where the residents were sleeping. Some, in their sleep, thought the music sounded familiar, almost like the flute of that little boy that had drawn all of their rats away. But the tune this time around was a little different, and perhaps a little softer as to not awaken most of the residents. All the women in the castle, however, were up with a start. As soon as the gentle flute music reached their ears, they sat up in bed, as if in a trance, and followed the music out into the corridors. Nils walked quietly throughout the castle, summoning them to him.
As the sun had nearly risen all the way over the horizon, Nils was skipping merrily out of town, playing a cheery tune on his flute. Every girl and woman danced behind him, following wherever he summoned them.
"Lyn!!" Eliwood screamed. "Lyn, where are you?! I can't find you anywhere! Yell if you can hear me! LYN!!!!!!!!!"
"Rebecca?! Where are you, Rebecca?!" Wil cried. "I miss you! If this is a joke, I'm going to cry! Well, maybe not if it's a funny joke... But I don't think this is a very funny joke! Which means, please, come on out!"
"The Three Little Pegs!" Sain gasped desperately. "They're gone! Where are the Three Little Pegs?!?! WHERE?!?!?!"
"Leila, where'd you go?!" Matthew called. "Malla, Louis, Matthew Jr., Leila Jr. and Bob are all crying!"
Five kittens came bawling into the corridor.
"There there!" Matthew tried to comfort them helplessly. "Mommy will be back soon! LEILAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Serra didn't scream in my ear to wake me up this morning," Erk said thoughtfully. "I'm relieved...and yet, somehow empty..."
All the male residents of the castle and the town went tearing around in search of their wives or significant other, but to no avail. Eventually, perplexed and frustrated, Eliwood prepared an announcement in front of the town.
Standing atop a crate, he shouted, "As you may have all noticed, we seem to be suffering from a distinct lack of women."
The crowd shouted in agreement.
"Forensics have shown that the women of Caelin have been...stolen."
The crowd bubbled with shock and horror.
A random voice from the crowd shouted, "Let's go and get them back!"
The crowd shouted in agreement.
"I'm afraid that's impossible," Eliwood replied. "The trail cut off. No one knows where the perpetrator has taken them. But we do know this: All signs point to Nils as the thief. He was that little boy that rid our town of rats yesterday."
The crowd bubbled with shock and horror.
"I say we find him and turn him in!" another random voice from the crowd shouted. "Then hit him with a blunt object!"
The crowd shouted in agreement.
"Are you kidding?" Eliwood snorted. "No jury would convict an adorable little kid. And if we used force, no jury would every let any of us off for beating an adorable little kid."
The crowd murmured disappointedly.
"After much deliberation, we've come to this conclusion," Eliwood said. "In order to make our town continue to appear normal by outsiders, some of us are going to have to dress as women and take their place."
The crowd boiled in outrage. A single voice from the crowd shouted, "Woo hoo!"
There was silence as everyone turned to face Ephidel, with his hands in the air.
He looked around, lowering his arms slowly. "I mean, how dreadful..."
Hector raised his hand in the crowd. "Eliwood, no offence, but your plan kind of sucks."
The crowd nodded in agreement.
"Well then, what would you suggest?" Eliwood asked a little scornfully.
"I say, just because we don't know where they've gone, they're not lost forever," Hector announced, his voice rising above the crowd strongly. "I say we go out there and find our lost loves, and rescue them from that perverted little boy! Who's with me?!"
The crowd shouted enthusiastically and followed Hector out of town in search of their women. By the time everyone had heard the news and left town on the search party, the town was virtually deserted.
And that's the real reason why Ostia took over Caelin.
"The end," Canas said in satisfaction.
"I liked that story," Nils said. "But did the women ever come back?"
"Of course," Canas replied. "The Pied Piper was only teaching the men a lesson."
"Especially Sain," Nils giggled. "Heh heh heh..."
"Pardon?"
"Oh, nothing. Canas, would it be alright if I heard another one?"
"Of course. I'd be glad to read you another fairy tale."
"Thank you. I could never get bored of these."
Canas flipped through the pages of the book of fairy tales and smiled when he came to a particular story. "Ah, this is the one. Are you ready?"
"Yup!" Nils enthused. "Tell me the name of the next story, Canas!"