Part 7. Curses, Monsters, And Eggbears! Oh My!
(Halure, the following morning)
(Estelle's point of view)
We we spent the evening at Julia's family villa. Countess Catherine was a marvelous host. We were treated to a most wonderful supper and we were each given individual guest rooms to spend the night. The beds were really comfortable.
The next morning, Countess Catherine arranged to get a wagon to carry our supplies in. That should make it easier for our pony we got back in Deidon Hold.
After we had breakfast, we waved farewell to Julia's family and staff as we left the villa and headed back down the hill to the plains.
Next stop, *shiver*, The Quoi Woods. I was hoping we wouldn't have to go back there but I guess we don't have much of a choice. I hope me and Julia don't get cursed, *shiver some more*, Or eaten by an eggbear.
Shortly after we passed through the main gate and started heading south, Yuri decided to comment on the surrounding plains…
"The area outside the barrier isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be." He said.
Repede woofed in agreement.
"But it's like I read." I replied. "Outside the barrier, there are monsters, monsters everywhere. It's so dangerous!"
"Oh yeah?" Yuri replied. "Think of all the knights going to all the cities around the world! This is nothing."
"And that includes Flynn, Sodia, and the two former knights, namely me and Yuri, here with you." Julia added.
Repede woofed.
"But a lot of people hardly go outside the city, like you and Julia, Yuri." I commented.
"And some people hardly get out of the castle." Yuri and Julia replied.
With Julia adding on an "Honestly.".
Our journey south was somewhat uneventful, until we finally arrived at the entrance to the Quoi Woods, *shiver*. Did it get cold all of a sudden? I clutched my upper arms in response to the sudden chill I'm feeling. Am I feeling the presence of the curse? Waiting to get me and do Zaude knows what!?
"Well, looks like we're back in the Quoi Woods *shiver*." Julia clutched her arms and shivered slightly. "I can already feel the curse waiting to get us. And It looks like you're feeling it too, Estelle."
"It would seem so, Julia." I replied.
"Curses, monsters, and eggbears!" We both said.
"Oh my!" I added.
"Oh brother." Yuri shook his head. "Seriously you two?"
"We can't help it!" I replied. "Me and Julia don't like being in these woods. They're so cursed and creepy!"
"I certainly agree." Julia nodded. "Let's just get those nia fruits and those eggbear claws and just get out of here!"
Then Karol turned around. "Hey, changing the subject, I've been wondering." He said. "How come you guys(other than Ned), and Repede, all have Blastia? Aren't bodhi blastia pretty rare?" True enough, Karol, bodhi blastia are quite rare. "I don't think many people have them."
"You have one too though." Yuri replied, looking at the blastia on Karol's bag.
"I belong to a guild." Karol said. "Sometimes we get a chance to get one. And Ruin's gate keeps finding more. That's a guild that excavates blastia."
"Oh yes, Regaey Hartford's guild." Julia replied. "Met him a few times. Nice enough chap, if a bit of a stutterer."
"Huh, so there are even guilds that dig up blastia ruins?" Yuri added.
"There are, Yuri." Julia nodded.
Karol then continued. "If there weren't, then the empire would get all the blastia. Normal folk wouldn't get any."
"The empire regulates the ancient blastia artifacts due to their potential danger." I quoted. "I think that makes sense. If blastia weren't regulated, anyone could use dangerous magic."
"But they've gone overboard." Yuri replied. "They have a monopoly."
"Uh, I don't know about…" I started to say, but didn't quite finish as I began to think about what Yuri just said. Do we really have such a monopoly on blastia? Hmmmm.
"So anyway, what's your story?" Karol asked Yuri. "How'd you get yours?"
"My blastia? I used to be in the imperial knights." Yuri answered. "This was a going-away present." Then he looked at Repede. "Repede got his as a keepsake of his old owner, along with the pipe."
"A going away present?" Karol replied. "Sounds more like you stole it to me." Then he looked at me and Julia. "So what about you, Estelle?"
"Um, er, I got mine from, uh…" Oh dear, how do I explain this without letting on that I'm really a princess?
"Look at her, she's a noble." Yuri answered for me, whew. "Even comes with her own personal maid, who's a noble herself from a lower ranked family." He looked at Julia. "They all have these."
"Even Julia?' Karol looked at her.
"Actually I got my blastia from the imperial knights as well, Karol." Julia said. "And, as for my currently being lady Estelle's servant..." She paused before continuing. "It's a long story."
"I knew you were both nobles!" Karol said to me and Julia. "Well at least the ladies have some class."
"Yeah yeah, Let's go get those nia fruits." Yuri led us into the woods. Then he noticed something on the ground. "Well what have we here?"
"You see something, Yuri?" I asked.
"Yeah." Replied Yuri as he pointed at the ground. "There's an awful lot of footprints here. Not to mention large horseshoe prints and wagon tracks, going into the woods."
Julia examined the tracks. "They look quite recent too." She said. "Deep looking too. Heavy wagons pulled by draft horses. Something tells me that this might be Father's hunting caravan. They must have entered the forest only hours before we arrived."
"Think we should follow the trail?" Yuri asked.
"I think we should, Yuri." Julia nodded. "With luck we should be able to catch up with Father and Fredrick, if this is their caravan, before too long. And, If we're even more lucky, they will already have gotten enough claws and nia fruits so we can all head back."
As we walked along, I looked down at Repede besides me. "Do You mind if I scratched behind your ears?" I asked as I reached down. But Repede just walks away from me. "Oh, Im sorry." I apologized, pulling my hand back. "I guess it's still too soon for me to pet you. Let's start over by getting to know each other a little better."
Repede moaned.
"So then…" I continued, closing my eyes. "My name is Estellise. But you knew that already, right?" But when I opened my eyes… "Huh? Repede?" Repede was gone and Yuri stood in his place.
"Introducing yourself to an invisible friend?" Yuri asked.
"Ohhh! I won't give up!" I declared. I'll win Repede's friendship if it's the last thing I'll do!
"Hee hee hee. She's been trying to do the same thing with Natalie's cat, Mepple back at the castle." Julia spoke to Yuri. "She hasn't had much luck with him either."
"Really?" Yuri replied.
"Oh, Julia, did you have to mention that?" I said.
A short while later, we ran into a group of tulipers. Me and Karol, fighting side by side, each defeated one, and Yuri and Julia took down one each themselves. "Man, we are awesome together!" Karol said once the tulipers were defeated.
"We make such a great pair Karol!" I replied. "Let's keep it up!"
"Yeah, don't mind me." Yuri said as he cleaned his sword.
Of course we didn't collect the monster parts as we usually do because they're probably cursed. Well me and Julia think so.
It wasn't very long before we came to that ruined blastia that frightened me and Julia last time we were here. I noticed something...different about it. "Huh? That's strange." I said.
"What's strange?" Yuri asked.
"The core on that ruined blastia." I replied. "It's completely black. Shouldn't it be glowing?"
"You're right, Estelle it should be still glowing, and making that awful humming that scared us so last time we were here." Julia said, then she knelt down and examined the core.
"It scared you?" Karol asked.
"We thought it was the curse, Karol." I replied.
"You shoulda seen it, Karol." Ned chuckled. "Those two were…"
"Ned!" Me and Julia interrupted. "Please don't bring it up, it's just so embarrassing right now." I added. Me and Julia were both blushing from remembering how silly we acted when we first heard it.
"Okay okay." Ned replied.
"What's wrong with the blastia?" Karol asked.
"This core is deactivated." Julia answered as she resumed examining the still blastia. "it's formula was removed. It's no longer taking in and releasing aer. This is rather peculiar." She rubbed her chin.
"How so?" Yuri asked.
"Well Yuri." Julia began to explain. "Blastia cores, even very old ones going back to the Geraios civilization continue to glow and process aer thanks to the formulas inscribed in them long ago. But when that formula is removed, well you can see for yourself, it's now just an oversized gemstone."
"How can someone remove a formula?" I asked.
"I don't truly know…" Julia replied, shaking her head. "There are rumors that there are artifacts that can delete the formula of a core. Hmmm, maybe Rita might know more about these sort of things." She looked at Yuri. "Once I clear her name of course."
"Right, but let's deal with that later." Yuri said. "Right now we should either be looking for those ingredients, or your dad, whichever comes first, Julia."
"I agree, Yuri." Julia nodded as she stood up. "Lets keep moving."
Moments later, Yuri spotted something on the ground. He knelt down to pick it up. It looked like he found a nia fruit. It was clearly a different one from the one we tried to eat last time we were here. But I have a feeling it would still taste like, as Julia said, floor polish. Yuck.
...Nia Fruit…
...One of the ingredients for a panacea bottle or a certain anti-addiction medicine…
...Tends to make any medicine that its cooked in taste like rotten turnips…
...It gives a really BAD stench that would make a skunky run screaming into the night when burned…
...PEEEYEEEW!…
"Why would a nia fruit be lying on the ground in the forest?" I asked. "I didn't see a nia tree nearby."
"Oh That'd be the monsters in the forest." Karol answered. "It's how they mark their territory."
"Can we really just take it then?" I asked Karol. "I suppose there's no way for us to ask permission."
"Ask permission from a monster?" Julia replied. "Honestly, Estelle, the things you sometimes say." She shook her head. "Does it look like I can speak in 'monster'?"
"Yeah, I don't really speak 'monster' either." Yuri added. "Karol, they don't teach that in your guild, do they?"
"The Hunting Blades hunt monsters!" Karol replied. "We don't need to waste time making friends with them!"
"That's a shame." I sighed.
"I agree, Estelle." Julia said, then she scratched her chin. "To be able to learn their language. Hmmmm. Such a thing would certainly be a prize for any scholar like myself. Definitely an avenue worth following."
"Right, Julia, anyway, we got our nia fruit." Karol said. "Next up is the eggbear claw."
"Are we going to walk around the woods and look for an eggbear?" I asked.
Karol shook his head. "No we'll never find one that way."
Yeah? What'll we do then?" Yuri asked.
"Hand me the nia fruit would you?" Karol held out his hand. "I'm going to use to lure out the eggbear. The eggbear has some very unusual tastes you see."
"Are you sure we should give you the nia fruit?" I asked. "We only have one right about now."
"Don't worry about that." Karol replied. "There's usually a nia tree somewhere nearby."
"Here you go." Yuri gives Karol our one and only nia fruit.
"You guys might wanna stand back for this." Karol warned as he pulled up his bandanna over his nose and took a couple pieces of flint and some tinder from his bag.
"Now just what is that boy…" Julia started to say when her face took on an expression of fear and realization. "Oh no! Don't tell me he's going to..."
Karol used the flint to ignite the tinder and lit the nia fruit on fire. We had to back away quickly from the rancid stench that now assailed our noses. Oh Zaude, the smell was just horrible! And I'm certain that the smell of burning nia fruit is the WORST thing I've ever smelled!
"JEEZ! YOU SMELL HORRIBLE!" Yuri yelled as he plugged his nose.
"UGH! That's an understatement." Julia added.
"And I thought burning horse manure smelled bad." Along with Ned.
His pony snorted its disgust.
"Or, for that matter, valssuwreath flatulence." Julia added. "Ugh!"
"ME!? That smell isn't coming from me!" Karol replied as we continued to back away from him, plugging our noses from the awful smell. UGH!
"Please tell us when you're going to do something like that." I told Karol.
"Honestly, Karol, when we get back, I am so going to wash you down in tomato juice." Julia said.
Suddenly Repede moaned and passed out. "Oh no! Repede!" I knelt down besides him.
"And he passed out again." Julia said.
"Again?" I asked.
"In Shizontonia a couple months ago." Julia replied. "We were making some antidote. It's a long story for another day."
"Everyone keep a lookout!" Karol warned. "An eggbear could come out anytime now. And they're famous for their terrible ferocity."
"So then, captain Karol, I'm assuming you're going to lead the charge against this terribly ferocious monster?" Yuri asked.
"Of course!" Karol replied. "But I could use a hand from you, Yuri."
"I'll help too." I said. "Oh and Repede also."
Repede comes to and gets back up on his paws.
"Count me in too." Julia added.
"Well then. How about we have a bit of a walk around the forest." Yuri suggested.
But before we could that, we suddenly heard a deep growl followed by the sound of rustling bushes steadily getting louder. Like something was approaching, something BIG! I was feeling very nervous all of a sudden. And I wasn't the only one. Karol, rather quickly, hid behind Yuri.
"B-Be on your guard, everyone." Karol warned with shaky voice "It's r-really ferocious!"
"Hey fearless leader, you're not supposed to hide after saying things like that." Yuri replied.
"The star always performs the finishing blow, everyone know that!" Karol said.
"No, I don't think so!" I nervously replied as a filifolia crossed in front of us. It looked like it was in a hurry to get away from something.
And that something just happened to be the eggbear we were looking for as it just came lumbering into view.
"AAAH!" Karol shrieked.
"EEEK!" I hid behind Julia. "T-That's an eggbear!?" I didn't realize how big and scary they were! Julia's description of them yesterday was as serious understatement.
"I'm afraid so, Estelle!" Julia answered as she readied her daggers. "And me without my rifle!"
"Well that was fast." Yuri drew his sword. "I have to hand it to you, captain Karol. Operation stink bomb was a smashing success."
"H-Hey, don't go giving my plan weird names." Karol protested, still hiding behind Yuri.
"Stand up straight when you say stuff like that." Yuri replied as that scary looking eggbear noticed us!
"GROWLROWLLER!" The eggbear growled as it approached, claws out, fangs bared, and getting scarier by the second! Why do I get the feeling it's growl translates into 'I'm going to eat you all, starting with the pink haired girl that smells like bubblegum because I like the taste of pink bubblegum.' EEK!
"Huh? HEY KAROL!" Yuri yelled as Karol suddenly dashed into some nearby brush. Something I'm almost about to do myself. "Jeez! Never mind then! Ned, keep yourself and your pony well back!"
"You don't have to ask us twice!" Ned replied as he and the pony retreated back up the trail.
Yuri Glared at the eggbear. "Julia! Repede! Let's go!"
"On it, Yuri!" Julia replied and Repede woofed as all three charged at that big shaggy brute.
Repede jumped up first and tried to clamp his jaws on the eggbear's throat. But the eggbear managed to block him with one of its huge forearms and flung Repede to the ground. Then Yuri and Julia each managed to cut the beast on his flanks, but the wounds they inflicted were shallow. They barely managed to evade the fast retaliatory blows of their target.
"Kuh! Looks like it's going to take more the one hit to put this guy down!" Yuri said as he, Julia and Repede regrouped.
"I know. Yuri. We need to go for that thing's throat, or stab it's heart. It's our best chance of killing it before it does the same to us!"
"Right!" Yuri then looked at me. "Estelle, We'll leave the support to you!"
"Right!" I replied. I started casting sharpness to enhance their weapons.
Yuri, Repede and Julia tried their best to take down that eggbear. But the eggbear continued fighting despite the wounds inflicted by their sharpness enhances weapons. And the eggbear would knock them over with its huge paws and I had to use my healing artes to heal their injuries.
"NNGH! This is no good!" Yuri said as he got back up on his feet. "This bastard's tougher than I thought!"
"Smarter too, It's keeping us from landing any fatal blows!" Julia added
Repede moaned in agreement.
"I'm starting to think captain Karol had the right idea!" Yuri said as I healed his cuts. "I think it's best that we retreat for now and come back later once we have better weapons and artes." He suggested.
"I agree…" Julia nodded.
Just then, we suddenly heard Karol shout out. "I CAN DO THIS!" And he suddenly leapt from the bushes he was hiding in and struck the eggbear in the side of it's face with his axe, stunning the beast.
"Yuri! We got an opening!" Julia shouted. "Now's our chance!"
"Gotcha! Lets nail that bastard!" Yuri shouted as he charged the stunned eggbear and stabbed it in the chest, forcing his sword in all the way to the hilt to skewer it's heart. At the same time, Julia leapt up and cut it's throat open with her daggers.
The eggbear let out one last gargled growl before it fell on it's back. In seconds it lay still.
I don't believe this! We actually brought down an eggbear!
"See? You saw what I just did?" Karol said. "That was nothing!"
Repede moaned.
"Repede helped too." I added as Ned and his pony returned.
"Thanks." Yuri added. He sounded like he was chopped liver.
"Why do I feel like chopped liver all of a sudden?" Along with Julia, shaking her head.
"You too, Julia?" Yuri added.
"Oh, sorry." I apologized to both Yuri and Julia.
"Come on! That was a piece of cake, easy!" Karol said.
"I beg to differ, Karol." Julia replied. "Anyway, we finally got our eggbear. Let's leave it at that."
"Right…" Yuri examined the dead eggbear. "Karol, come get the claws. I don't know what I'm doing here."
"What!?" Karol replied. "A-anybody can can do that. It just comes right off."
"Here, let me help too." I approached the eggbear. But then. "Ugh." I felt my stomach turn at the sight of the dead eggbear, especially at the sight of the still bleeding wounds in its chest and throat caused by Yuri and Julia respectively. I felt like I was about to throw up. I had one hand on my stomach and the other over my mouth.
"A bit too much for you, Estelle?" Julia asked. I nodded. "You look rather green. Maybe you step back a bit." She suggested.
"Estelle, Julia, why don't you two guard the perimeter?" Yuri suggested.
"R-Right." I nodded.
"You don't need my help with this?" Julia asked.
"We're good." Yuri replied.
"As you wish, Yuri."Julia agreed as me and her walked away from the dead eggbear. We overheard Yuri and Karol continue to talk.
"Y-you're sure it's totally dead, right?" Karol nervously asked.
"I'm pretty sure, captain Karol." Yuri replied.
"Okay, Estelle, take some deep breaths and think of something else besides dead eggbears." Julia suggested as she gently placed her hand on my right shoulder.
"Like what?" I asked, still clutching my stomach.
"Something pleasant, Estelle." Julia replied, a kind smile on her face. "Like flowers in bloom, or reading your favorite book while sitting under a nice shady tree, or maybe even…"
"RAAAAGH!"
"GYAAAAH!" Shrieked Karol.
"EEEEEEEK!" Me and Julia yelped as our bodies went stiff with surprise! Oh no! Don't tell me there's another eggbear! Or worse; the curse resurrected the eggbear we just killed! A zombie eggbear! That wants to eat both my brains and Julia's!
Me and Julia spun around and looked in the direction of both the growl and Karol's shriek, we were expecting to see a zombie eggbear with a taste for noble woman's brains before running for our own brains. But instead…
"Wow, captain. If I didn't know you were just goofing, around, I swear you were really scared." Yuri said to a completely scared Karol. Karol was shaking and shivering more intensely than me and Julia put together back when we first heard that damaged blastia.
"uh, ha ha ha." Karol laughed as he continued to shake and tremble. "P-Pretty good, huh?"
"Yuri!" I stamped my foot and scolded when we realized that it was Yuri that made that growl. "That wasn't a very nice thing to do! Startling us like that! Honestly!" I was almost stiff with anger at Yuri!
And so was Julia. "Really, Yuri George Lowell! I thought the curse resurrected that eggbear as a zombie with a craving for my brains and Estelle's!"
You were thinking the same thing too, Julia?
Then I added. "It's bad enough we're already nervous about the curse! That stunt you just pulled was absolutely NOT funny! We almost jumped out of our clothes back there!"
"And almost through the canopy to the sky above if I may add." Julia added.
And we finished by saying "HUMPH!" with our noses in their air.
Yuri looked like he was about to reply, but our dirty looks convinced him otherwise. Really, what was he thinking?
"Never a dull moment." Ned grinned. True enough I suppose.
Anyway he, Karol and Ned cut off the claws from the dead eggbear. I think we got about 20 claws from that beast.
...Eggbear Claws x20…
...One of the ingredients for a panacea potion…
...They look bad, but they're useful in medicines…
… Or you could make a cool necklace out of them, along with it's fangs and incisors...
Yuri looked at Repede." How's the nose, Repede?" He asked. Repede nodded back, I guess his sense of smell is fine. Well I don't smell burning nia fruit either so... "All right, lets find some nia fruits and head back." He placed the claws in a sack and loaded then into the wagon.
XXX
About a half hour or so, we soon came across our next ingredient, or rather, a whole tree full of them. "Well looks like we're in luck!" Karol looked up at the tree in question. "A nia tree full of ripe fruit. This oughta more than enough. And who said this forest was cursed?"
Why is everyone looking at me and Julia like that? Well me and Julia just sheepishly grinned as we rubbed the backs of our heads. Aheh heh heh heh.
"Let's just take twenty of 'em." Ned suggested. "You know, one fruit for each claw we got off that eggbear."
And that's what we did. Karol climbed up into the nia tree, plucked out the best looking fruit and dropped them one-by-one to Julia, who catches them using her apron. Then we placed the nia fruits into a basket and placed them into our wagon.
We decided to start back when we smelled something AWFULLY familiar, ugh! Burning nia fruits.
"Hey! Don't look at me!" Karol said.
"But who's burning the fruits? PEE-YEW!" Yuri asked, plugging his nose as Repede fainted… again.
"Ugh. Obviously someone else luring in eggbears." Julia replied, holding her own nose. "And I have a good idea as to who."
Then we heard the growling of not one but three eggbears! Not to mention…
"HA HA HA! LOOKS LIKE WE GOT THREE MORE FOR THE POT, SON! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR END, YOU OVERSIZED THROW RUGS!" Is that who I think it is!?
"And apparently, I'm correct." Julia said, now with her hands to her ears. "We just the sound of what happens to be the most fierce orneriest unstoppable monster in the entire forest right now, and three eggbears whose lives he's about to cut short."
"You mean your dad?" Yuri asked.
"Who else?" Julia smiled back.
Then we heard two loud bangs. "Sounds like Fredrick's rifle, and my gun." Julia said. "Come on! I don't want to miss this!"
We quickly followed Julia as she headed in the sound of gunshots, the eggbears and her father. "Are we going to help?" I asked.
"Not exactly." Replied Julia as we arrived at the scene. There we saw three eggbears, one was already lying on the forest floor, and the remaining two were growling at three individuals.
I recognized the two men as Earl Robert DuBois and his son(Who is my age) Fredrick DuBois. Both holding smoking rifles. But who was the girl with the longbow?
"Your aim could use a bit more work, Fredrick." Robert said to Fredrick. "You missed him."
"You know I do better at melee than shooting, father." Fredrick replied as he readied a pair of kalingas. "Besides I prefer hacking 'em over shooting 'em."
"Ah well." Robert readied his famous ogre axe. "So do I, I'll admit. Shall we, Fredrick?"
"Might as well, father."
"ZAUDE! AND THE HEURASSEIN FAMILY!" Both Robert and Fredrick rushed headlong at the two reaming eggbears…
By themselves!
Robert sidestepped a downward swipe from the eggbear he selected to take on. Then he struck down his quarry with an overhead swing landing it right in the middle of that beast's face. Blood and bits of bone and brain erupted from the fatal wound as the force of the earl's lethal and powerful blow drove the slain eggbear head first into the forest floor.
*shudder* I can see why earl Robert is often called 'the Ogre of the noble quarter'.
Meanwhile Fredrick ducked under a swipe of the eggbear he went after. Then he crossed his arms and leapt up like a released spring spreading his arms straight out, cutting the eggbear's neck wide open with his twin kalingas. Just like how Julia did earlier with her daggers. Only Fredrick's fatal strike nearly decapitates the eggbear.
"Remind me to purchase a pair of Kalingas myself if I'm ever in Heliord." Julia commented.
"The fact that they each took down an eggbear, by themselves!" I said as I watched both Robert and Fredrick examine their catches. "While it took five of us to defeat even one."
"Well it's not like I constantly fight eggbears like those two, mind you, Estelle." Julia replied. "I mostly keep to the plains when I travel. I don't run into those things on the grasslands."
"Or in the Lower Quarter." Yuri added.
"Still to let my younger brother upstage me like that." Julia sighed. "I've certainly got some catching up to do." This coming from someone who fended off Zagi, and, if I heard correctly, mauled the very tentacle monster used to make the drug Ragou was using on me a month or so ago. Ugh, still can't believe the disgusting things I did under it's influence, ugh again.
Meanwhile, Robert, Fredrick and that female archer continued to examine the three eggbears they bagged. "Wish you two left me one." She said to Robert.
"Maybe next time, Katniss." Robert replied. Oh, so her name is Katniss.
Just then we heard another growl and another eggbear appeared from the undergrowth. "Looks like next time came a bit sooner than I thought. You want this one?"
"You have to ask, lord Robert?" Katniss nocked an arrow onto her longbow drew the bowstring back and let loose her arrow right into that eggbear's chest in seconds, it fell to the ground. "Precise heart shot." Katniss then drew out her hunting knife and slit the eggbears throat to make sure it was dead. "Well that oughta take care of this guy."
Then she noticed us. "Looks like we have an audience, lord Robert."
"An audience?" Robert and Fredrick looked in the direction Katniss was pointing, and that's when they…
"Huh? Julia? And lady Estellise!?" Saw and recognized us. "What are you two doing out here?"
"And, for that matter…" Fredrick added. "What are the both of you doing in the Quoi Woods? I thought you both be too scared to come in here. What with this curse nonsense and all."
"Well you three don't seem to be too concerned about it." Yuri replied
"Well, I never believed in that silly old wife's tale anyway. Same goes for my son, and our guide, miss Larchwood here."
Robert looked Yuri over. "Yuri Lowell, wasn't it." He asked. Yuri nodded. "Ah yes I remember, You were that boy that managed to expose Gradana for the despicable cad he was, especially after what he did to my daughter. I should have killed him for what he did."
"You might want to get in line Father." Julia replied. "I still want to horrible painful things to him. Things that involve really sharp things and his, ahem, you know whats."
"Huh?" Karol said.
"Don't ask." Julia replied.
"Ah yes, anyway, what are you doing here? Shouldn't You be back at the Castle, lady Estellise."Robert asked.
I walked up to the earl to explain. "I'm searching for Flynn to warm him that they're still sending assassins after him. Oh, and they're also after your daughter too."
"WHAT!? ASSASSINS!? TRYING TO KILL MY DAUGHTER!?" Robert replied, really loudly. "WHO'S TRYING TO GET HER KILLED THIS TIME? GRADANA!?"
This time?
Julia approached us, ringing out her ears. "Actually, father, oh my ears, we believe it's baron Ragou… Something to do with both me and Flynn dealing with a tentacle monster used to drug Estelle. And then we went and got Estelle off said drug. Messy business that."
"Knowing you, sis, I can imagine." Fredrick replied. "Is anything, I feel rather sorry for the goons sent after you. So which guild's after you and sir Flynn?"
"I believe it's the Red Eyes." Julia answered. "And they were led by Zagi."
"Seems like He's trying to get his mentor job back from you by killing you or something." Fredrick said.
"It would seem so, Fredrick." Julia replied.
"Hold on." Robert interrupted. "I noticed that you were addressing lady Estellise as 'Estelle', and you're not using her honorific. Care to explain."
"Allow me to explain." I replied instead. "I'm currently traveling incognito as a royal healer that works for the royal family. Yes I'm aware that I stand out a bit with my hair color and my current outfit. And your daughter is calling me just 'Estelle' at my request."
"Is that so."
Then Yuri added. "Well I came up with the idea of calling Estellise 'Estelle'. Easier to pronounce."
"Should have known." Robert shook his head.
"Anyway, we got four more eggbears. I think that ought to be more than enough claws."Then he turned towards Katniss. "Miss Larchwood, signal the bearers. We have four skins, a ton of meat and fat, and eighty claws to be collected. And once that's done, we'll be departing the woods and setting up camp."
"Yes, lord Robert." Katniss then pulled out a whistle and blew on it. The shrill noise echoes through the forest. Moments later the bearers showed up and began skinning the eggbears and butchering the meat and fat off the carcasses.
The whole sight of it all made me REALLY queasy. Ugh.
Julia, on the other hand…
"F-Father! W-what are your men doing!?" She looked shocked.
"Isn't it obvious, Julia." Robert replied. "We're processing those monsters we just caught. Waste not want not."
"But, but, the curse!" Julia stammered. "Bad enough we're getting eggbear claws and nia fruit from this cursed place. But monster hides, fat and meat!? They probably have the curse on them!"
"Seriously? Don't be so silly, Julia." Robert replied, hand on hips and giving Julia a scolding glare. "You're 21 years old. Aren't you a little bit old to continue believing in that childish superstition made up to scare noble girls to stay on the straight and narrow? And that goes for you too, lady Estellise. You are 18 right?"
"Yes I am." I answered.
"And you shouldn't be believing in this scatterbrained nonsense either, lady Estellise." Robert said. "Anyway I've been hunting in these very woods for years, before you were even born. Best place for getting the best quality axe-beaks for our family's holiday feasts."
"WHAT!?" Julia yelped, looking totally surprised. "You mean to tell me that all the years growing up, I've been eating roasted axe-beaks, taken, from the Quoi Woods!?" Her eyes began to swirl. "I've been eating cursed meat!? Ah wa wa wa wa wa wa wa! Of all the worst thing I can possibly realize, this is The! Worst! Possible! Realization! And not even a chesterfield around to have a melodramatic swooning fit on. Oh why me!?" She melodramatically posed, looking up to the canopy forearm over forehead, a look of anguish on her face. "Why!?"
"Seriously, Julia?" Robert shook his head. "Your penchant for melodrama is as bad as your mother and sister at times. You've been eating the same meat me, your mother and your siblings have been eating from monsters I've bagged in these woods and we never suffered any effects from this so called curse."
"I'm not so sure." Julia replied. "Getting involved in the Hunger Games and getting Vermiphobia?" She shivered.
"I recall you volunteered for a local seamstress. Then you and her went and become lovers, much to my dismay." Robert said. "Oh well, on the plus side, we did get a 20% discount at her family's boutique."
"And what about what Gradana did to me?" Julia said.
"I understand he's been doing that despicable nonsense to his fellow royal guardswomen well before you joined the Royal Guard, Julia." Robert replied.
"Oh, well I suppose you believe that my getting attacked by a ninja assassin, magically strangled by a child-hating witch, molested by an oversexed Valuan admiral, kidnapped and almost raped by a rapist vigilante last year, and getting molested by a tentacle monster with slimy licking tentacles a couple months ago shudder* was not because of the curse either?" Julia said.
"WHAT!?" Robert yelped.
"But I defeated the ninja, punched that witch in the face, humiliated the Valuan admiral in a sword duel, beat the crap out of the rapist vigilante with my fists, and completely mangled the tentacle monster with machetes before it was toasted by Simon and Rachael."
"Well I'm glad you sorted that out then." Robert replied. "That's my daughter. Still I don't think they're curse related either, just plain bad luck. Not even the fact that you now have Ragou wanting you dead for what you did to that monster, and undoing whatever he did to lady Estellise." Then he looked at me and looked back at Julia. "What did he do to her?"
"Maybe we should discuss this once we leave the woods." I suggested. "It's starting to get late."
"I suppose, lady Estellise." Robert agreed. "Once we're done with those Eggbears."
Before long, they finished processing the four eggbears. Yuri told Robert about the eggbear we killed and wondered if Robert could process that one too if it's still...fresh and ship the rug and the meat back to the 'Comet' tavern in Zaphias. Surprisingly Robert agreed and Yuri led us back to the eggbear we killed.
Ugh. Just watching his men render it down to its pelt and meat leaving behind only its bones and guts.
Once that was done we started back out of the woods. I engaged in some small talk with both Robert and Fredrick. We fought a couple packs of monsters. Afterwords Yuri, Ned and Karol collected parts off them to sell in Halure. Much to both my and Julia's dismay(We still felt those monster parts were cursed despite Robert saying otherwise and how silly we were for believing in the curse).
Eventually we reached the north entrance of the Quoi Woods, oh thank goodness, I'm glad to be finally out, Julia too I guess. Suddenly we heard some voices coming from behind.
"YURI LOWELL! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE HERE IN THOSE WOODS!" EEEK! That startled me! It sounded an awful lot like lieutenant Leblanc of the Schwann Brigade. "TURN YOURSELF IN LIKE A GOOD BOY!" He continued to yell out.
Yuri let out an exasperated sigh and let his head sag. "You gotta be kidding me." He moaned. "Leblanc followed me all the way outside the barrier?"
"Uh what?" Karol approached. "Who followed you?"
"Oh just some guys from the Imperial Knights." Yuri answered.
"Hah hah." Karol laughed. "Yeah right, the knights are chasing their former member. Wait, seriously!?"
Then we heard more voices, and they sounded as nervous as me and Julia were.
"I-I say, c-come out will you?" That sounded like Adecor.
"Sh-show yourself now and we-we'll spare you a pummeling!" And I think that's Boccos.
"Pl-Please return lady Estellise and Julia ri-right now, Lowell!" Wha? Is that Margaret? What is she doing here? "They mu-must be so sc-scared in here! I know I am *whimper*!"
"Shaking in your boots at mere rumors!" Leblanc scolded. "And you call yourselves knights of the Schwann Brigade, and a mature royal housekeeper! Seriously, you're all acting like a group of easily scared superstitious schoolgirls. Even you, Margaret. Seriously!"
"C'mon lieutenant." Margaret moaned. "Everybody knows that these woods are cu-cursed and ha-haunted and an improper place for a proper lady like myself, or lady Estellise, or Julia to be in. Why did you insist that I come along? I want to go home already!" It sounded like she was about to cry.
Karol looked at Yuri. "So what are they after you for?" He asked. "Vandalism? Fraud? Smuggling? Robbery? Murder? Arson? Jaywalking? Illegal parking? Selling drugs? Dine and dash? Looked at someone funny?"
"Umm." Yuri replied. "It's really just for jailbreak."
"And I wouldn't be surprised if it has something to do with the two of you." Robert added, looking at both me and Julia.
"You could say that, Father." Julia replied.
"Anyway, everybody, let's bolt!" Yuri said. "Wait a sec, hey, Earl, I wonder if I could borrow your guys for a sec?" He asked Robert
"And might I inquire as to what you have in mind, boy." Robert replied. Then Yuri explained his plan to us. "Well, that sounds interesting, why not." And Robert's agreeing to this!? "Men! help this lad with setting up a little roadblock to stall those fools following us!" They're going to do what!?
(One building of a roadblock with bushes, brambles, branches, fallen trees, and logs later)
Before too long, Yuri, Ned, Karol, Robert, Fredrick, and the earl's men had set up an impassible roadblock made up of all sorts of bushes, brambles, tree branches, and several logs and cut down trees.
"There we go" Yuri said as he and Robert looked at their handiwork.
"Not too bad if I do say so myself…" Robert added. "Those fools will have no choice but to either try to clear it, which will take a few days, or turn back to Deidon Hold."
"But we just can't do that!" I protested at what was just done. "It'll get in the way of other people passing through!"
"Then you should have said so before we set up this here roadblock, lady Estellise." Robert replied.
"But we would still set it up anyway." Added Fredrick.
"And who's gonna be passing through?" Yuri said. "These woods are 'cursed' remember?"
"I feel sorry for Margaret though." Julia added. "The possibility of her have to spend Zaude knows how many nights in here should Leblanc choose to stay and clear the road."
I can imagine *shiver shiver shiver*.
"Well then, shall we be off?" Robert said and we continued to follow his hunting caravan out of the woods.
"Hey! Wait up!" Karol yelled as he caught up to us. I guess he wasn't paying attention as we started off...
XXX
By the time we arrived on the plains, the sun was going down, so we set up camp. Our supper was barbecued eggbear. Oh I hope I don't get the curse from eating it. Tasted rather good though.
Katniss Larchwood showed me and Julia her hunting longbow that she got a couple years ago. She said that it was more powerful than the longbow she had back when Julia shot her eggbear six years ago. Me and Julia were quite impressed.
Then, after we sent Karol to his tent, I explained to both Robert and Fredrick about what Ragou had done to me last winter. Well, aheh heh, let's just the words Robert used to describe Ragou afterwords aren't fit to mention here. Same goes for Yuri and Julia's additional words to describe him. Margaret would have been white as a sheet if she had heard what Julia had to say. I know I was.
The following morning, we broke camp and set off back to Halure. It wasn't until early afternoon before we finally arrived. Robert headed over to mayor Antoine's house to collect the stockpile of luluria petals While the rest of us headed up to the Fortune's Market shop. "Ah you're back!" The shopkeeper greeted. "Have you gotten all the ingredients together?"
"We got everything." Karol answered. "Nia fruits, eggbear claws, and luluria petals."
"Father and Fredrick are collecting the petals from the mayor as we speak." Julia added. "They should be here shortly."
Before long, Robert and Fredrick showed up and delivered the ingredients. "Here you are, I hope they're enough." Robert said.
The shopkeeper examined the ingredients. "Eggbear claws, nia fruits, and luluria petals. Well that's everything." He said. All right, let's get that panacea potion brewed."
"Yes, please." I bowed.
"And make certain every bit is used.' Robert added. "We'll be needing a lot of potion to cleanse the barrier."
"I know" The shopkeeper replied. "With this amount, it probably won't be until after nightfall before it's finished."
We then returned to the DuBois villa and waited for potion to be completely brewed, at Robert's request…
(Later, after the sun went down)
We returned to the Fortune's Market shop to collect the panacea potion. "There you go. Five barrels of panacea potion." The shopkeeper presented us the barrels in question. "It was a lotta work."
"And you'll be well paid for your efforts." Robert paid the shopkeeper. "Men, gather the barrels and bring them up to the tree!" He ordered his servants. His men picked up the barrels, loaded them onto a large wagon and set off up the hill. "If you so much drop even one, you'll be fired on the spot!"
"And probably rendered deaf as a post after father chews them out." Julia added.
"And that too!" Robert said.
"Now We'll be able to cleanse the herbicide." Karol almost cheered. "Let's go!"
We followed the wagon led by Robert up the hill to the foot of the barrier. There was quite a crowd of people gathered by the time we arrived. Including mayor Antoine, The rest of Julia's family, Stephanie and Clara and her parents.
Antoine approached us first. "Oh! Have you made the antidote to cleanse the tree of poison?" He asked.
"We have." Robert answered. "We're unloading it right now." He looked at the wagon as his men unloaded the barrels of panacea potion. "With the ingredients we gathered we managed to produce five barrels worth."
"Will it be enough I wonder?" Nina asked.
"I wonder that too." Catherine Added. "But I must admit I'm rather concerned that two of the three required came from the Quoi woods." She shuddered.
Robert sighed and shook his head.
"I know, I shouldn't be believing in the curse, but I just can't help it." Catherine said
"Same goes for me, Nina and Estelle." Julia added.
"But I still think it's silly for all of you to be even believing in it at all." Robert stated. "Anyway, looks like the antidote's all in position. Men, deploy the antidote and don't miss a single spot."
Robert's men opened up the barrels and began spreading the panacea potion on the ground surrounding the barrier. Before long, the contents of the five barrels were fully used up.
While this was going on, I was talking to Yuri. "Yuri, didn't Karol say there was someone he wanted to show the blossoms to?" I asked.
"I think so." Yuri replied. "Here's hoping we aren't too late."
Then Clara interrupted. "Yuri! Estelle! Julia! Look! The tree!" We turned in the direction she was pointing and we saw that the tree was glowing!
Is the potion actually working? "The tree is…" I started to say,
"Please, great tree of Halure. Restore the fallen barrier." Antoine implored.
"We beg of you." Clara added, her hands clenched under her chin.
We thought it was healing, but the glow faded and the tree went back to what it was before.
"Please." Antoine continued to beg. "s'il vous plaît."
"No way! Was the dosage too small?" Karol asked. "Or maybe this isn't the right way."
"I don't understand." Stephanie said, looking at the tree. "Why didn't it work, lady Julia?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Julia pondered. "And I don't think the curse has anything to do with it. It was working. I think we just didn't have enough."
I think Julia might be right, it wasn't enough."We'll have to get more panacea potion!" I said.
"I'm afraid that's impossible." Antoine said, looking defeated. "That was the last of the luluria petals."
"The last!?" Catherine gasped in dismay. "Oh this is not good! Not good at all!"
"What now!?" Nina added.
"I fear there may be no choice." Robert said, looking pretty down. "I fear the city must be evacuated."
The people started to murmur amongst themselves. It looked like they might panic.
"But. But we tried so hard." I said.
"I know."Robert shook his head. "But there are some battles even I can't win. Sigh."
"Then my home is lost?" Clara looked at us, her eyes nearly in tears.
"Clara, I'm so sorry." Julia replied as she hugged Clara. "We tried. That was all we can do."
I walked up to the tree and looked up at its nearly lifeless branches. Then I brought my hands up in player and began to pray to the tree. "Please, great tree…" Then I started to glow. Everyone was now looking at me. I thought I heard Yuri call out my name…
(Standard point of view)
Nearby, in the crowd, an individual, that look a bit out of place look at Estellise with lustful intent…
End chapter 7
Author's Notes:
Well, looks like we come to the end of another chapter.
In this chapter, I figured that our heroes should examine the ruined blastia after a certain white haired dude with an interesting sword tinkered with it.
And I also wanted to expand a bit on their collecting ingredients since they had to use up their one and only nia fruit to lure out the eggbear.
And as for right at the end, well… I recently came across a Hentai doujinshi(or two) that's set right on the main story line and would seriously mess it up. That's right it appears my OC is going to have to deal with some Gary Stues…