As for the rock-paper-scissors game? Yeah. I like that idea. As you've noticed, I don't play favorites with the girls.
Chapter Fourteen: Prince Charming
I don't live in the present. I left myself behind ten years ago, and I've been aimless ever since.
Yes, I never did leave Gate, did I? I never forgot what happened, even though I can't make sense of it. I never…I never left.
I'm dreaming again.
It's the Eye again. That strange Eye. It frightened me, as a child. I didn't know what it was. It kept calling out to me…"Awaken, my destined child." I didn't want to wake up. If I woke up…when I woke up…Yua…otousan…everyone…disappeared. No, I don't want to wake up.
"Awaken, my destined child!"
It speaks more insistently, the Eye. But…it doesn't scare me anymore. I don't know why. But it sounds…softer…warmer…I see wings. I see bat wings. I see the Eye—and I feel safe. I think I'm in Gate again. Wait…I never left.
"Awaken, my destined child!"
It wants me to wake up, the Eye wants me to open my eyes. But doesn't it know? If I wake up, I won't be able to see Yua again. Not until I go to sleep again and dream. I want to sleep, please let me sleep! I want to stay with Yua. I want to stay with otousan and Yua. Don't let me wake up.
"AWAKEN, DESTINED CHILD!"
It isn't the warm voice anymore. No, I remember this voice—it haunts my darkest nightmares. The monster I met in the caverns…the evil worm that almost killed me. I bear the scars of the meeting still. No, I don't want to wake up, because I know that beast is still out there…waiting…waiting for me to wake up. Let me sleep. I don't want to wake up."Wake up!"
Not the monster. Not the warm voice or the Eye. Someone else's voice.
"Wake up, Ryu! Come on, sleepyhead!"
So insistent…like the Eye…but it isn't the Eye.
"All right, you asked for it, lazy-butt!"
Ryu crashed on the floor in a heap, knocking his head against the boards. "Ow! Damn it. Katt? What the hell are you doing?"
The Woren smirked mischievously and bent over, putting her hands against her knees. Ryu tried not to look at the expansive cleavage on display.
"What are you doing?" he asked again, his reserve slightly shaken.
Katt only grinned, as if at some private joke. "You were sleeping and drooling all over your shirt. I just woke you up! Come on—we're going to land soon."
"All right…I'm up, I'm up." He gathered his sword and boots, putting both on before scrambling to his feet. "Let's go."
Sten and Nina were already on deck, waiting for them. Beyond was the forests of the western continent, a land that none of them had ever visited. Nina looked eager at the prospect of traveling to a new land, as did Katt; Sten and Ryu, both seasoned adventurers, were more subdued. To them, it was just another trip.
Let's hope the thief is near, Ryu thought. This traveling has taken me further afield than I originally expected. Bow, wait for me.
As the party disembarked, the ranger felt something dark and bitter swell in his belly—hatred, boiling and twisting and poisoning. "Ray," he muttered grimly, without bothering to turn around.
Indeed, the cleric stood behind Ryu, a serene smile on his handsome face. "A good morning to you, Mr. Bateson," he greeted merrily, as if they had not exchanged words the day before. "I hope I find you in good spirits?"
Ryu gave the cleric a withering glare of such intensity that it would have killed any other man. You are a dragon, Ryu thought, recalling Ray's words. A dragon, a dragon, a dragon. The damning words flowed in his mind like a mantra, ever reminding him of the tragedy he was fated to bring wherever he went. The fact that Ray was the one to introduce him to this truth only gave Ryu justification for hatred.
"I would be in better spirits if I were in better company," the ranger said nastily.
But Ray just smiled pleasantly. "I see. It can't be helped. Well, at any rate, you and I will be parting ways here; I head south, for Farm Town. Where will your roads take you, if I may ask?"
"Simafort," Ryu answered. His voice grew low and laden with threat. "Try to stay away from there for a while—I'd rather not make a scene by slicing you in two."
Again, Ray just continued smiling with infinite patience. "It can't be helped," he said again. Then he walked past the ranger and left the ship. Ryu watched him leave, emerald eyes burning baleful holes into the cleric's back.
His focus was interrupted by Nina, who flew over to him and said, "Ryu! There you are—come on, the ship's going to depart again, so you better get moving." Her azure eyes softened in concern. "Is something the matter?"
Ryu held his gaze on Ray's retreating back for a moment longer and then looked at her. He forced a smile that he did not really feel. "I'm fine. Sorry to keep you all waiting."
"Forests…make it difficult…for my kind to walk around," Nina muttered in irritation, trying her best to fold up her wings so they would not snag on bushes and tree branches. She met only limited success.
"This is a great deal like me own home," Sten said with a touch of reminiscence. "Trees all around, things to wrap yer fingers 'round. 'Tis a kingdom of gyms, Highfort is. But nothing but nothing but nothing ever beats a good old fashioned forest for making good climbing, aye?" The Highlander was in the trees, jumping from branch to branch and making excellent headway.
"I think it's stuffy," Katt whined. "I like grasslands. Plenty of air. Here, my fur's getting burrs." She brushed aside some offensive thorns to illustrate. "Ugh. I'll have to scrub my damn hair off just to make sure I don't pick up anything with more than two legs."
Nina looked at her askance, wondering if that was supposed to be some kind of sexual innuendo.
Ryu listened to it all in his usual silence. He had point, scouting ahead with his senses alert to any noise or flash of movement. More than once had unsavory monsters or bandits attacked him and Bow while traveling through supposedly safe woodlands.
His alertness paid off; he head croaking. Loud croaking.
"That isn't normal," he muttered. He hailed his comrades. "Something's behind this line of trees. I want to check it out."
What they found made them blink. And then blink again.
"What…?" Katt said in confusion.
Before them was the largest frog any of them had ever seen. Perhaps it was like the turtle beneath Capitan, a mutant monster of tremendous ferocity…only it had the most petulant and, quite frankly, effeminate eyes ever to grace any mortal creature.
"Merci, merci," the frog ribbited. "Hail passing travelers! I am Jean de Tapeta, prince of Simafort and the Creeping Clan! If you would be so kind, dear heroes, come to my aid! I am under a spell of enchantment, laid upon me by a wandering…uh…enchantress, yes!"
"A…prince," Nina repeated, as if trying to puzzle through that simple statement. "A prince…is a big frog. Right."
"Y'know, I eat grilled frogs sometimes," Katt said, which seemed to unsettle the loquacious amphibian.
Tapeta, Sten thought, recognizing the name. We worked for them once. In their last war o' succession. Jean de Tapeta. Aye, I remember him being passingly stupid, the mangy git.
Sten tapped Ryu on the shoulder. "He's telling the truth," he said simply and the finality of his tone brooked no further inquiry into how he knew. But the ranger did not press the point.
"It seems my friend can corroborate your claim, Your Highness," Ryu said to the frog. "You said an enchantress turned you into this…ahem…form?"
If frogs could nod, Jean was.
"I swear by my family's crest that I did nothing to provoke her, dear heroes," the prince exclaimed, wounded. "I…ah…noticed her loneliness, living in her tower yonder…and…ahem, sought to alleviate her…ah…loneliness. Ahem."
Ryu rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why me? To the frog, he asked in tired tones, "So how do we reverse the effect?"
"A kiss from a maiden pure!" the frog said, far too happily.
Of course, all eyes went to Katt and Nina, both of whom looked at each other. "You're kidding," they said in unison. "No fucking way in hell!" said Katt, while Nina, in less vulgar terms, said, "Absolutely not!"
Ryu explained the situation in clearer and more urgent terms. "If he's the prince of Simafort—and Sten somehow knows this to be true—then he can help us find the thief; after all, he's the prince. Even if the thief isn't in the kingdom, then we can at least have the Creeping Clan search for the thief in a shorter time than we could alone." He turned to the frog. "How about it, Prince de Tapeta? We need to find someone—will you use your royal powers to help us?"
"Oui, oui!" said the frog eagerly. "Anything, so long as I receive that kiss—erm, that is, so I can return to my usual handsome self!"
"Handsome self, huh?" Katt said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Y'know, I've never met a Creeping Clansman before. Wonder what they look like?"
Sten, who had worked with them before, answered, "They look like frogs, Katt."
The Woren just looked at him. "You're kidding. So this…this thing…it's always a frog?" The Highlander nodded. Katt turned to Nina. "Yeah, I ain't kissing it. You kiss it!"
"What!" Nina exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Not me! Why not you? You were so eager before!"
"I thought it was human! I didn't know it was always a frog. Besides, you already got your first kiss from Ryu, so you can get your second from Prince Lizard over there."
"No!"
Katt made a motion as if rolling up a sleeve. "All right, then we'll settle this in a purely democratic fashion. Rock-paper-scissors."
Nina nodded. "All right, that sounds acceptable. Best out of three?"
"Fine."
Nina looked at Sten, Ryu, and the giant frog. "All three of you…turn around! No one looks at who's going to have to…you know."
The two men and frog obediently turned away. They could hear the girls behind them: "Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!" There was a hiss of defeat and an elated yelp of victory—but the girls spoke in unison and in low voices, making it difficult to tell who lost.
"Ah, mademoiselle, you are a stunning—"
"You needn't rub it in…."
"Can it, Lizard Lips!"
"Oh dear."
Ryu just sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Why me? he thought again.
There was a popping sound followed by, "Ah, tries bien! I am handsome again." Sten and Ryu turned and saw that Jean de Tapeta still looked like a frog…only human-sized. Katt and Nina were stone silent, their faces betraying nothing about who lost the match.
"Speak nothing, understand, Lizard Lips?" growled Katt.
"Or you'll become the enemy of half the world population—the female half," threatened Nina.
"You have my word of honor," said the prince solemnly, "that I shan't betray your trust, dear ladies. Now that I am restored, let me welcome you to my homeland of Simafort! I will hold a feast for your heroism and then write a song about you!"
"So he's a bard, too," Sten noted. After hearing Jean sing a few adlibbed stanzas, the Highlander commented, "Lyrics aren't bad, but his singing voice is better than his skill as a composer."
"I don't have an ear for music," Ryu said dryly. "Prince Jean, after the banquet—if not possibly sooner—would you be able to render aid to our quest?"
"Certainly!" Jean said gaily. "How may I be of assistance to my saviors?"
"We seek a thief," said the ranger. "A girl of about seventeen or eighteen. She has hair like mine, blue eyes, and bat wings on her back. We seek to bring her to Hometown, so that my friend—who was framed for her crimes—will be vindicated."
"A noble goal!" said Jean "And of what merry consequence! By coincidence, such a lady passed through Simafort but recently. She attempted to steal a few items from the palace treasury and, from what I last recall, is being kept in solitary confinement."
Nina grasped Ryu's arms, elated. "We did it!" she said happily. "Your friend will be cleared!"
"All right!" said Katt, punching the air. "Now we can go back and see Rand and Bow again."
"So our journey's about finished, aye?" said Sten bemusedly. "Funny, I'd hoped to stick with ye all a bit longer. Maybe ye'll still have room for this old man in yer future travels, eh?"
They all think that it's going to be over soon, Ryu thought. But with our luck…hell…with our luck, we've only just been scratching at the surface. He smiled, finding humor in it all. It was probably the first genuine smile he had in a good long time. Yeah, I wouldn't mind that at all. We're coming Bow…and then you can get us right back into trouble again.