Chapter 4: In Which Matthew Advances the Plot

They were ushered before the throne by an overly severe page. Erk approached the man sitting there, while his companions waited at a respectful distance.

"Introducing his excellence, Lord Erk, Count Reglay of Etruria," announced a court official.

"Lord?" asked Merlinus a little too loudly. Matthew elbowed him in the ribs, effectively silencing the merchant.

"M'lord," said Erk, bending down on one knee.

"Please Erk, there's no need for that," laughed the blue haired man. "Rise, and we will repair to my chambers. This is no place to discuss such grave matters."

Merlinus once again found himself being ushered about, this time into a hallway behind the throne. It led to a spacious, if not a little sparse, anteroom.

"Merlinus!" said Hector, noticing the merchant for the first time. "It has been too long! How are you doing these days? How's business?"

"Well m- m'lord," stumbled Merlinus, slightly surprised to find that Hector still remembered his name, "business is…er, business is good. I-"

"That's good to hear, that's good to hear," said Hector giving Merlinus a friendly slap on the back, which nearly bowled him over. "Please take a seat," he pointed to a comfortable sofa, "and make yourself at home."

Hector looked to the other three. "If you gentleman will accompany me into my chambers, we can get down to business. I have a few questions I'd like to ask," he said opening a door into an even larger, much more lavish room, and Merlinus' comrades headed in. "Like for starters," he started, going through the door himself, "what the hell is the merch-". He was cut off by the slamming door.

Merlinus sighed. He had never been included in the decision making when Eliwood had been in charge, but then, he had expected that. But now, he had simply assumed that they would include him in the discussions.

He got up and started thinking aloud.

"If they're going to drag me along on this journey, they could at least tell me what's going on. After all, I am a part of this band too, and don't I have every right to be in there with them? In fact, maybe I should just barge in there right now, and lay down the law! If they expect me to follow them on this cockamamie goose chase, they're going to have to get used to Merlinus having equal say!"

Merlinus sighed and sat down again. Who was he kidding? They weren't going to include him any more than pigs were going to fly. Maybe it was just time to accept-

Merlinus didn't get to finish that thought. The chamber doors opened briefly, letting out a short burst of Hector's booming voice, and Matthew with it.

"Hey Merls, I thought you might be a little lonely out here."

"Oh, well…you know… shouldn't you be in there?"

"Hah, don't worry about it. Hector just likes the sound of his own voice, Nothing I haven't heard before. Besides, you probably have a question or two that needs to be answered."

"Well, Matthew, I have been wondering… what- what exactly have I got myself into?"

"Hahaha, that's a very good question my friend. It's quite the story, but I don't think those guys will be finished in there for a while. So then, what has poor Merlinus got himself into this time? Quite a mess, actually."

"Erm, well, let's start with the key. What's so special about it?"

"Have some patience Merlinus. To tell you that story, I have to tell you this story:

It all comes back to Nergal – you remember him, right? The bad guy with the evil overlord complex. Anyway, you know how he could make those morphs right? The quasi-human things he used as his personal valets. Now, most of them were empty upstairs, but some of them he created with a little splash of personality, to liven 'em up, if you will."

"Vennius and Graven?"

"Exactly. They were the last morphs Nergie created before he kicked the bucket. We never met them at the time, so we assumed that all the morphs had been destroyed. We were wrong of course, but we couldn't have known."

"Wait, there's something that doesn't make sense," said Merlinus, the gears slowly grinding in his head. "I remember something about the morphs only living a few years before their bodies crumbled. But it's been ages since they were created."

"Well, that's what we said, Merly. What can I tell you? They were the last morphs he created. Maybe he had figured a way to prevent it, or just to extend their lifespan. Who knows? The key here is that we have two, or rather, one powerful morph on the loose, trying to complete a task he was charged with before Nergal's death."

"Wait, what? What is he trying to do?"

"Nergal was no fool. Those two were like his failsafe, a plan B in case things went badly. He created those two for a single purpose: to locate the Dragon's Key."

"Why-?"

"Hold your horses Merls, I'm getting there. So, now to answer to your question about the key, that key literally holds the key to bringing Nergal back to life. The key unlocks an ancient piece of dragon magic which, at least according to legend, can bring people back to life."

"I see," saw Merlinus.

"Nergal was well aware of this magic, and saw it as a way to ensure that his plans would not be foiled. He knew that if he could harness this magic, he could live forever. There were a couple of problems though. First, nobody knew where the site of this magic device was hidden, and secondly, the key had been lost into the mists of time many generations ago. That's where Vennius and Graven came in. Before his death, he charged them with locating both the site and the key, and in the event of his death, putting the two together to bring him back. Follow?"

"Er, yes."

"Good. So, since Nergie's death those two have been roaming the continent in search of the two things that would bring their master back to life. They found the site of the device ages ago, -it's in a desolate stretch of northern Sacae- so they turned their attention to finding the key, a much harder task."

"I can imagine."

"Our spies discovered them about two years ago, and we've been tracking them ever since. We were content to let them continue on their fool's errand, figuring they would do harm, and maybe even lead us to the key. Then, about three months ago, we received word of the key's location. It was rumoured to be in a small village in Etruria. That's where Erk came in. He's the count something of something nowadays, and the poor kid took it upon himself to find the key. Hector volunteered me to help out, and Rath had been tracking their travels through Sacae for some time before that.

So the three of us joined up, and headed for that village. We reached the place almost simultaneously with Big and Ugly. How they knew where the key was is beyond me. But we had a nice little fight that day, Erk and Vennius almost levelling the village with their magic. I think Nergal must have put a lot of effort into that Vennius, he's one mean customer.

Anyways, we escaped the village with the key in hand, but with the morphs hot on our tail. The key must have switched hands back and forth half a dozen times between us. We would lose it only to retrieve it shortly after."

"And how did I end up with it then?"

"We didn't want to send you the key of course. Erk had a feeling it might end up like this. But we really didn't have choice you know; we needed to stall the morphs, and when we saw your shop, it was just too perfect an opportunity to pass up. So we sent you the key, just planning to leave it with you for a day or two, until we had shaken Vennius off our trail. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way."

"Er..ok, one other thing, what did Vennius mean when he said that they were running out of time?"

"Oh, that's right. Well, the thing with this re-animator device is that it can only be used once every 100 years; that's not much for dragons mind you. Anyways, if the key isn't inserted into its place at the right time, well, then nothing happens."

"Every 100 years?"

"It's some rare astronomical thing; don't ask me, I don't know the details. Incidentally, that once in one hundred year thing is two weeks away. Vennius probably knows that not even his body will last a hundred years, so he'll be going all out.

"Oh."

"Yeah"

"Well… er, where to from here?"

"We head north of course. We have to try to intercept Vennius and stop him at all costs. A resurrected Nergal would not be a pretty sight."

"Do you-" Merlinus was cut of as the chamber doors opened, and Hector walked out in mid-sentence.

"-at all costs, do you understand? And we're clear, you'll meet up with her two days from now."

"Don't worry Hector, we will sort this mess out," said a sombre Erk.

"You had better. Now get down to the stables. Serra will be waiting for you. And don't come back without that key in hand!"

Erk allowed a stray emotion to cross his face.

"Serra? You never mentioned anything about that. We really don't need anymore help. Once we meet up with-"

"My decision is final. I'm not letting you go off without an experienced cleric. Now get out of here! That dirty morph gets farther and farther away the longer you stand here blabbering," barked Hector. "Oh, and Merlinus, it has been a pleasure seeing you again," he said, turning back into his chambers, the doors closing behind him.

Erk sighed. "You heard the man," he said regaining his composure. "We leave immediately. Merlinus, stay close!"