DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': Is the potion ready yet?
Dora: Almost, just give it another minute...
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We've been waiting for an hour already.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I can wait another minute, it's not that bad.
Dora: I'm glad you're being patient. Now, remember, if you see any of the main characters, try not to interact with them, as you two don't belong in the story. The Andy here is not the same Andy from the ANs. *The potion was starting to turn purple*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Right, the Andy in the ANs is future Andy who pretty much knows how the story will be going.
Dora: Yes. *Picks up the bottle of purple potion* Okay, it's done. Now, before I give this to you, Kit, is there anything you'd like to do while you're still a hamster?
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': *Munches on the sunflower seeds I had in my cheeks* These won't taste nearly as good once I'm a fox again.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Better finish those up or spit them out, Fox.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': I'm not stupid. *Pouts*
Dora: Be sure to drink all of the potion, or you'll only partially change back.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': *Finishes up the sunflower seeds before taking the bottle* Thanks, Dora.
Dora: Now, I better get going. You two try to stay hidden from the main characters, we wouldn't want the universe to implode.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': If we need to make any appearances, we'll stay in the shadows. We'll be waiting for the opportunity to leave without starting a war.
DarkFoxKit 'Hamsuke': *Begins drinking up the potion as Dora left. After the potion was completely gone, my body glowed and began to shrink. My fur changed colors as I shrunk back down* … So how do I look? Am I back to being a little dark fox kit again?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yup, you are back to being your adorable self. Now we just need to get back home and everything will be back to normal. *Sighs* Maybe we won't have to attend the wedding…
DarkFoxKit: Uhh… well… Dora said we still have to.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': … Son of a-! Why do we have to attend the stupid wedding?! I didn't even want to be a part of it in the first place! Aragon already found another princess, so there would be no reason for a way to start if I left right now!
DarkFoxKit: It's part of the contract. You either attend, or it'll be seen as treason to this kingdom. Maybe next time you'll think twice before you go barging in on a castle. Just be grateful you'll be free after the wedding.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Three more days… then we can leave this place…
DarkFoxKit: I'm just glad I'm not a giant hamster anymore
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Looks at Fox and nods a little* Yuhuh… You know you enjoyed being a fluffy giant hamster.
DarkFoxKit: Well… it did feel nice to be pampered as a pet, but it feels good to be back to normal. Now, how about I go and see how things are doing with the wedding preparations? Maybe the main characters made it here already.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Glances at the door in a shocked expression* Uhhhhhhh…
Chapter 68: Information Gathering
I looked up a little to see what was going on. We had already come up to the gate. Juliette walked forward to two tough looking armored ghost guards. I guessed that Scarlet and Juliette had been walking on the ground to seem more formal and dignified than the ghosts that floated around. I could sense that the two armored ghost guards that Juliette had approached were strong, though they still paled in comparison to Scarlet.
"Halt. Do you have an invitation?" One of the guards demanded.
Scarlet stepped forward. "No, we do not. My Princess heard that the Prince of the Dragons was to be wed and wished to give wedding gifts to the Prince and the bride-to-be. My Princess would also appreciate an audience with the Dragon Prince."
"Edric, go inform the head guard about this while Artharius and I inspect the so called gifts," The one guard in front said.
"Understood, Reinard," One of the guards in the back responded before they headed inside the castle.
The guard in front, Reinard, looked back at the group. "I will need to inspect the gifts to ensure there is no foul play at hand. We simply cannot take a risk that someone will try to attack the Crown Prince or his Princess during such a joyous time."
"Of course," Scarlet said. "Servants, come forth and present the gifts."
That was our cue. Tucker looked over to me with an uneasy expression, but I gave him a small encouraging nod before we both floated to the two guards, presenting the gifts we were holding to them. I kept my head low, but also kept an eye on the present and guard in front of me.
The guard I presented the jewelry box to was Reinard, while Tucker was presenting the chalices to Artharius. I hoped that these gifts were actually genuine, or else we'd be in trouble.
"These are definitely items of value that a royal would present to another royal for their wedding, Reinard," Artharius remarked as he finished inspecting the chalices.
I noticed that Reinard had his hand over the jewelry box, and the jewelry box was glowing green for a few seconds before it stopped. Reinard put his hand down.
"It appears the same could be said for this present too, Atharius," Reinard replied.
Not long after that was said, I sensed an even more powerful aura floating towards us. An even larger armored ghost floated out of the gate, and looked at us. I could see its green glowing eyes analyzing each of us, probably trying to determine if we were a threat. Tucker and I weren't called back yet, so both of us just stayed where we were.
"I am the head of the royal knights, Aldis Blackmeyer, I understand that you don't have an invitation, yet still wish to attend the wedding and have an audience with Crown Prince Aragon?" Aldis stated, looking at Juliette.
"That is correct," Scarlet answered, stepping in between Juliette and Aldis. "And I would appreciate it if you would address all your questions to me. As you know, it is below a royal to answer such mundane questions."
I'm glad that I don't have to speak. I'm not too familiar with the rules of how to address royalty and royal knights. I turned my head slightly to look over at Scarlet and Aldis.
"As a royal knight, then you should know it is normally against the law to come to an important royal event without an invitation," Aldis said to Scarlet. "If you don't have one, why did you come?"
"My Princess is new to this section of the Ghost Zone and wished to speak with the lord of this land, Prince Aragon, in hopes of either developing an alliance with him or at least to gain information of this new area," Scarlet explained. "I believe that while normally it is against the law to come to a royal event without an invitation, exceptions can be made when the visitor seeking entry is a royal themselves. If you still do not wish to allow us inside then I pray you are able to explain to your Prince why you turned away a potentially irreplaceable ally."
I wasn't sure with the armor, but it looked like Aldis was sweating a little bit.
"... Very well, I will allow you and your Princess an audience with Crown Prince Aragon. Crown Prince Aragon will decide your fate after that," Aldis answered, before he looked at each of us. "Your servants and squire will be escorted to where they need to go before they will be taken to the courtyard to wait upon Crown Prince Aragon's decision. Your servants will be taken to put their gifts with the others and your squire will be taken directly to the courtyard. Make sure your squire does not wander, as an unknown armed individual, the castle guards will respond to him like he is a serious threat if he leaves the courtyard."
I guess that means Danny won't be able to ask around the castle. I frowned to myself.
"There will be guards in the courtyard if your squire has any requirements," Aldis added.
"On behalf of my Princess, I thank you for granting her an audience with Prince Aragon," Scarlet stated with a bow before stepping back to beside Juliette.
"If you and your Princess will follow me," Aldis instructed as he turned and walked towards the gate.
Juliette and Scarlet walked after Aldis, leaving Tucker, Danny, and I with the other guards.
"Edric, I need you to escort these two servants to the gift room, then take them to the courtyard," Reinard called out. "I will take the Squire to the courtyard. Artharius, you stay here and guard the gate."
"Yes, Reinard," Edric said as he floated over to us. "Servants, follow me."
Tucker and I silently followed Edric into the castle, remembering not to speak unless spoken to. I just hoped Danny would be alright on his own.
"In here," Edric informed as he pointed to a set of large double doors.
Tucker and I floated towards the large double doors as Edric opened it up for us. I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still was. There were a lot of presents here, most of them were treasure items similar to the ones Tucker and I had. It was almost like walking into a storybook dragon's horde rather than just a room of presents. I suppose it was fitting as Aragon was a dragon ghost.
Tucker and I weren't sure where to place our presents, but since Edric didn't tell us we had to set these anywhere specific, we just placed our items at the nearest empty spot in the otherwise chock full room.
"Come along, you two," Edric instructed.
I noticed Tucker was just in awe as I was when I looked over at him. Both of us kept silent, however, since we didn't want to blow our cover or get ourselves in trouble. Tucker and I followed Edric through the castle. I looked around a bit, trying to memorize the layout the best I could. Once we were left alone, Tucker and I could start looking for Sam, and hopefully find Dora as well.
Edric lead us outside, which I assumed to be the courtyard. The area was wide, it had some glowing bushes, and green water from a large fountain in the center of the courtyard. I could see Danny was already there, standing near the fountain.
"Do not wander, you two," Edric warned. "If you wander, you will be caught by the guards and brought to the prison where you will be held until Prince Aragon grants your release or orders your executions."
"Yes, sir," Tucker and I said.
Edric nodded before he began to march away. When Edric was out of sight, Tucker and I went over to Danny. The area around us didn't have a lot of ghosts, so it was relatively safe enough for us to talk freely to each other.
"It seems we're not allowed to leave the courtyard right now," I stated. "How are we going to investigate like this?"
"We might have to wait until after Juliette's meeting with Aragon," Danny said quietly. "From what I've heard, the wedding isn't even tomorrow, it's the day after. So we have the rest of today and all of tomorrow to search for Sam and Dora. That is, we will if Aragon allows Juliette to attend the wedding."
"Do you think Juliette will be able to convince Aragon to let her attend?" Tucker asked in concern.
"I'm sure he will. Juliette's really good with words, she should be able to convince him," I remarked. "If not then… well… maybe Dora will do something to help. She was the one who wanted our help in the first place. Surely she would have a back up plan in case the one we had failed."
"Dora is the Dragon Princess you and Danny told me about, right?" Tucker asked.
"That's the one," Danny confirmed. "Her full name is Princess Dorathea."
"So why did she want our help?" Tucker questioned. "You guys told me about the plan on what to do, but not why."
"Dora said she wanted to…" I paused, looking around, before whispering softly. "... overthrow her brother from the throne."
"So she made this convoluted plan for that?" Tucker inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Apparently it was actually Clockwork's plan," I shrugged. "Or he at least helped Dora to come up with it."
"So why does Dora want to overthrow her brother anyways?" Tucker whispered.
"From what I remember, because he was the one responsible for the King and Queen either going missing or dying or getting exiled or something," Danny informed.
"Dying? Aren't they already ghosts?" Tucker asked.
"If a ghost's core gets destroyed, they die," Danny explained. "Or I guess the better term for it is they fade away."
"So how does kidnapping Sam work into this plan?" Tucker continued asking.
"According to Dora, it's to show how incompetent Aragon is. I also think it'll show his true colors if something doesn't go his way," I answered. "Although, I can't say I know too much about how medieval royalties work, especially ghost dragon ones."
"Still seems quite risky." Tucker frowned. "I mean a lot of things can go wrong, we could get caught and swarmed, or Sam could get herself in trouble, or we might not be able to stop the wedding in time."
"You're right, there are many things that can go wrong, Tucker," I agreed with a sigh. "But when has that ever stopped us before? It certainly has never stopped you or Danny. Right now, let's just focus on trying blend to in and finding Sam and Dora, then we will figure out what to do from there."
"But in the meantime, I guess we'll have to wait," Danny sighed. "I hope Sam is doing okay…"
I didn't know how much time had passed since there didn't seem to be any time passing at all in this domain. While we were waiting, I was reshaping my ghost ray, though I made sure to keep it small and unnoticeable. I was hoping I'd be able to summon whatever weapon I needed to use should the need to fight arise. Danny and Tucker were chatting about video game strategies, as well as how they could use some of the strategies in an actual battle, which wasn't a bad idea.
I looked at the ecto pistol in my hand. It was small since I had to keep it from being noticeable. I had managed to get the basics of it down, but I could tell I still had a lot of work to do. I looked up when I sensed Scarlet's aura heading our way, and dissipated the ecto pistol. Danny looked up, likely sensing Scarlet himself.
Juliette and Scarlet walked over toward us.
"I appreciate you waiting for us," Juliette kindly said. "Prince Aragon was more than happy to allow us to attend his wedding and would even like for me to perhaps become a friend of his kingdom."
Scarlet leaned in and whispered, "There are, of course, going to be people keeping an eye on us, so Princess Juliette needs to keep up her appearance at all times." Scarlet then stood back up and raised her voice. "As I have said before, and I will say it again, thank your Princess for her unending kindness."
"Thank you for your kindness, Princess Juliette," I said with a bow of respect.
"We greatly appreciate your kindness, Princess Juliette," Tucker replied, also bowing in respect.
"Princess Juliette?" A kind female voice asked from behind the group. "I hope I am not intruding, but I was tasked with showing you and your servants to your rooms."
I looked up to see who was talking, and I saw what appeared to be a young woman-like ghost, she had long blond hair and was wearing a fancy dress. She didn't appear to be royalty, but she did seem to be quite important.
"I am the maid in charge of taking care of the needs of foreign delegates, Cynthia," The female ghost introduced herself. "Your knight and her squire will be in a split room next to your own. As for your servants, Crown Prince Aragon said that you may choose where you want your servants to stay. I can put them in a room near yours or I can have them sleep in the servant quarters."
Scarlet walked over to Juliette and leaned down so Juliette could whisper something.
"My Princess wishes to have her servants near her so they may attend to her needs at a moment's notice," Scarlet informed. "The closer they can be to our Princess, the better."
"As you wish, Princess Juliette," Cynthia stated. "If you will follow me, I will take you to your rooms."
"Come along, everyone," Scarlet ordered as she and Juliette began to follow Cynthia.
All of us followed Cynthia back into the halls of the castle. It was too bad technology didn't work here, otherwise Tucker would probably be using his PDA to record layout of the castle. The castle was huge, so the walk itself took a while before Cynthia finally stopped at a door.
"This is where you will be staying, Princess Juliette," Cynthia informed. "If you need anything from me during your stay, you simply need to ring the bell next to your bed and I will come at once. Royal knight, you and your squire are in the room to our right, and the servants are in the room to the right of that."
"Thank you for your services," Scarlet said before each of us went into our own given rooms.
Tucker and I opened the door to our room, floated inside, then closed the door behind us.
"Huh, this room doesn't look too bad," Tucker noted as he looked around. "We got a few nice beds, a bathroom, and a closet. Too bad there couldn't be a big screen TV though."
"I was expecting it to look a lot worse, considering we're just lowly servants," I admitted.
"It's probably something to do with appearances," Tucker guessed. "Something like if Aragon treat servants of a visiting royal nicely, the visiting royal may see Aragon in a better light."
"That's… actually pretty clever." I nodded. "I'd do the same if I was Aragon. Well, now that we're officially invited to the wedding, perhaps we could start our investigation."
"We should first go ask Juliette if we should," Tucker suggested. "You remember what Scarlet said, there are gonna be people keeping an eye on Juliette and that probably includes her servants. I for one don't want to tick off Scarlet by making Juliette look bad."
"Yeah, we don't want to cause trouble after all," I sighed. "Come on, let's go."
Tucker and I exit our room, and walked to the left, passing Scarlet and Danny's room, before stopping in front of Juliette's room.
"We… are allowed to knock, right?" Tucker heistated, sounding unsure. "These rules and customs are… pretty strict."
"If it's inappropriate to knock on our own Princess's door, then I have no idea how else to contact her," I sighed before knocking the door lightly.
"You may enter," Juliette called out from inside the room.
I slowly opened the door, seeing the room Juliette was in was quite fancy and posh. Tucker and I walked into the room, I closed the door behind us.
"Um… permission to speak freely…?" Tucker asked in an uneasy tone.
Juliette gave a nod. "There is no technology here and the walls are very thick, so there is no need to worry about someone somehow listening in."
"Oh, that's good," Tucker sighed in relief.
"We needed to get your permission to go searching through the castle," I explained. "We didn't want to go out on our own, otherwise we might make you look bad. Are servants allowed to roam the castle on their own?"
"As long as you have a purpose," Juliette answered. "And for that purpose… perhaps I wish for you to see how the servants of Aragon's kingdom work. That way you also have a reason to ask Aragon's servants about the going ons of the kingdom."
"That's a good idea." Tucker smiled.
"Just remember to only talk to the servants," Juliette reminded. "It would be considered rude if you tried to talk to anyone who ranks above servants unless they address you first."
"Right. Danny will have to handle the guards then," I remarked. "Tucker and I will ask the other servants. We'll try to be as innocent as possible while asking questions."
"Good, and make sure not to stay out too long or ask too many questions at once," Juliette said in concern. "And don't ask any strange questions that all servants would usually know the answer to or know not to ask."
"We… uh… will try our best not to ask those types of questions then," Tucker hesitantly stated.
"Just be careful you two," Juliette replied quietly. "I don't want you getting yourselves hurt or worse."
I gave a small smile at Juliette's concern. "Don't worry about us, Juliette, we'll be fine. Come on, Tucker, we've got some fellow servants to talk to."
"I'm right behind you," Tucker stated as we left Juliette's room.
Tucker and I had to consciously remember to float rather than walk, because even though we could touch the ground, thanks to our cursed items, most ghosts float rather than walk. It made me wonder why they had floors when they mostly floated everywhere. I did notice, however, that royals and aristocrats walked rather than float. Juliette and Scarlet did the same, Danny walked because his armor weighed him down too much to float easily. It felt like an unspoken rule that those in the lower ranking, such as Tucker and I, were to float instead of walk, though I wasn't sure if that was the case.
Luckily for Tucker and me, we found a lot of servants around. Most of them were likely doing some errands for their masters or mistresses, or they could be Aragon's servants and were trying to get everything ready for the wedding.
We floated over to a small group of servants that appeared to be the least busy. It would be too difficult to talk to a servant if they were busy or in a hurry. This small group might be on break, seeing how they were talking to each other rather than floating around with some kind of purpose or goal in mind.
"Excuse us… uh…" I spoke up, hoping that I wouldn't seem out of place as a servant. "We are new here, so we were hoping to get to know the castle a little more for our Princess."
One of the servants, a male servant, looked up at me. He was wearing what was apparently the uniform for Aragon's servants, as I had seen that exact uniform multiple times on the way here on the male servants that Tucker and I had passed.
"Are you the servants of the Princess that had an audience with Crown Prince Aragon not long ago?" The male servant asked as the rest of the group looked over at Tucker and I.
"Yes, that would be us," Tucker answered, though I could tell he was a little stiff.
The male servant nodded. "What would your Princess like to know? Or do you have questions of your own that you think would help you better serve your Princess?"
"Our Princess would like to know what Prince Aragon plans to do once he marries and becomes king of this domain," I stated.
One of the other servants chuckled. "While that is indeed an excellent question, servants like us are incapable of understanding Crown Prince Aragon's plans and it would be out of line for us to even attempt such a feat."
I shouldn't have been surprised that the servants wouldn't know much about Aragon's goals, but it was disappointing nonetheless.
"The most we would be able to answer are questions on when meals are to take place, the layout of the castle, what amenities that is available for your Princess, and other things of that nature," The first servant noted.
"Would you know where the bride-to-be would be?" Tucker asked. "Considering that she's going to be the queen, surely you know who the bride-to-be is."
"If your Princess wishes to meet with the future Queen, she will have to arrange that with the higher ranking staff," A female servant informed.
"We've heard some interesting things about the bride," I spoke up, hoping that I wasn't making a terrible mistake. "Our Princess was curious about it."
"Like the rumor that she is a human?" The first servant questioned with a chuckle. "That is something we can confirm, as it is true. Crown Prince Aragon's future Queen is a human from the living world."
"But why is Prince Aragon marrying a human?" Tucker questioned.
"Most of the servants have concluded that Crown Prince Aragon wishes to marry a bride that will be simply a trophy and a being that will be able to grant an excellent heir. That, in truth, Crown Prince Aragon does not want a Queen that will be a potential threat to his reign," The second male servant gossiped. "However, you did not hear that from us."
I couldn't help but give an amused grin. "Our lips are sealed."
The three servants straightened up all of a sudden. "If your Princess would like it, we can have one of our superiors draw up a map and list of places inside the castle and around the kingdom that she may enjoy."
"Yes, that would be very helpful," I replied, though inwardly I felt like I struck gold.
"I can arrange that your Princess gets a map and list of places around the kingdom that she may find intriguing," A deep voice spoke up from behind Tucker and I.
Tucker and I turned around, surprised. Both of us quickly lowered our heads, knowing this ghost was a superior ranking.
"That would be appreciated by our Princess, Sir," Tucker said, trying not to squeal.
"Is there any other information that your Princess would like?" The superior ranking ghost, who was wearing a finer and more adorned version of the male servant uniform, inquired. "That way I can get all of the requested material at one time."
"Our Princess wished to know if there is any planned schedule for today and tomorrow," Tucker managed to respond. "She does not wish to miss out on any of the potential activities as she truly wishes to create a strong alliance with Prince Aragon."
I was thankful that all those years of playing RPGs had come in handy for situations like this.
The superior ranking servant nodded to that. "I will gather all the information and deliver it to Lady Cynthia to give to your Princess."
At first I was a little surprised that a maid like Cynthia had the title of 'Lady', but then I realized that she must've been quite a high rank as she had been entrusted to cater to the needs of the royals.
"If that is all, I will excuse myself to get started on your Princess's requests immediately," The superior ranking servant stated.
"Yes, that is all she wished to know. Our Princess is grateful that you are willing to assist us in getting the desired information," I answered.
The superior ranking servant gave a small bow of his head before he departed.
"That was a close call…" The first male servant said, letting out a sigh of relief.
"What was a close call?" Tucker asked curiously.
"We were almost heard gossiping about Crown Prince Aragon," The second male servant answered. "That and we could've easily been accused of slacking off."
"Aren't you on break right now?" I questioned.
"... break? If you mean a rest period, then yes we are on our rest period," The female servant replied. "However, we shouldn't have been taking our rest period in such a public place. Normally we are to take our rest periods in our servant quarters."
"We were simply doing it here because the servant quarters are a bit overcrowded right now with all of the servants of the royals that weren't granted a room of their own," The first male servant added.
"Oh, that's…" Tucker hesitated, likely trying to find the right word to use. "... difficult."
"It's definitely… a challenge," The second male servant agreed. "Some of us have to sleep in shifts as there are not enough beds for all of the servants."
The life… or I guess in this case, the afterlife of a servant is a harsh one. I sighed to myself.
"There is one other question we had, but we didn't bring it up due to it being a question of our own rather than a question of our Princess," I spoke up.
"What would that be?" The female servant asked.
"Is the Princess, Prince Aragon's sister, in this castle right now?" I questioned.
"Princess Dorathea is currently on premises," The first male servant confirmed. "She is helping attend to some of Crown Prince Aragon's guests, as well as preparing the future Queen for the wedding. I do wonder why you are interested in such a thing. Does your Princess have a history with Princess Dorathea?"
I gave the question a little bit of thought, debating on how I should answer it.
Tucker beat me to the punch though. "Our Princess does not have a history with Princess Dorathea, but we were thinking of bringing up the idea to royal knight Scarlet that our Princess meets Prince Aragon's sister as well in order to develop an even stronger bond with this kingdom."
"That makes sense, though it is usually not in our place to think about such things. Bonds between kingdom should only be for the royals and higher ups after all," The second male servant remarked.
"Our Princess and her royal knight have always encouraged us to come up with any ideas that they may or may not have missed," Tucker explained. "Our Princess always explains her logic as 'There are some things that a servant may notice that a royal overlooks.'."
"You have a very… kind hearted princess. Perhaps she lives in a more advanced time than us," The female servant sighed. "Unfortunately, we are trapped in this time era for eternity."
"Unless Crown Prince Aragon decides to send us with another royal as a present as he has done with other servants before," The second male servant responded.
"That does bring up another question. Why is this domain locked in this time era?" I asked.
"We all wish we had the answer to that question," The first male servant commented. "Ever since the disappearance of the King and Queen, time has been frozen."
I wondered if Aragon had done this himself. Scarlet had told me that a ghost who rules over a domain, has complete control over it. Though I couldn't say I knew why Aragon would want time to stay frozen.
Another servant started floating by, before she stopped and looked at us.
"Resting period is over," She stated. "If you are not helping these two servants, then it is time to return to work."
The three servants nodded.
"Is there anything else you two or your Princess wish to know?" The first male servant inquired.
"If there are no other questions for now, then you can address future questions to Lady Cynthia," The second male servant remarked.
"Thank you, that is all we need for the time being," I answered.
The three servants all gave a small bow of their head before they floated away.
"So now what?" Tucker asked after the servants floated away.
"I think we've gotten all that we can for the moment," I replied. "We should let Juliette know to expect a map from Cynthia soon as well as other documents."
Tucker and I headed back to Juliette's room, telling her about what we had found out and about the map and schedules she was about to receive. It was a good thing we did, because not long after we told Juliette, there was a knock on the door. Juliette called out for the person to enter, and Cynthia walked in with a few rolled scrolls. Cynthia presented the scrolls to Juliette and informed her of what was on each scrolls before departing. Once Cynthia was gone, Tucker, Juliette, and I unfurled the scrolls and read everything that was on them.
"Well done getting the schedules," Juliette complimented.
"Yeah, but we're still no closer to finding Sam…" Tucker frowned.
"I'll try to arrange a meeting with Princess Dorathea tomorrow," Juliette informed. "However, until I get a response on that, I will be attending the scheduled activities. While I go to the activities, you two should look around more. There will be less people around to notice you two during the scheduled activities. Danny may be able to join you on the search as well, except for one or two events which involve a royal's knight and any squire the knight has. I also may need to have one of you by me during some of the events to not draw too much attention."
I nodded to that. "Sounds like the best plan we can do right now."
"It would probably be best if one of us stayed with you the whole time," Tucker suggested.
Juliette nodded. "I agree. I was thinking that Tucker will stay with me while Andy goes and searches for Princess Dorathea or Sam, as Andy knows Princess Dorathea better and would most likely be able to pick up on her energy."
"As much as I hate to admit it, that's true," Tucker sighed. "Oh well, at least I get to stay by your side. I don't do well with having to act like a servant without the 'Princess' being there."
"I don't know, I thought you were doing pretty well," I chuckled. "If I had to guess, I'd say you'd rather just stay close to Juliette~"
Tucker coughed a bit into his hand. "T-that has nothing to do with it, Andy!"
"I'm sure it doesn't." I smirked. "Have fun you two, but not too much fun~"
I slowly walked out, hearing Juliette's voice.
"What did Andy mean by 'have fun, but not too much fun'?"
"Uhh… probably best not to think about it too much," Tucker's voice nervously answered before I began to walk away, a small grin on my face.
Because time didn't technically flowed here, it was hard to tell how much of it had passed. I assumed that a lot of it had gone by, however, as I spent the majority of it asking other servants about the future queen and Princess Dorathea. The answers I got were vague at best, or I get no answers at worst.
Sometimes Danny would join up with me. Because Danny was a higher rank, it was easier for him to get some answers, though we still didn't get anything concrete. Danny was worried about Sam, but I reassured him that the wedding hasn't started yet, and Dora would make sure Sam wouldn't marry her brother. Most of the time, however, I had to go alone since Danny had to join Scarlet for an event that involved the knight and her squire.
I explored most of the castle, though I could only go through areas that allowed a mere servant like me to go to. I wasn't allowed in any of the rooms other than my own and the servant quarters. A part of me wondered why Dora hadn't contacted any of us yet. I wondered if this was a part of her plan, and we just had to wait until during the wedding.
I sighed to myself as I had stopped floating and just walked. I noticed one of the doors to a room was open. Curious, I decided to take a peek to see if Sam or Dora was in there. I heard voices talking, however, they sounded familiar yet unfamiliar to me at the same time.
"Why do we have to attend the stupid wedding?! I didn't even want to be a part of it in the first place!" A feminine voice growled. "Aragon already found another princess, so there would be no reason for a war to start if I left right now!"
"It's part of the contract. You either attend, or it'll be seen as treason to this kingdom," Another feminine voice stated, though this one sounded smaller, and yet something about it was even more familiar to me than the first voice. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before you go barging in on a castle. Just be grateful you'll be free after the wedding."
"Three more days… then we can leave this place…" The first voice sighed.
"I'm just glad I'm not a giant hamster anymore," The second voice remarked.
I slowly opened the door a little more, curious to see who these two were. I was surprised to see a large black dragoness talking to a small black fox.
"Yuhuh…" The dragoness remarked in a tone of disbelief. "You know you enjoyed being a fluffy giant hamster."
"Well… it did feel nice to be pampered as a pet, but it feels good to be back to normal," The fox replied. "Now, how about I go and see how things are doing with the wedding preparations? Maybe the main characters made it here already."
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh…..." The dragoness froze.
I noticed then that her eyes were looking in my direction.
"What's with you?" The fox asked.
"Turn around," The dragoness instructed.
The fox turned and froze herself when she saw me. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I gave a nervous wave.
"Uh… hello?" I waved.
The dragoness took a few moments to regain composure before she spoke up in a commanding tone. "You cannot be in here, servant. Leave immediately or I shall have to report you to your superior."
I blinked, looking at the dragoness's dress. I didn't see an amulet on her, and she didn't appear to be ghostly. There was something familiar about her and the fox, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Uh… bark, bark?" The fox barked in a questioning tone.
The dragoness looked down at the fox with a slightly disappointed and annoyed look before looking back at me. "Begone servant! I shall not warn you again!"
I snapped back to reality and bowed my head. "I apologize, it won't happen again."
I quickly backed out, closed the door, and walked away. What was that about? Maybe I should ask Dora when I find her. Though one thing I really do wonder about is what that fox meant by 'maybe the main characters made it here already'.
I was tired by the time I decided to go back to my room. I saw Tucker was already there, out cold under the covers of his bed. I was glad to know that ghosts apparently slept like living beings did. I walked over to the other bed and laid down, it was soft and comfortable. Before I knew it, I was in oblivion.
The next morning, or I was guessing it was the next morning, I woke up to Tucker shaking me.
"Time to get up for breakfast, Andy," Tucker informed as he continued to shake me. "All servants are to be at this morning's breakfast as they plan to go over today's activities."
I grumbled a little. "I'm up, I'm up, you can stop shaking me."
I sat up and yawned a little, before a thought occurred to me. "Wait… breakfast? … What do ghosts eat?"
"Regular food," Tucker replied. "I had dinner last night, and it was pretty much real world food. I think the only difference is food here doesn't have an expiration date."
"How strange… I always thought ghosts consumed ectoplasm to sustain themselves…" I remarked, fascinated by this. "Then again I have seen them eat regular food before." I thought back on when Juliette ate that apple.
Tucker shrugged. "I don't think they need to eat regular food, but maybe they do it out of pleasure rather than necessity. And… isn't ectoplasm the material ghosts leave behind?"
"It's what we call all that green stuff you see around here, and the energy they use," I explained.
"I haven't seen one ghost eat ectoplasm since we got here," Tucker noted.
"They don't eat it like how we eat food," I stated as I got out of bed. "It's more like they absorb it through their… exterior skin, kind of like how plants absorb sunlight."
"Well, I haven't seen anyone slathering ectoplasm on their bodies either," Tucker replied.
I gave an 'are you serious?' look at Tucker. "Why would they need to slather themselves? It's in the very air of the Ghost Zone, that's why ghosts can easily sustain themselves here. They absorb it by pretty much just breathing… assuming they even breathe."
Tucker gave me a curious look before frowning a little. "Does that work with you and Danny whenever you come into the Ghost Zone?"
"Sort of, yeah. Danny and I always felt a little stronger whenever we come into the Ghost Zone," I informed.
"Well… what if ectoplasm isn't the sole way that ghosts feed themselves?" Tucker stated. "I remember seeing some fruit, veggies, and even some meat carts on the way to the front of the castle. So perhaps ghosts both eat solid food and absorb ectoplasm from the air."
"You did say earlier they eat for pleasure rather than necessity, so maybe that's why. I don't really know too much about ghost biology though," I shrugged. "I only knew the ectoplasm part because of what Danny and I experienced."
"I said maybe they eat for pleasure," Tucker pointed out. "In most games with ghosts and monsters and medieval castles, there are multiple ways for the player to replenish their strength and HP. It's possible that ghosts do eat solid food as well, but they might not need to eat as often as humans."
"Like I said, I don't know too much about ghost biology. Whether they need to eat food or not doesn't matter right now, at least they have edible food for us," I remarked. "Do we need to clean up our raggy clothes or could we go as we are?"
"We can go as we are, and these aren't actually all that raggy from what I've noticed," Tucker responded. "Some of the other servants I saw yesterday were essentially wearing tattered clothes like slaves tend to wear in games and tv shows."
I nodded. "I didn't see a lot of servants other than those who work for Aragon, but I can imagine many of them have a lot worse masters they work for."
Tucker and I headed out of our room, and went over to Juliette's room. Tucker knocked on the door.
"You may enter!" Scarlet called out.
I was a little surprised to hear Scarlet's voice, but Tucker and I entered the room. Scarlet and Danny were already here.
"We're ready to attend the morning's breakfast," Tucker stated.
Danny walked over to us. "Wow, you've really gotten the whole servant attitude thing down. Usually you'd be a lot more happy and casual when it comes to food."
Tucker chuckled. "Well, I have to be formal and servile as long as we're here."
"It's also a good chance for us to do live roleplay," I added. "And for Tucker to keep close with Juliette~"
"Would you please stop with that?" Tucker requested, his right eye twitching slightly.
Danny gave a small laugh.
Juliette walked over to us, her dress had changed from yesterday while the rest of us wore the same thing we had been wearing since we got here.
"Let's get to breakfast." Juliette smiled.
Juliette walked out first, followed by Scarlet and Danny, then Tucker and I were behind them. I still wasn't sure if we had to be floating, but Tucker and I decided to just walk. We kept our heads low.
When we got to the dining room, there was a large and long table in the center of the room. There were more tables beside it, but the one in the center had a fancy throne-like chair, which meant that Aragon was going to sit there.
"Just a warning, we're to stand near Juliette during the meal in case she needs anything," Tucker leaned over and whispered to me. "We'll get to eat after the royals finish their breakfast."
I gave a nod to Tucker in acknowledgement.
Juliette walked over to a seat, which Tucker walked over and pulled out. Juliette then sat down before Tucker pushed the chair up to the table. Once Juliette was comfortable, Tucker stood near the chair, but still away from the table. I saw where Tucker was standing and took a similar spot next to him. Meanwhile, Danny and Scarlet stood near the wall behind Juliette.
It was almost like I was in a TV show or movie that had a medieval setting with castles and royals and servants. We waited for the Prince to arrive, because we likely couldn't start breakfast without the Prince himself. I looked around at the other guests out of boredom and curiosity. There were many fancy dressed royals here, and maybe some aristocrats as well, though it was a little difficult for me to tell the differences right away. I didn't grow up in a world like this, so to me, they all just dressed fancy. What caught my attention, however, was the black dragoness sitting at the end of the center table. It was the same dragoness I saw yesterday. I still couldn't sense any ghostly aura from her.
Suddenly a set of large double doors near the end of the hall opened up before a humanoid ghost with light blue skin, red eyes, long gray hair, and what looked to be fangs walked in. I noted that the ghost had a green crown on his head with spikes, so I took it that I was looking at Prince Aragon. His clothes definitely fit what a prince would wear as he was wearing a high quality long-sleeved purple shirt, a gray belt that had a dagger inside a black sheath strapped to his hip, and gray pants. He also appeared to be wearing a cape that was black on the outside and purple on the inside and it was fasted on his right shoulder by a light gray skull. The final piece that confirmed the identity of the humanoid ghost was the golden amulet that had a green crystal at the center that matched the amulet that Dora had. If I remembered the name of it correctly, it was called the Amulet of Aragon, and Aragon had actually been named after the amulets.
Aragon walked to his throne, which was pulled out for him by his servants, sat down, and looked around with a smile on his face.
"Thank you all for joining me this morning," Aragon said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room. "There is quite a full schedule planned for today, the day before I am to be wed. Not all activities are necessary to attend and some are for the ladies, while others are for the men. I shall also be taking time today to have meetings with those that I have not given the proper time to. For now, let us enjoy breakfast, we will go over the schedule after we have all had our fill."
When Aragon finished speaking, the royals and aristocrats began eating. They ate politely and slowly, though some of them ate in a snobby way, similarly to a few popular girls I knew at school. Some of the royals were more demanding towards their servants than others.
I paid attention to Juliette, however, waiting for when she wanted something. Of course, Juliette kept it simple for us. Juliette would ask Tucker to get her some food that was close by, or she would ask me to pour her some juice or tea in her cup. There was a little bit of a thrill to this, likely because we were playing our part as servants to a princess in a castle.
Before long, however, the royals and aristocrats had finished eating their fill. Some finished earlier than others, but they all finished relatively at the same time.
"If there are no objections, we shall now go over the schedule for today," Aragon stated.
Everyone paid close attention to Aragon when he spoke up. Aragon began talking about what was scheduled for the day. I didn't pay too much attention to it, because I knew I would just be following Juliette or Scarlet for the majority of the day. That, and I had already seen the schedule yesterday after Cynthia had delivered it. Some of the other royals and aristocrats had their own inputs, but mostly positive and agreed with Aragon. I did notice, however, that the odd black dragoness hadn't spoken a word. Aragon would sometimes look in her direction, but they otherwise didn't interact. Finally, Aragon started to wrap things up.
"Thank you all for your time, patience, and attendance," Aragon remarked. "As I said before, the first scheduled activity will start in one hour, so you have time to prepare and decide if you would like to attend or do your own activity. Unless any of you have questions or comments that need to be brought to my attention, I believe we can depart and let the servants clean up."
I briefly wondered if Aragon meant all of the servants here, or just his own.
There were a few concerned faces on the table, but nobody brought anything up. I wondered to myself as to what they were concerned about. I looked over at the black dragoness, who just looked bored and like she wanted to be anywhere but there.
When nobody said anything, Aragon stood up. "Then let us depart."
Reviews
haloguardian452: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': That's a fair enough point, but with arrows, it takes longer to reach the target, meaning you have to aim well in advance and hope the opponent doesn't suddenly decide to change course. With a gun, the projectile hits the target much faster than an arrow can. Also with a gun, you don't need to reload after every shot. And yeah, Scarlet is a bit hard on Tucker, but there's no real malice behind her actions.
Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Points at self* Dragons.
DarkFoxKit: … *Points at Onyx* Dragons.
Ghost of Chaos: DarkFoxKit: Thank you.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Considering they have to act like they don't know who Danny Phantom is around their parents, I would say that they have some knowledge.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Scarlet's just being strict with Tucker, but there's no actual malice behind it. Heh, we thought it would be more fun to have our characters go in disguise instead of just crashing the wedding. Not that it did much good in the actual episode anyways since it seemed like Sam and Dora did most of the work. And since Beauty Marked seemed to be a Sam episode, I guess Butch wanted to do a Tucker focused episode next with King Tuck, though honestly it's one of my least favorite episodes in the series. Let's just say Onyx and I did a complete overhaul with King Tuck. :3 I'm not too sure with the idea Butch had with Duul Aman and Tucker, but if it's anything like with the Yu-Gi-Oh series, it's possible Tucker is a reincarnation of Duul Aman.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's possible that Butch was literally using Yu-Gi-Oh as inspiration for that episode. Ancient Egypt, magical artifact, reincarnation, dead pharaoh, some kind of sporting event… yeah that's pretty much Yu-Gi-Oh in a nutshell.
Eeveemaster: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah… let's keep Andy away from those.
DarkFoxKit: Or bring him right into it~ *Smirks evilly*