"Well guys," I said. "It's pretty obvious where we should go next."
The wagon reached the ground and we headed due east. Less than an hour later we reached the checkpoint. A flag flew on a flagpole, clearly visible.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Holstock," said a guard.
"We're travelers passing through," I said.
"You know, I had a dream that I was going to this Land of Happiness, but it was a trap set by demons. These adventurers came and rescued us."
I smiled, wondering if he would have woken up without our intervention.
"We'd better spend the night," said Hassan, looking to the west as the sun was setting.
There was a small inn just on the other side of the checkpoint. I got us all a room. We all sat down on the beds.
"So what are we trying to do again?" asked Muriel.
"Find the legendary armaments," I said.
"I've heard of that," said Chamoro, lying down on his bed. "There's a sword, a shield, a helmet, and an armor. Collect all four and you can visit the castle of the gods."
"And where is this castle of the gods?" asked Barbara.
"I..I don't know."
"Still, it's amazing so many people fell for that Land of Happiness," said Hassan. "I mean, it's a more obvious scam than..than anything. I remember a few years ago when there was this real estate scam back in San Marino, something about sellin' beachfront property."
"Did you see the condition Calcado was in?" asked Muriel. "The people there were desperate. Desperate people will grasp any thread of hope."
I silently agreed. "Wel, right now we better get some sleep."
And so we did.
ooooooooooooo
The enxt morning, we all got into the wagon and headed on the path. I sat in front as Falshion pulled us along.
After going around the mountains, we saw a village.
A sign identified the village as Holcotta. It was bascially a bunch of log cabins built next to a mountainside. There were fields where food was grown, and this undeniable smell of farm animals.
We asked the people of this village about the legendary armaments. None of them ever heard of such a thing.
I did hear something that was interesting.
"I'm so bored," said this boy tending a stable. "I wish Prince Holse would come play."
"Prince Holse?" I asked.
"You know, the Prince of Holstock."
"The king wants the prince to go through this ritual baptism," said this woman, whom I presumed to be the boy's mother. "But the prince keeps running away."
"Oh, I see," I said. "Well, have a nice day."
"It's obvious what we have to do next," said Chamoro as I got on the wagon. "Maybe if we offer our assistance, we can get a lead on these legendary armaments."
ooooooooooooo
It was less than an hour after leaving Holcotta that we arrived at Castle Holstock.
It was this huge stone castle, though not as large as Reidock Castle. A flag flew from one of the towers, with the same design as the flag that flew at the checkpoint. I walked inside through the main gate.
"Hello there," said one of the guards. "you are adveturers, right?"
"That's right," I said.
"If you can spare a minute, sir, you should speak with the king. He has this small problem."
"I'll make sure."
We walked upstiars to the throne room. It was this big room, with two thrones sitting on this red carpet. A man wearing a crown and robes sat in the left throne; he appeared to be younger than the King of Reidock. I bowed before him.
"Hello there," said the king. "I am Holten, King of Holstock. I have a request for you."
"What is your request, your Majesty?" I asked.
"I am looking for someone to help my son. He must go through a ritual baptism to succeed me. But monsters have taken over the cave. Mty guards can not even clear them out."
"We will do this, sire."
"Very well then. Fetch the prince."
"At once, my lord," replied this court official.
We waited for a few minutes to meet Prince Holse. and then the minister came back.
"King!" he said. "Holse is gone again."
"We'll go find him," said Barbara.
We then went downstairs to the first floor.
"How will we find him?" asked Hassan. "This castle's a big place!"
"Well, we're not going to find him by just standing around," said Muriel. "Let's go."
And so we looked around the castle. Some of the castle staff had mentioned that Prince Holse had done this sort of thing before.
We were dealing with someone with experience. We kept looking around the castle, searhcing places like the kitche, the dining room, the armory, the storehouse, and even the royal bedchamber.
"I don't know where that boy could have gone," said Barbara.
We then came across this room. It was a large room with bookcases and a bed. A little boy was inside.
"Excuse me," I said. "Have you seen the prince? He's hiding from us."
"Holse like to play hide and seek," said the boy. "But one time, I hid in a barrel and he could not find me. He was really impressed with it."
"So you told him where you hid," said Chamoro. "Not a very good strategy."
"Well, at least we know how to narrow our search," I said.
And so we went around the castle, looking in every barrel.
When I looked at a wooden barrel in the storage room, this boy popped out. He appeared to be slightly younger than Chamoro.
"You're Prince Holse, right?" I asked.
"Yes, I am," the boy replied.
"The king summons you."
"Okay," said Holse. "I'll go see Father."
A minute later we were back in the throne room.
"I hope he was not any trouble for you," said King Holten. "Please take good care of the prince."
"We will, sire," I said.
We then headed downstairs.
"Excuse me," said Prince Holse. "I have to get something from my room."
"Okay, your Highness," I replied. And so we waited.
"You know," said Hassan after we waited a few minutes. "I think the prince has run off again."
And so we went to look for him. We searched every barrel in the castle, but it was obvious Prince Holse would not hide in the same place.
"Where is that boy?" asked Muriel.
We continued searching around the castle, and we went down into the basement level. We had not been here before. This place was darker than the upper levels, lit only by a few torches. This old man had his quarters in the castle. We then walked throuhg the underground tunnel. There seemed to be an exit; this tunnel must be some sort of emergency exit in case of fire or enemy siege.
We were greeted by the fresh air as we stepped outside. This exit opened to a ledge.
And we saw Prince Holse.
"So you found me," he said. "If I keep running away I won't be baptized and I can't succeed to the throne, and yet if I get killed by monsters I can't succeed to the throne either."
"We'll help you, Prince," I said. "We killed the demon king Mudo; we should be able to protect you from what's in the cave."
"Then let's go."
ooooooooooooooooo
The Baptismal Cave was south of Castle Holstock, about a forty minute journey. The entrance to the cave was in this gently-sloping hillside.
"Well, Prince," I said. "Let's go."
And so we entered the cave, I lit a torch to light the way, and had my battle axe equipped to deal with any threats.
"Where's the prince?" asked Barbara.
I looked around. The prince had run away!
"You know, maybe we should have put the dude in a cage or something," said Chamoro.
"Let's go back to the castle," I said.
ooooooooooooooooo
Despite searching over Castle Holstock for hours, we could not find Prince Holse.
"This is so annoying!" I said. "Why do we even bother to do this?"
"We went from killing the demon king to becoming babysitters," said Hassan.
"Maybe he's not at the castle at all," said Muriel.
"Where else could he be?" asked Barbara.
"That village we came across on our way here," said Muriel. "Didn't a boy mention playing with the prince?"
I then remembered. "Well, let's go over there," I said.
And so we did.
oooooooooooo
We then went back to Holcotta, the village to the east of Castle Holstock. The place was as busy as when we first arrived; the farmers were still plowing their fields.
"I think that's the house," said Muriel.
I went over to the little wooden house, and sure enough, Prince Holse was in there.
"You came back for me?" he asked.
"Yes, we did," I said. "You can't run away from this forever. Come on, we have a baptism to go to."
"Okay, I won't run away from this," replied the prince.
oooooooooooo
After chasing Prince Holse around, we were finally back in the Baptismal Cave. Sure enough, there were monsters inside. There were horses with these sharp horns, skeletons, stone beasts, knights, empty suits of animated armor, and little blue goblins with wings on their backs. I swung with my battle axe and used dance skills while Hassan delivered some Spirit Punches, Muriel breahred fire and toxic breath, and Chamoro cast spells like Snowblast and Firebane. Along the way, we found a chain cross.
There was this little flame creature blocking a passage.
"You are here with a member of the royal family," said the little flame creature. "You must defeat me to pass!"
And so we fought. I used to Stillness dance technique to stop this creature from dancing. Hassan used the Spirit Punch while the rest of us attacked, and Chamoro cast Healmore as needed. This creature was mostly a spellcaster, casting spells on us like Blaze, Infernos, and Firebal.
"Okay okay," said the flame creature after Hassan struck a mighty Spirit Punch. "You can pass."
We walked a few feet and then Barbara asked, "Where's the prince?"
I looked around and Prince Holse was gone!
We walked around the cave, wondering where the prince was. Surely he could not have sneaked past the flame creature. After searching for a few minutes, we found him.
"What are you doing here, Prince?" I asked.
"I didn't want to get in the way," said Prince Holse. "I'm not trying to avoid the baptism."
The prince rejoined us and we walked back to where we fought the flame creature. Soon enough, we came across this sealed door.
"Only members of the royal family may open this door," said a voice.
"My name is Holse of the Holstock Royal Line," said Prince Holse.
"Indeed, you are of the royal family. You may pass."
And so we did. We descended further into the Baptismal Cave, fighting off the monsters with our weapons, skills, and spells.
We soon came across this big horned sheep much like the silence sheep we fought near Reidock Castle.
"You must defeat me to pass," said the sheep.
Chamoro responded by casting Firebane. But the spell seemed to be reflected and it was Chamoro who got burned.
"Owww!" he yelled. "He must have some magic barrier."
"Then we'll beat him the old fashioned way," said Hassan even as he delivered another Spirit Punch.
And so we attacked, with me swinging by battle axe, Muriel using her flame breath, Hassan using the Spirit Punch, and Chamoro healing our wounds by casting Healmore. This creature attacked with its horns and used this wind slash and wpould sometimes charge up to attack. He also hypnotized me to sleep once, and I did not stir awake until he hit me. The battle lasted for a few minutes, and then the creature fell before my battle axe.
"I concede," said the creature. "You may pass."
"The prince has gone again," said Hassan.
And so we were looking for him again. It took about three minutes to find him.
"That couldn't have been easy," said Prince Holse. "I won't run off like that again."
We continued along the cave, coming across another door like the first one.
"Only members of the royal family may open this door," said this voice.
"My name is Holse of the Holstock Royal Line," said Prince Holse.
"Indeed, you are of the royal family. You may pass."
We passed through the door and continued. Along the way, we found a half plate and a small medal. We then came across this huge hoirse with a horn like the ones inhabiting this cave. It was obvious that this one was not like the others.
"You can not pass unless you defeat me," said the horse.
"I'll get out of the waty while you deal with it," said Prince Holse.
And so we drew our weapons. The creature cast Defense to lower our defense, and then attacked with its sharp horn. Muriel cast Increase to keep restoring our defense while Chamoro cast Firebane and Hassan and I swung wildly with our battle axes. This creature was real quick on its toes, and more than once did it dodge our attacks.
The creature then cast the Reflect spell, putting up this magic barrier that can reflect spells.
"That barrier's not permanent," said Chamoro. "If a weak spell is cast, we can break it and then cast a much stronger spell."
"Got it," replied Muriel.
She cast IceBolt, which broke the reflection even as the spell was cast back at her. Chamoro then followed up with the Snowblast spell. We continued battling the creature, healing as necessary. The horse then charged at Hassan, who then sidestepped and then struck wildly with the axe. The horse lay on its side, critically wounded.
"You may pass," said the horse.
"There you are," said Prince Holse. "Shall we go?"
We then walked up to the last door.
"Only members of the royal family may open this door," said this voice.
"My name is Holse of the Holstock Royal Line," said Prince Holse.
"Indeed, you are of the royal family. You may pass."
When we passed this door, we found ourselves at the shore of an underground pool fed by this waterfall. This priest was there.
"Welcome to the baptismal spring, member of the Holstock family," said the priest.
"I am here foer the baptism," said the prince.
"Indeed, lad. Walk under the waterfall."
Prince Holse waded across the water and stood under the waterfall. I noticed he was shaking. About a minute later, he emerged.
"So cold," he shiveringly said.
"That's it," I said. "We should return to the castle."
And so we did.
oooooooooooo
We immediately went back to the throne room of Castle Holstock where King Holten was waiting.
"I did it," said Prince Holse.
"I congratulate you for completing the trial," said the king. "You may take the throne whenever you are ready."
"I will have to learn more before I can take the throne, Father," replied the prince.
"How about we throw a celebration?" asked the queen.
And so they did.
ooooooooooo
The celebration was held that night on a balcony. Food and refreshments were served on cloth-covered tables.
"Always a great night for a party, eh dude?" asked Hassan.
"Yeah," I replied, sipping my punch. I recalled having attended a banquet like this before. "It wasn't that long ago I was his age."
"I'm only a year older than the prince," said Chamoro. "I clearly remember what it's like, transitioning from boy to man, finding out what girls are really for."
"Don't we all, kid," replied Hassan. "Don't we all."
"Uh, Muriel," asked Barbara, "where were you from?"
"Where I'm from?" replied Muriel. "I..I really don't want to talk about it."
"I wish I could remember."
"Maybe you will, just like Hassan remembered when he reunited with his real world self."
oooooooooooooo
The next morning, we met with King Holten.
"Thank you for what you did for Prince Holse," said the king. "You must be appropriately rewarded. You may keepo any treasure you found in our cave. and you may have this." He handed me this key. "I know it will be useful in your journeys. Take care."
"Thank you, my lord," I replied.
We went outside, hopped onto the wagon, and then left Castle Holstock.
oooooooooooo
A few hours after leaving the castle, we came across this small hut in the middle of an island. There was this hand-painted wooden sign near the hut.
DANGER- Off -Limits
"Wonder what's in here?" asked Hassan.
I approahced the door and unlocked it with the Magic Key. Entering the hut, there was a well inside, and this creature coming out of the well. We quickly killed the beast.
The well had this strange green glow.
"It's your call," said Muriel.
I peered into the strange glow, and was whisked away to the dream world.