Ch22: Baccarat Blues

When we made it to the Western Continent via the magical ship, we then proceeded on foot from the southern shore and upwards to the northwest. "Hmm? I recognize that castle anywhere!" Trode smiled when we walked past the first place we saw. The Kingdom of Argonia. "Sadly, I don't think myself and father should even think of going in there... if the king and the prince found out I've been turned into a talking horse, then the royal wedding may never go off," Medea frowned. "And they may not believe us when we say that Trode is with us, since they may not have gotten the story yet," I frowned. "Well, if they need a bit o' persuasion, Ah'm yer lass to talk to," Red smirked.

We ignored that comment and continued Northwest, where we encountered other monsters that looked at us with faces of discontent at first, but then immediately becoming chipper and gentleman-lady like when they saw that Angelica was with us. "Hmm... My heart entrances man and beast alike... so no need for monsters to think of attacking us while I'm with you," Angelica smiled at us. "Good to know, Angie," I smirked at her. "Mm... It's been awhile since I've been called that," she smirked.

When we finally made it to the area of Baccarat, we noticed something very strange. There was a very tubby man clad in a green trench coat who looked like he was kind of upset. Thinking nothing of it, I went up to him and asked him a question. "Is there something wrong, sir?" I asked him with curiosity... until he looked at me and we met face-to-face. I was talking to Prince Charmles in disguise! "Shh! Quiet, elf. I'm trying to return to the Kingdom without anyone spotting me," he said in a hushed tone, which made Medea frown a bit, but she knew his voice anywhere. She stayed quiet as I expected. "Well then, stranger, I hope you don't get 'spotted'," I frowned as me and my group traveled into Baccarat.

"I'm impressed... that was Prince Charmles in the flesh and he was incognito it seems," Trode frowned. "Well, the good thing that we can admit from that encounter is twofold: we now have an ace up our sleeve if we ever need Argonia's help in the future and it turns out your royal robes conceal your green skin pretty decently, boss," I smiled at him. "Ah. Good thinking. Besides, if he's not supposed to be out of the kingdom, we could use that to our advantage," Angelo chuckled.

"Okay, we're going to go in there and see why Charmles looked so upset upon leaving. Wait here for us," I smiled to Trode and Medea. "Are you sure we can't come in with you?" Medea smiled. "Well... ah, wot the 'ell? Couldn't 'urt to try! After all, we can really test these duds of yers in their bar area," Yangus smirked. "I do say! You have a valid point for a change, Yangus!" Trode smirked. "Wot?!" Yangus exclaimed. "No fighting boys... lest you want to be victims of my charming magic," Angelica smirked. That shut the two up for a change and made Medea smirk as we entered the town and, just as we expected, no one gave us the stink-eye... though the only eyes the guys in town gave were googly ones towards Angelica.

It was already nearing midnight, so we decided it best to go to the bar and see what was up. "Ah! This place has a hotel, a bar, and a casino all in one-" Red smiled until she saw something I could tell made her saddened. "OH COME ON! The casino's closed up?! Damn it all," Red soured up immediately. "Well, I had heard rumors that the prince of Argonia tended to have a love of casino gambling, so maybe he came here to gamble, only to see that the casino was closed," Trode frowned. "Well, that's a plausible reason... but how did the casino close is the big question. Because, even though I am from the Southern Continent, I know for a fact that the Baccarat casino was open 24/7 and never shut down unless something big happened," Angelo frowned. "Well, I'm going to go ahead and find that out now," I smiled as I went over to the bar and noticed that the bartender was there with a smile on his face.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle. What can I do for you and your fine group tonight?" the bartender asked as I sat down at the bar. "Listen, we're after a serial killer that has so far killed a famed magician in Farebury, an innocent soldier from Alexandria, and even Abbot Francisco of Maella Abbey. We need to know if he may have come through here to continue his murdering spree... he goes by the name of Dhoulmagus and he is a jester with a magic scepter on his person," I said to him, his eyes going ever wider as I continued my explanation.

The bartender looked around a couple glances and saw that we were the only ones at the bar. Everyone else was watching the bunny girl show. "Okay, listen up, because it is important this information isn't leaked," he said in a hushed tone. "A jester has come into town and killed someone. The owner of the Casino, Golding, was killed in his manor by the jester, where there was a lot of blood spilled, some of it not being Golding's at all. He's the toughest man in Baccarat and we would prefer his death not get out until the murderer is apprehended," he said to us.

"Is there anything else you can tell us? Because I can assure you that we are going to kill that jester," I said to him. "Okay... his adopted children, Cash and Carrie, sent a team of fighters out to defeat and kill the murderer, who fleed to an island to the northwest," he said. "Hold it," I said as I took out my map and laid it out with barely a sound. "Where?" I asked. He then pointed to a secluded island to the northwest of the Western Continent, one that had clouds partially blocking it. "This is the island," he said.

I quickly put a circle on it with my lipstick and folded it back up. "I know that island. I'll tell ya 'bout it when we get outta 'ere," Red frowned as Trode took his bottle to go and quickly paid the bartender before we headed back up. "Well, even though we didn't get a chance to test out my disguise, we now know where our target is," Trode frowned as we exited the bar and went back to Medea. We were running on testosterone by this point so we didn't need a rest. "That island is where a lot of people have went to and gotten dead at. It houses an area known as the Dark Ruins. No doubt that's where Dhoulmagus'll be," Red said as we went out of the town.

"Yeah, but now we need to walk all the way back to the southern part to get the ship to go north," Stella frowned, who had been unusually quiet during our trip. (It's because I was taking a little nap in yer cleavage), she immediately thought to me. "No worries there," Angelica smiled as she strummed her harp and, out of nowhere, our magical ship appeared just behind Baccarat and to the east of it! "Awright! That's nifty!" Yangus smirked. "We are both ancients... so my magic can bring it back whenever needed," Angelica smiled contentedly. "Well, now it's off to the island... I hope we're not too late," I frowned as we traversed the terrain in order to get to the ship. Soon we would be going to the Dark Ruins... and then helping Charmless with his fear of lizards...