Vanilla sat down hard and with an "Oof!" when he got shoved to the floor inside Nefroburg Church, while Ramirez managed to keep his footing and stumbled into the back of a pew. The two of them stared back at the four Killer Elephants that had brought them here, Vanilla still in shock at the sudden reversal of his fortunes, and Ramirez glaring.
"As long as y'listen, you won't be harmed," the red-jacketed Killer Elephant said, looking back and forth at them both; the rest behind him wore blue jackets instead. "But don't get any funny ideas. We will enforce the rules." With that he led the other three back out of the church, leaving the two of them.
Ramirez looked over at Vanilla as he stood and stared after the Killer Elephants, his face starting to firm. He started slightly when a hesitant voice called, "H-hey, kid!" The two of them turned to see a man dressed mostly in brown run over to them from another part of the church. "A-are you okay?" he asked, stuttering a bit. "It's me--remember?"
"You're the museum curator," Vanilla said, nodding to him.
"Ah, so you r-remember me," the curator said, sounding relieved. "I-I've been worried about you," he continued, then sounded plaintive as he asked, "Where did you go?"
"I was at the Vision Ranch with Dr. Nutmeg," Vanilla replied, and nodded to Ramirez. "I met him on the way there. His name's Ramirez." Ramirez nodded to the curator silently.
"Oh, you weren't in town when it happened?" the curator asked as a bearded priest in a black robe, white collar and glasses approached them from the altar, holding a book in his hand. "Who are they, Belmondo?" the priest asked the curator - presumably Belmondo.
"This is the young man who defeated the Elephants during the concert," Belmondo replied, nodding to Vanilla. "And this is his friend, Ramirez."
"Aha! I thought he looked familiar," the priest said, nodding to Vanilla, then nodded to Ramirez and said, "Pleased to meet you." Ramirez couldn't help noticing how the priest eyed his clothes and the sword hanging at his hip. He nodded back to the priest silently, inwardly annoyed.
"This attack was a whole different story," Belmondo said as he turned back to Vanilla. "Earlier this afternoon, the Killer Elephants overran our city! We tried fighting back... b-but there were just too many of them." Belmondo's shoulders slumped and he sighed. "What's going to happen to us now?" he said despairingly.
"God is watching," the priest said, touching a hand to his chest briefly. "We must have faith." He eyed Vanilla speculatively as he seemed to remember something. "You're friends with Connie, aren't you? Do you think you can reach her mother? She must be terribly worried with all that's going on." With that, he nodded to them again and headed back up the aisle towards the altar.
Vanilla held and arm across his stomach and propped the elbow of his other arm on it briefly, holding his chin in thought. He looked up after a moment and nodded to Ramirez. "Well, I should see Connie's mom and give her the medicine Dr. Nutmeg gave me," he said and started walking out of the church. Ramirez followed along, briefly at a loss as to what to do.
When they stepped outside, the sun was already setting and Ramirez got his first good look at Nefroburg after being rushed through it by the KE guards. The streets were filled with the odd-looking pink and purple Trotmobiles of the Killer Elephants, and the surrounding buildings showed signs of severe damage with construction scaffolding erected around them. In the center of what he'd overheard called Station Square, which the church opened out onto, was a rise that held a pillar-like monument in the center that was surrounded by park benches and trees. The sidewalks also held street lights which, from the flicker or flame and an almost inaudible hiss when standing nearby one, were gaslights.
The two of them started walking down a side street, but before long Ramirez looked over at Vanilla and asked, "What did the curator mean when he said you defeated the Elephants at the concert?"
"Oh. A few days ago the Garland Globetrotters held a concert in Station Square." At Ramirez's blank look, he continued, "A really popular band. My friend Connie is the lead singer. Anyway, the Killer Elephants attacked while everyone was at the concert and I helped the Globetrotters defeat them." He waved a hand towards the damaged buildings. "That's when all that happened."
Ramirez frowned and looked over as another Killer Elephant Trotmobile tramped past on the street. "Who are the Killer Elephants anyway?"
"A bandit gang that usually attacks travelers outside of town, but it looks like they decided to take over Nefroburg. And all the Trotmobiles in it," he finished, looking glum.
Ramirez looked back at the Killer Elephant Trotmobiles in surprise. Bandits took over an entire town?! Where were their soldiers? It could be that Valua adding this country to the Empire would be doing them a favor.
He looked up when Vanilla suddenly stopped at a crosswalk and said, "Connie's mom lives across the street in those buildings over there. Do you want to come along?"
Ramirez glanced over at the buildings, then back at Vanilla and shook his head. "No, I think I will look around a bit." Besides, you're no longer of much use if you don't have your Trotmobile any more.
"Alright, maybe I'll see you later then. Bye," Vanilla said, waving then turning and running across the street.
Ramirez watched him go, slightly contemptuous. "He trusts too easily," he muttered under his breath. He had to admit, though, that Vanilla was a likeable sort in his own way. He frowned slightly, considering how young Vanilla was; he remembered a friend who was that age and who was also blonde, coincidentally...
Fina...
Ramirez blinked, then suddenly shook himself out of it, growling low in his throat. I'm getting distracted. I serve Lord Galcian. He looked around, and noticed a building nearby that had a sign above its door with the picture of a necklace and the word 'Clothes' above it. He smiled. Perhaps I can finally do something about blending in a bit better, he thought as he started over towards the store, one hand touching one of the sacks of gold at his waist.
--
Some time later, Ramirez stepped out of Fashion Ronde, holding a paper wrapped package that contained his sword under one arm. He wore a suit of local cut, with a black button-down shirt with a red vest over it, a black suit jacket with golden cufflinks, a red bowtie, black pants and shiny black-leather shoes with small golden buckles.
The woman who owned the store had been delighted to see an actual customer walk in who wasn't merely a Killer Elephant eyeing her, and even more delighted to see that it had been a rich customer. Looking down at his outfit, Ramirez wondered if she had overdone it a bit. As it was he'd had to stop her from adding a hat to the outfit.
He looked into the sky to see that the last of the daylight was fading and that the sun must have set a while ago. The street lamps now provided most of the illumination along the street, along with the headlights of the Killer Elephant Trotmobiles. Maybe I should look into obtaining a Trotmobile of my own, he thought. It would be useful to show to Lord Galcian and might also provide a means of reurning to Meme Village, if it had the proper frames.
Ramirez wandered back toward Station Square, looking at the stone and brick architecture - so different from all the steel in Valua - and taking in the sights. When he reached the pillar at the center of Station Square he discovered that Nefroburg was built on the site of King Nefro XV's castle with the original castle walls still protecting the town, and that Station Square now occupied the site of the beautiful Winter Rose garden.
Whoever King Nefro XV was, and whatever the Winter Rose garden was, he thought, and walked over to a large building that had several pennants flying from it. A closer look let him see the red sign that read 'Arena - Trotmobile Battle' and the Killer Elephant guards standing in front of all the doors. When he casually asked what they were doing there, the one in charge replied, "The gladiators here are though, so we've boxed 'em in." Ramirez considered that bemusedly as he walked away. They're more worried about gladiators than the authorities in the city? He shook his head. What a strange country.
He waited at a crosswalk as a man in a red uniform and white pith helmet directed traffic in front of him, then walked across the street and noticed the sign hanging in front of it. It read 'Theater', but had some shape in outline on it with what looked like a beam of light coming out from it. What sort of theater focuses on light? Curious, Ramirez walked in and blinked as he saw the devastation within; rubble was piled up on the sides of the carpeted floor. There were strange pictures on the walls with their titles emblazoned right on them, and signs saying that they were 'movies'.
Curiouser and curiouser. He walked over to a man with a bushy white mustache, glasses that had a pipe sticking out of his mouth. "I spent all the money I had to build this theater, but... When the bandits attacked, all our reels were burned," he said to Ramirez's questions. "Without those films, there's nothing to show! Without anything to show, I can't make any money. Our stocks are dropping like rocks..."
That raised more questions than answers. Some more questions enlightened him: apparently, shining light through a type of film could project pictures onto a large screen and running a reel of such pictures made them seem to actually move - thus the term movies. They had no sound, but were accompanied by other pictures of text that showed what the people on the screen were saying, and occasionally someone playing music on a piano. What an interesting concept. Why didn't Valua ever think of that?
The whole 'stocks' concept remained a mystery, though. The man had built and ran this theater, yet people were able to buy pieces of it and make money off something called dividends, or sell them later for a lump sum. They buy bricks out of the walls? And they get more expensive?, he wondered.
By the time Ramirez walked out of the Nefro Theater it was completely dark outside except for the streetlights and the few Killer Elephant Trotmobiles still patrolling the city. He yawned and realized how long a day it had actually been, considering that this morning he'd been in Meme Village preparing for this trip. A quick question to a passerby revealed that there was an inn just down the street. He walked into the place and spoke to the man behind the counter. "Welcome to the James Inn," he said. "You can use a room on the second floor if you'd like t'rest."
He trudged up the stairs and walked into one of the rooms, then set his paper-wrapped sword aside and took off his shoes and jacket to lie down. He was fast asleep when the rumble of Killer Elephant Trotmobiles faded outside.
--
Ramirez was still pulling on his suit jacket when he came down the stairs to the main room of the James Inn. "Mornin'. How'd you sleep?" the innkeeper called over.
"Well enough, thank you," he replied, walking over to a small table and sitting on a stool. "I'll have some of that sausage," he continued, nodding to a pan with its sizzling contents. The innkeeper waved to show that he'd heard as someone else came down the stairs, still yawning. They stared at each a moment, before Vanilla smiled and said, "I wondered where you were. Hey, nice clothes!"
"Er, thanks," Ramirez replied, and watched as Vanilla walked over and sat on a stool at the same table. He tried to get annoyed at that, but found himself shrugging inwardly instead. Vanilla seemed to be a difficult person to get annoyed with.
The innkeeper brought two plates of sausage over a moment later, and grinned at Vanila. "No charge for the guy who got rid of the Killer Elephants," he said, and walked away after picking up the UR Ramirez set on the table.
Ramirez stared after the innkeeper, then looked at Vanilla to seem him smiling and rubbing the back of his head. "You got rid of the Killer Elephants?" he asked him. "How?"
"Well... Connie's neighbor gave me the idea, actually," Vanilla began. He told his story and Ramirez found himself impressed. Vanilla had managed to trick the personnel manager for the gang to let him join, then had gotten his Earl Grey II back and made his way to the Killer Elephants' hideout to confront their boss whom he'd defeated in a Tromobile battle. "He was impressed enough that he sent some carrier pigeons into Nefroburg with orders to pull out of the city."
Ramirez shook his head. "I don't know whether you're skilled or just lucky," he said, and Vanilla grinned. Despite himself, Ramirez found himself smiling back.
"Oh, Connie came back from Happy Garland when she heard Nefroburg had been attacked," Vanilla said. "She's heading back on the train this morning and I was going to see her off. Want to come along?"
"Sure," Ramirez said, and took a few more bites of his breakfast before asking, "Happy Garland?"
"It's another city in the country, or so I've guessed," Vanilla said, shrugging.
Oh well. Different places, different tastes, I suppose, Ramirez thought, and finished his breakfast. He walked out of the inn to the Early Grey II where it stood parked next to an orange cone and climbed into the passenger's seat. As the Trotmobile began making its way to the Nefroburg Station, he saw what Nefroburg looked like when it wasn't under occupation by a bandit gang. There were other Tromobiles walking along, in addition to four wheeled vehicles with no limbs and merely had seats inside shaped metal box. When he asked Vanilla what they were, he said they were 'automobiles'. There were also larger four wheeled vehicles that were called a 'bus' that provided public transportation.
He wrinkled his nose at a distinct reek in the air, and after a moment he realized it was the smoke that spewed out of the Trot and automobiles. Vanilla informed him that they ran on 'gas', a distillation of a substance called 'oil', while larger Trotmobiles ran on a mineral called 'coal'. Ugh, what a stench. I'll take Moon Stones any day.
Vanilla parked his Trotmobile by another orange cone - apparently they marked parking spaces in Nefroburg - and Ramirez followed him into the train station. He found the idea of rail cars traveling between cities to be an interesting one. In Arcadia, settlements were usually on smaller, isolated islands or in geographically isolated areas to avoid to roving hordes of monsters that lived on continents. The rail line he knew merely served as transport within the city of Valua and out to the Grand Fortress.
They walked into the train station and saw two people waiting for them. One was Belmondo, the museum curator he'd met at the church the day before, while the other one--
Wow, Ramirez thought as he caught sight of the girl standing there. She had long brown hair pulled mostly back into a ponytail, though some remained loose to frame her face, and brown eyes. She wore a pendant around her neck, a pick halter top with white lace trimming on the edges of the sleeves and bottom edge, a red skirt with white lace trimming on the bottom, fishnet stockings, a black satchel hung diagnolly from one hip to the other, and black boots.
"Oh, hi," she said, sounding almost surprised to see Vanilla. "Thanks for coming." She looked at his companion curiously. "Who's this?"
"I met him on my way to Dr. Nutmeg's," Vanilla replied. "His name is Ramirez."
"Pleased to meet you," Ramirez said, bowing slightly. Vanilla blinked and looked at him in surprise.
"My name is Coriander, but most people call me Connie," she replied, smiling and nodding back, then looked back at Vanilla. "Be sure to stop by and cheer Mom up from time to time."
"Oh, and Connie!" Belmondo cut in, "Please send us any exhibits that you find. Could you tell the other Globetrotters, too?"
"Of course," Connie replied, nodding.
"We all appreciate it," Belmondo replied. "Oh look, it's the Station Manager," he continued as a man in a blue uniform walked out from a back office.
"I guess I'll be leaving soon," Connie said.
"Hey, what's the deal!?"
"What do you mean we can't depart?"
The four of them looked over at the complaints rising from the people standing near the man in the blue uniform. "I'm sorry, the problem is currently under investigation," the Station Manager announced. "It seems there was an accident in the Quail Tunnel."
"Uh oh... Looks like the train won't be leaving soon," Belmondo commented, looking nervous.
Connie looked a bit panic stricken. "How am I going to make it in time for the concert!? Isn't there another way to reach Happy Garland?"
"...W-without going through the Quail Tunnel?," Belmondo asked, sounding a bit incredulous. "Y-y-you'd have to make it across the Sabbia Desert."
Connie stared at Belmondo a moment, then lowered her head as her shoulders slumped slightly. "...Oh."
After a moment, Connie looked back up at Vanilla. "Umm... I know I've already caused you a lot of trouble, but... Could you please take me to Happy Garland? It's... across the desert," she said. Her tone became desperate as she continued, "But I have to make it to the concert! Please!"
Vanilla smiled and nodded to her, saying, "Not a problem. We should get going."
"Oh, thank you!" Connie said in relief, clasping her hands together briefly.
"But, uh..." Vanilla looked at Ramirez. "What will you do, though?" Connie also turned to look at him, and Ramirez found himself staring at her a moment before he looked away and shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"I'm not sure yet.." he admitted. The girl was beautiful, despite being some years younger - roughly Vanilla's age - and he found his mind drawing a blank in her presence.
"Hey, why don't you come with us to Happy Garland?" Connie suggested, then looked a bit crestfallen. "Oh, but Vanilla's Trotmobile can only carry two people."
Ramirez pursed his lips in thought a moment, and slipped a hand into a pocket filled with UR and gold. "I was thinking about getting a Trotmobile of my own... Can you wait while I purchase one?"
"Do you have enough money?" Vanilla asked in surprise.
Ramirez nodded and said, "I think I do."
"I think we can wait for a little bit," Connie said. "What do you think, Vanilla?"
"Sure," he said agreeably.
"Alright," Ramirez said, nodding. "I'll be back soon, then." He turned and started walking out of the station, stopping briefly to look back at Connie.
--
Galcian glared out of his half of the rail car that had been blasted in half by that old pirate ship. That damned pirate who called himself Vyse had made off with the Silvite girl in addition to freeing his comrades from the Colosseum just before their execution. Nobody thwarts the Valuan Empire, he thought coldly. And more importantly, nobody thwarts me!