Wow. To tell the truth, I wasn't really expecting that many reviews on the first day it was up. Thank guys! I appreciate it.
Disclaimer stuff: All characters/ places don't belong to me, they belong to Camelot.
The two young adventurers' path led them across the great Goma Highlands, to a resting stop at Carver's Camp, and finally into the vast plains containing the city known as Bilibin. The amount of time the journey lasted was three days.
As no events of major consequence occurred in this time, let us jump forward to the moment the duo arrived outside Bilibin's walls.
Much to Matthew's surprise, the grand city had no walls surrounding it. Even the most mediocre of armies could easily march in without a problem. Since it was deep within the borders of Grave Eclipse's shadow, that would mean the city would be left in utter disrepair. Yet it seemed to be in perfect shape, as though nothing had ever happened.
Deciding to leave that mystery to be unraveled until another time, the two friends entered the Bilibinian capitol along with a great multitude of people migrating into the city.
The streets of Bilibin were bustling with activity. The entrance area was basically a huge plaza with shops, restaurants, and many other settlements. And the place was literally full of people.
The two Adepts were having a lot of trouble getting around within the crowd. ''Hey Matt!'' Tyrell shouted over the noise. ''I'm getting really hungry! Let's go grab something to eat!'' he suggested.
''As much as I want to,'' Matthew said, before randomly being shoved by someone in the crowd. ''All the restaurants are full! We can't go in there thinking they'll just move out of the way. Let's get to an inn and take a rest first.''
''Oof-good idea!'' They wrestled with the crowd for several minutes until they finally got out of the plaza. Once out, they began their search for an inn.
On the road, Matthew looked around, noticing that the city was prospering. Business flourished, new buildings being made to add to already large amount, and the population was absolutely massive. In the distance he could see the pride and joy of Bilibin, the royal castle, in all of its glory. And yet, he couldn't help but think that something was off, somehow.
'It must be my imagination,' he thought. 'I mean, everything is perfectly normal. Bilibin is one of the biggest countries known for its prosperity; it's natural for it to be in good condition.' But deep down, he knew that this was not the case. He always made assumptions according to what his deepest feelings told him. And right now, they were telling him that something just wasn't right. These gut feelings sometimes got him into trouble, but almost never were they wrong.
Everything was normal. Everyone was happy. But that was the problem. He should be glad that not every town within the the Grave Eclipse's shadow was completely demolished, but he needed answers as to how it survived in one piece.
The rest of the trip to the inn was spent on pondering these thoughts. Before Matthew knew it, they were already standing before the doors of a hotel. They went inside and asked the woman at the desk for a room.
''One room with two beds, please,'' Matthew asked. ''Just for one day.''
''I'm sorry, but I don't think there are any rooms available,'' the woman answered apologetically. ''Tourists have been flooding into the city recently, and they need a place to spend the night.''
''Can't you check or something?'' Tyrell asked. ''We've been traveling for days already and we're really bushed out.''
''I can,'' she said. She gestured to a door on her right. ''You may want to stay in the waiting room; this will probably take long.'' And with that, she left.
The duo entered the waiting room, a little to the right of the entrance. Once there, they sat down on the seats.
Matthew sat silently, deeps as he was in his own thoughts. Tyrell, being his best friend, noticed this. ''Hey Matt,'' he said, startling the before-mentioned blond Adept. ''What's been bothering you, man? You've been kinda quiet ever since we began searching for the inn. What's up?'' Matthew sighed and began his explanation.
''You've noticed that there's a lot of people here, right?'' Tyrell nodded.
''Yeah, so? What, are you anti-social all of a sudden?'' he teased.
''What? No, don't be ridiculous,'' Matthew said exasperatedly. ''Don't you think it's kind of suspicious that everything is normal? What ever happened to the Grave Eclipse? Not that I want people dying or anything,'' he cleared out. ''I just believe that since this city was within the darkness, the population would be in a much worse condition.''
''The lady at the counter did say that there was a sudden increase in tourism,'' Tyrell countered.
''But the buildings, the crops, the economy, everything should all be in an advanced state of disrepair,'' Matthew continued. ''I don't know why, but something is telling me that someone is working behind scenes. Kind of like-'' he paused, taking a new theory into consideration. ''Alex.''
''That dick freaking gets on my nerves,'' Tyrell grumbled, unconsciously wrapping his fingers around an imaginary throat. Matthew tried not to think about what his best friend would do to said 'dick'.
''We can take a rest if we can get a room, then we can to that restaurant if you still want to.'' A single glance at his friend told him all he needed to know. ''We don't have time to ask around about how the city is in good shape, but we should keep our ears open. You never know when they might talk about it.'' Noticing that Tyrell was still wringing an imaginary neck, he shook his shoulder to get his attention. ''You were listening to me, right?'' he asked.
''Huh? Oh yeah, I was,'' Tyrell said in a way that obviously meant that he wasn't.
Sighing, Matthew sat back down on his chair, resuming his thinking. He has been feeling rather thoughtful ever since they arrived in Bilibin. And this was very odd, as normally he was very rash and hardheaded.
Now, all he can do is wait.
Three hours later...
An hour after being told to wait, the woman entered the room to tell them that there was surprisingly still one more room left. They went to their new room, changed into some new, sweat-free clothes (though for some unexplainable reason it looked exactly the same), took a two hour nap, and finally headed off to a restaurant.
The duo had arrived in Bilibin at a time that people would later refer to as 'rush hour'. Some people left their homes to pick up their children from local schools, others got out of part-time jobs. Others still went to buy groceries and such. This, paired with the fact that tourism rates were rising rapidly, caused the city streets to literally suffocate with people.
Fortunately, by the time the two arrived at a suitable restaurant, the streets had cleared away considerably. Now they found themselves sitting at a table waiting for their orders to finish.
As always, Tyrell was complaining about how long it was taking. ''So. Freakin'. Hungry!'' he shouted impatiently. ''When is the food getting here? It feels like forever!'' He slumped in his chair, rubbing his stomach.
''Tyrell, its only been two minutes,'' Matthew pointed out. ''You're just overreacting. Tell your stomach to shut up, it usually helps.''
''Psh, I'd rather burn pigeons and eat them instead. That's how hungry I am.'' Matthew grabbed a glass of water and splashed it in Tyrell's face. ''PBBTH! What the crap was that for!'' he asked angrily, face soaked.
''To cool you down. I don't want you burning this place down to the ground, like you did with Patcher's Place. Now here,'' Matthew said, passing another glass of water to his friend. ''Drink some water. You might not actually be that hungry, it can be thirst. That's what Dad always told me anyway.''
''That burning thing was years ago, man! You should be over it by now.'' Tyrell swiped the glass from Matthew's hand. ''But fine, I'll drink your stupid water.''
They resumed their waiting. Several minutes later, the waitress arrived with the food. At the moment Tyrell started eating, Matthew noticed that his friend had already downed three glasses of water. He was obviously more thirsty than he had originally thought. And we all know what happens when you drink too much water...
He abruptly got up, bringing all eyes to him. He stood there in silence, until...
''I...'' the red-haired boy whispered. Everyone tensed for a reason that they couldn't quite understand.
''I NEED TO TAKE A WHIZ!'' he finally shouted, running out of the restaurant looking for the closest bathroom. All Matthew could do was facepalm and continue to eat his lunch in silence. The rest of the people in the building slowly returned their eating as well.
As he ate, Matthew looked around. No suspicious activity... he had to keep his ears open to listen in on conversations. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hear anything related to what happened in the city during the Grave Eclipse. Just normal business, small talk, the usual... no answers.
He was about to give up, when suddenly...
''Hey Brandon,'' said a bearded man several tables away. ''Have you heard the rumors floatin' around lately?
''Rumors?'' Brandon questioned. ''No, not really. What, is this one of you conspiracy theories again? Just drop it, nobody believes you anyway.''
''It's all true, I tell you!'' the bearded man growled. ''At this rate were going, the oh-so grand country of Bilibin will soon be nothing but a nation of greed and corruption.'' As soon as Matthew heard the word 'corruption', he centered all of his attention to the conversation the two shady men were having. Answers at last!
''You and I have both heard how the darkness and the creatures it brought devastated all of the cities of Angara, right?'' the man continued. The other man nodded. ''Yet our dandy little city is perfectly alright. We don't even have any damn walls! Does this really add up to you?''
''Lord Mcoy II has already state-'' Brandon started.
''Lord Mcoy II is nothing,'' the bearded man interrupted. ''We all know that he's just Lady Mcoy's bitch. Just hear me out. A couple of days ago near the castle, I heard some soldiers talking to one another,'' he continued. ''Something about a weapon. A secret weapon. They said they got it from a deal that Lady Mcoy made with someone.''
''And what are you doing snooping around the castle walls in the first place?'' Brandon asked. ''You know how Lady Mcoy thinks about peasants near her personal space...''
''I don't give a shit about what she thinks,'' the bearded man spat. ''Say what you want, but I'll always think she's just a corrupt bitch.''
''Quite down!'' Brandon hissed. ''If the guards hear you, that will be the end of both of us.'' The bearded man reluctantly shut his mouth.
They ate in silence for several minutes. Matthew listened in anxiously. 'There has to be more,' he thought. He was not disappointed.
''… Perhaps we should move to Belinsk,'' Brandon continued. ''I hear the people are relatively friendly over there. Anywhere is better this corrupt country of ours.''
The bearded man chuckled, the sound devoid of any sign of happiness. ''Are you kidding me? Belinsk was at the center of the darkness,'' he said. ''Morgal has been torn down from the very foundations. The economy is ruined, everything has been demolished. The king has been murdered, the nation has no leader. Living in Belinsk is living with poverty.''
Brandon narrowed his eyes. ''No leader? They already crowned a new queen.'' At this, the bearded man laughed once more.
''The new queen is a joke. She's running back and forth, trying to fix things, but as far as I can tell, everything she's done has been completely unsuccessful,'' he said. ''A failure of a leader is no leader at all in my books. Morgal is a sitting duck with her in charge.''
Matthew stared in shock. 'Sveta is failing?' he thought. 'She seemed so resolved to be a successful replacement for her brother. What happened?' He prepared to continue to continue his eavesdropping, eager to collect new information...
''Ah, much better!'' … only to be interrupted by Tyrell returning from the bathroom. His concentration shattered, Matthew could no longer hear what the two men were saying. ''Alright, lets eat! I'm starving,'' Tyrell said, completely oblivious to the conversation that he just deprived his friend of hearing.
Matthew laid back in his seat, defeated, thinking about what he had just heard. Bilibin is making corrupt deals with an outside source, and Sveta is failing to meet the expectations of her people.
For some reason, the latter thought made him feel sick in the stomach. He remembered telling Sveta that she would do well in serving as queen of Morgal, but now it seems that she is inadequate for the job. It him feel like a liar, and Sveta has already had enough lies in her life.
He needs to hurry.
While they were eating, Matthew informed Tyrell of his decision to hurry with their task. Tyrell surprisingly agreed to the plan, much to Matthew confusion. They finished up their meals and left restaurant.
They took an hour's rest at the inn, packed up their things, and headed hastily for the exit of the city. Once out, they continued their march to the north, as their fathers had ordered them to do.
Once more on the move, they continued their journey to bring the first missing Adept of the Warriors of Vale back to Kalay. All along the way, Matthew contemplated on the conversation he had overheard. Should he go to Belinsk now, or later? After much thought, he resolved to finish his task as soon as possible so he can go to Morgal in case he is needed.
With this in mind, he walked forward, going against the feelings coming from every fiber of his being. Unfortunately for him, this was a great mistake...
Second chapter out! My computer has been screwing around with me lately so I haven't been able to put it out.
ForteEXEMaster: I'm glad you like it! :D Tyrell just feels like he's being trolled by his dad, that's all (If that's what you mean about Tyrell).
JamesK716: Thanks! :D The matter of who's joining the group later on is supposed to be secret. Y'know, spoilers and all. One thing I can tell you is that all six of the other player characters in GSDD will be joining them, just in a different order. There will be extras though.
GSFEfan25: All of the Warriors of Vale will be featured in this fic. Alex is pretty darn important as well, so you don't have to worry. :)
fegs2fan:
1: I'm glad I managed to grab your attention. Unfortunately, no, I have not played the first two games. I have watched walkthroughs though.
2: Thanks! :D
3: I shall take your advice with gratitude. It might take a while for me to get rid of that habit though. Thanks for the criticism!
Thanks for all the generally positive reviews! See ya later.