I'm sorry if this is a boring chapter but really, there's nothing more I could write about during these events in the game. I'll just put them into one chapter so that we can move on to the good stuff next chapter alright?
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"Welcome to Elfheim!" A young and pretty elf welcomed them to the village and showed them around. Then they were escorted to the Prince of Elves, who was sound asleep in his bed. Then the cleric came in and filled them on the details.
"If...If you can get a potion for him to wake up. You can get this from Matoya, a witch skilled in making all types of potions and brews. She lives in a cave northeast from Cornelia. Please Warriors, please wake our prince up!" The cleric begged. "Oh, but...Uh, to save you the trouble...I...I think I remember hearing from someone that the eye was with Astos..." The cleric said, unsure.
"We will do what we can. Don't worry, we'll make sure prince charming here does wake up." Leon said as he removed the blanket over the prince's face. Everyone was shocked to see a very handsome blonde elf that was sleeping in the bed.
"WELL! Prince charming indeed!" Erick laughed to himself and then everyone followed.
"Alright, let's have lunch and leave first thing in the afternoon. So get ready everyone...Shit...I don't know how to steer the boat...How are we supposed to get back to Cornelia now? It was merely luck we even got here!" Leon panicked.
"Let's think about that when we get there Leo." Erick said patting his back.
"You're really a flow kind of guy aren't you?" Leon asked then Erick shrugged as they headed out of Elfheim. After a good two hours or so, they finally made it to the castle, which was ruined, old, and breaking. There, they saw an old king sitting in his throne in the farthest end of the hallway. His face was full of wrinkles and he adorned a red garb with gold fur as its linings. Claude instantly saw it was Astos in disguise but didn't say anything.
"Hmmmm?...It's been a while since I've seen people here...Moreover youths like you. Say...It appears I have lost my crown...and I...I'm too old to get it back...please...for an old man like me...can you get it back?" The King said in the slowest and lowest voice ever. Leon looked at the King, whose eyes were only half opened and faced towards the floor. Then he pondered a bit and nodded.
"Fine. We'll get it back but first. Tell us where we can get it." Leon said, kneeling and looking at the king, who was still looking down towards the ground.
"The...Marsh Cave...just south of here..." He said and Leon nodded and got up. "Thank you..." Leon heard him say, before they went out the castle.
"You're sure? That guy looks like he could die any minute." Erick stated walking next to Leon.
"Yeah. It's the least we can do for a dying man like him." Leon said and Erick nodded. Then no one said anything for the rest of the trip, which took about an hour to reach Marsh Cave.
~ A while later ~
"Ugh...This place has such...a stench..." Saria complained as they reached the entrance of the cave, which was a hole in the ground with a ladder leading down.
"Hahaha. Well, no complaining now!" Leon said as he went down the ladder, and the rest of them followed. They explored the cave thoroughly, using Saria's surprisingly excellent skill in navigation to get back to the right track. Then, when they explored the entirety of the lower floors, they went down, were they were surprised to find a sort of room like structure. They opened the door and found a chest in the middle.
"This looks like a trap." Erick stated and got out his knives. Saria got her hammer and Leon readied his sword. Ailith didn't do anything, she had her weapons right there. They approached the chest cautiously and opened it, to find a crown that radiated an ominous energy.
"That's it?" Leon said as he flinched while taking the crown. Just then, the cave shook and they heard laughing from around them. "Well, I should've guessed." He stated, looking around for the source of the laughter. They all ran out the room, only to be greeted by an army of crawling monsters on the walls of the cave. The warriors could see their red eyes against the darkness, getting closer at an alarming speed.
"There's no way we can fight this off! We have to run." Claude said sternly and then pushed them towards the direction of the fourth floor. Erick began throwing a flurry of ice, lightning, and fireballs at the creatures crawling their way, holding them off and hurting them. Then, Claude dropped a piece of paper with runes on it. When they were far enough, he snapped his fingers and the paper exploded, sending a huge wave of energy throughout the cave and shaking it. Boulders started falling behind them and they soon reached the exit, just in time to see boulders blocking it off. They all rested for a while and began to walk back to the Castle. After a while of walking they saw the castle and went inside. The king smiled at them.
"Is...Is that my crown? Goodness me, thank you so much kind travellers..." The king said as he received the crown. Then the four of them noticed something off about him, something they could not quite explain.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He suddenly burst out, his laugh maniacal, feral, and surprisingly young. They immediately readied their weapons as the King laughed. Then he began to change into a dark elf. "Now that I have the crown and the eye I am now more powerful than ever! I AM ASTOS, KING OF THE DARK ELVES!" He yelled as a barrage of dark elves surrounded the castle. The dark elves then lunged forward and the five of them jumped away, dodging their weapons.
"Well you know what? I don't like your face buddy! Get out of my sight, you ugly bastard!" Erick yelled as he threw a ball of ice the Astos's way, his daggers blocking and countering any attack from the dark elves. Saria put a defensive shield on all of them and then began to counter each of the dark elves. Although she could only handle one at a time and Ailith was the one to defend her, beating badly and throwing each of the elves to the other side of the castle every time she got the chance. Leon, however, was fighting Astos at the very far end of the hallway.
"Give us the eye Astos! It doesn't belong to you!" Leon said, dodging his fireball and countering, placing a good slash on Astos's side, which brought him to his knees®.
"It doesn't belong to you either! You hypocrite!" Astos yelled clutching his bleeding side and crawling away from Leon, his minions helping him up. Leon lunged forward and blocked one of the attacks, while kicking the other elf and knocking him out. Leon swung his sword to the side, making the elf stumble, then stabbed the elf and turned towards Astos. Then, an elf came flying towards the pillar next to them, breaking it and falling unconscious. The four came towards Astos, standing threateningly beside Leon.
"Y-You'll have to slay me before you can do that! I'm not letting this go until I'm dead!" Astos yelled and Leon clicked his tongue while rolling his eyes.
"I don't want to play your games Astos, now hand me the eye!" Leon said, charging forward and slashing Astos, who jumped away and dodged the attack, throwing fireballs at Leon. Saria easily blocked them, putting a shield over Leon. Astos frantically threw as many spells at him as he could, until eventually, he ran out of energy to do so. Leaving him to fend in the physical.
"Dammit! I-I...!" He said, blocking Leon's sword, which was inches from his face. The others watched as Leon fought a one-sided battle. Soon enough, Astos was laying in the ground, bleeding. Then his breathing stopped and he fell limp on the floor.
"You didn't even break a sweat." Erick said and high-fived Leon.
"No sweat to break." Leon said plainly as he got the Crystal Eye from Astos's belt. They all walked away from the castle and headed back to Elfheim.
"Hey what do we do now...ABOUT THE FRIGGIN SHIP!?" Leon said, flailing his arms around Erick, who only shrugged.
"Dunno. What do you want me to do? Get an instruction manual for it?" Erick sarcastically asked, looking at Leon with unaffected eyes. Leon frowned and he turned toward Erick, his expression clearly showing he was panicked. "Calm down! It's not the end of the world...yet. Just leave the ship to me, alright?" He said grinning under the shadows of his clothing. They only gave him a confused look.
~ A while after ~
"How did he learn to steer a ship in the mountains? You won't need a ship there. Unless, of course, it was some sort of flying ship." Saria asked Ailith, who shrugged. Claude only smiled at the scene before him.
"Hey this is fun! I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Leon happily said, steering the ship. Erick cautiously watched and every now and then steered the ship the other direction to keep them from crashing into some rocks or a cliff.
"Don't get cocky moron. You almost steered us into a cliff at one point." Erick stated, still eying Leon cautiously.
~ Back in the shores of Cornelia ~
They were greeted by many of the villagers, and of course the King and his company, who treated them to their dinner and their stay. They stayed in for the night and in the morning, got up and headed north. Then, they saw a strange looking cave and Ailith and Erick immediately knew there was someone living there.
"Here. She's in here. I've lived in a cave long enough to know when someone decorates it as their home." Erick stated, and the others followed. Inside the cave, the halls were lined with torches to light the way, a very fine looking red and gold carpet covered the floor and last but not least, there were rooms. They saw in the distance, brooms with mouths, sweeping by themselves, and singing in a cute tune.
"Swish, swish, swish a-roo! Dust over here! Dust over there! Swish and sweep, wipe it clean!" They all sung together. They didn't seem to mind the Warriors there, and it seemed they were friendly.
"Hi there, friend! May I assist you in finding something?" One of the brooms said to Leon, who jumped when it went in front of him.
"The witch, Matoya. We've retrieved her eye." Leon said and the brooms suddenly jumped in unison.
"Oh, by my hair! The master's eye!" They all said in a singsong voice and jumped for joy. It was weird for the warriors, to see jumping brooms. They all jumped like little birds do when they are too lazy to use their wings.
"Come this way Sir! Oh, master! We've found people who have found your eye!" The broom said, jumping in front of a room. Then, the Warriors heard a voice from the other side, as well as stumbling, crashing and at times, breaking noises.
"Who-OW! Oh, no! Not another jar! Where's the friggin door!?" The voice of a spunky witch yelled from the other side. She could be heard, tripping and stumbling on various things. She then, finally opened the door reaching out to whoever was in front of it, which happened to be Leon's chest.
"Wa-huh? What's this? A man?" She asked, still feeling around. She had a purple robe that looked like a dress, a brown hat, and purple hair that was parted to the left side of her face, covering her eye patch. The others snickered at Leon and he glared at them. He then took her wrist and placed the eye in her hand.
"This! This is!" She exclaimed and turned around, putting the eye on. "HahahaHAHAHA! Yes! I can see! Oh, god! My room!" She said as she looked at the broken bottles and toppled furniture. Then, she flicked her fingers and the room began to fix itself. She turned around and looked at the warriors, her hands crossed in front of her chest.
"Hey, the name's Matoya. Thanks a bunch for getting my eye back, now I can actually see. Oh...Well, you're not as handsome as I thought you'd be...Anyway. I'm in your debt now, so what can I do for you? Let's just get this over with so that I won't have to deal with you again." Matoya said flicking her hair and turning around. Ailith had to stop Erick from throwing a fireball at her. Claude just crossed his arms and leaned on one foot while watching and smiling at the two other boys as they lost their temper. Saria, like Ailith, also stopped Leon from taking out his sword and cutting Matoya in half. ®
"A potion to cure a sleep caused by dark magic." Leon stated, Saria still stopping him from pulling out his sword.
"Hm? Sleep caused by dark magic...Ah, I've got just the thing." She said as she headed for one of the shelves that held many bottles of potions, brews, and other things. She took out one with a white and silvery liquid. "Here. This is sure to wake him up." She said, holding out the bottle. Leon took it and then they left, heading back for Cornelia. Once there, they stayed the night again and in the morning, they went back to Elfheim.
"This is the potion she gave us. Here, try it out." Leon said to the Cleric, who was eager to try the potion on the prince. He held out the potion and the Cleric took it, slowly opening the prince's mouth and pouring the fluid in. The prince swallowed ever drop and then his face showed disgust, before his eyes shot open and he began to cough.
"What the hell did you put in my mouth!?" He asked, clawing at his throat, his delicate blue eyes highlighted by his silken soft blonde hair.
"I do not know sire! Oh, but I'm so glad you're awake!" The Cleric said, hugging the beautiful prince who was still coughing and clawing his throat.
"Warriors I assume? Thank you ever so much for waking me up...Although maybe a kiss from one of you could have done the trick." The prince said, winking at Ailith and Saria, who were then blocked off by their protective older brothers. Saria and Ailith just giggled and watched the fun begin. They could already tell the prince's...fancy.
"Back of buddy. You may be a prince but that doesn't mean you can talk that way to our sisters." Leon said cracking his knuckles.
"Ah, I like a man that sticks up for his loved ones..." The prince said and Leon and Erick both backed away in shock. Ailith and Saria just laughed, and the Cleric just face palmed. He shook his head and gently tapped on the prince's head, which made the prince frown.
"Argh. You know this is who I am! Geez...Anyway, warriors, take this key. It was especially made to open all sorts of locked doors...Oh, and you can open the door to my room anytime." The prince said as he winked when Leon took the key. Both Leon and Erick backed away slowly, and then when they reached the door of the room, they ran out. Ailith and Saria both laughed, and watched as their brothers fled in horror. They made girly chit-chat on the way back to Cornelia and once the warriors reached Cornelia they immediately went for the Inn.
"Okay, so. What are we supposed to do now? We're still kinda trapped in this continent. Unless all the crystals are all here, which I doubt." Leon asked the team, and they all pondered. All except for Claude, who tilted his hat and smiled underneath.
"You came to solve problems right? Well, the dwarves got a problem for ya! The Dwarven Cave is just northwest corner of the Aldi Sea Leon! They said they needed Nitro Powder or something like that..." A dancing girl said, dancing into Leon's lap. The others smirked and began to whisper to each other. Leon glared at them with a red face. "You can pay me back later." She said in a cheerful and happy voice as she got up and winked at Leon, then exited the dining room of the Inn.
"Well, well, WELL. Looks like you're pretty popular with the ladies here Leo. Care to explain why?" Claude teased tilting his hat and smiling his arrogant, handsome smile. Leon only frowned and looked away, mumbling something to himself.
"Yeah, Leon's pretty popular with most of the ladies here. It's because he saved me that long time ago. Since then the ladies have been ogling him." Saria playfully said. Then they began to whisper to each other again.
"Say. What did your girlfriend say again? Nitro Powder right? I heard they had some in the Cornelian Castle." Claude said, tilting his hat and crossing his legs. Leon only grunted and got up.
"Right! Let's go to the Castle." Leon said, storming out of the Inn with a red face.
~ At the Castle ~
"What is it I can do for you my boy?" The King asked as he gave them a warm smile and welcome.
"Sorry to barge in like this. Well, we need explosives. To break the mountain path that blocks the way to the other continents. We can't get to the crystals otherwise." Leon stated.
"We have just the thing! But oh, we seemed to have lost the key to that room! The things there have been locked up for ages!" The King stated, looking aggravated. Leon then held out the Mystic Key and the King looked astonished. "That's the key! Wherever did you find it!" He asked.
"It was in the hands of the Elfen prince. If it's your key, I have no idea how it got to him." Leon stated blankly.
"OH! That's right! We gave him the key for safekeeping! But then we forgot to empty the rooms before actually giving him the key! Hahaha! It seems like he knows who to trust." The King laughed.
"Sir, does this room, by any chance...have equipment we can use?" Erick asked curiously with Ailith listening just as curiously by his side.
"Why of course!" The King said. Then Erick threw his fork at Leon, who caught it but was pushed over by Erick, who now had the key.
"Let's go!" Erick said and he and Ailith ran upstairs toward the locked room.
"Hey wait!" Leon said as he and Saria chased after them. The King only shook his head and smiled, they didn't know all that equipment was almost useless by now. When they reached the door Erick happily unlocked it, and Ailith kicked it open, being careful enough not to break it. Inside, their eyes gleamed, various treasure chests lined the room, some wide and big, other small and tiny.
"DUDE WHAT THE HELL!?" Leon said as he crashed into Erick, who just pushed him aside and went toward the chests.
"Where is it!? WHERE ARE THE WEAPONS!?" Erick yelled, opening the chests to reveal various potions, and strangely enough, tents. Then he opened one chest and his eyes glimmered. Inside was a sword, a hammer, a shield, three cloaks, and two knives made of a blue metal. Erick immediately grabbed the two knives, a cloak, some potions, and then began to feel the knives.
"MORE IMPORTANTLY!" Leon yelled at Erick who was giddily jumping up and down now that he had new weapons and a shield. He pushed Erick aside and looked at the chest, before a huge smile spread across his face. "MY WEAPON! GIVE ME!" Leon yelled as he picked up the blue sword and shield, and then jumped up and down just like Erick. Saria sighed and shook her head, while Ailith just giggled while getting her cloak.
"You're serious?" Saria said, getting the Nitro Powder from one of the chests, and then her eyes set on a blue staff. It was just so tempting. A smile drifted on her face and she got the staff and the cloak. "Well...Maybe it's not that bad." She said as she started jumping like the two boys. Claude just smiled and looked at them, the sight of them so happy was calming to him and Amilia.
"What are you standing there for? Grab a weapo...oh." Erick's voice trailed off by the sight of an empty weapon box. "Hah, sorry. We'll buy you something. Promise!" He laughed and Claude smiled, shaking his head.
"No need. I'll be fine with old Barbaria here." Claude said, hiding the sheathe of his sword under his cape.
"Let's go guys." He stated and they all left the Castle. As they walked by the fountain in the town center Claude saw a familiar figure of a woman with a very curvaceous and buxom build. She wore a hooded robe and smiled at him, her red lips curling to show part of her sharp teeth. The woman crossed her legs and looked at them in a provocative pose. Claude stared at her, wide-eyed and unable to move for a while. The others just giggled in the corner.
"Wow, you must have high standards. She's uh...really uh...Well you know what? I'll just say it. She's incredibly arousing." Erick's voice trailed off as he tried to see her face, which was covered by a hood. He sensed something unusual about her, something akin to an extremely strong energy in hiding. Then Claude immediately snapped out of his trance.
"Uh...Y-Yeah. Yeah. She's really uh s-uh...s-something!" He said nervously as he still couldn't take his eyes off the woman. She only got up and walked away, still smiling. Claude immediately became nervous, he NEVER saw herout of her Labyrinth. Then they proceeded to tease him as they went to out of Cornelia.
"Huh? What's she doing out in the woods? Hey lady! You shouldn't be out here, it's dangerous!" Leon yelled as he walked up to her. The woman turned towards him, her luscious red lips curling to a smile that made Leon uncomfortable.
"Ah, the caring leader. Good, good." She said. Her voice was so sensual and yet so eerie that it sent chills down Leon's spine. "You need not worry Warrior. Oh, but do pay me a visit one day. I believe you'll know where to find me when the time is right." She said, turning towards the woods and disappearing into it. The sound of her voice made Erick suspicious, now he knew she definitely hid something.
"H-Hey. What are you guys doing just staring like that? W-We need to go. It'll take about five or so hours to get to the Dwarven docks." Claude said uncertainly, his voice also trailing off.
"What's a girl like her doing here? Besides, she was dressed kinda funny. Well, if she was even dressed at all!" Saria said, eying the path she went to. Claude panicked a little and laughed nervously, then his fear came true. "Let's follow her. I'm sure we can spare a few minutes right?" She said and they all nodded, following the mysterious woman back to the Chaos Shrine. The woman went to the very far corner of the Shrine, and then disappeared.
"Well! Nothing here! Okay, let's go now!" Claude laughed nervously and then they all walked towards the entrance. He let out a silent sigh of relief, and in the distance, so did Amilia.
"That was disappointing. We totally lost sight of her. What's she doing in the Chaos Shrine anyway?" Ailith questioned to herself and the rest pondered. Claude grabbed her shoulder, causing her to jump a little.
"Well, that doesn't matter does it? Come on guys, let's go already. The Dwarves need that Nitro Powder after all. Besides, adventure awaits when we can sail the world!" Claude said and they all followed him back to the Cornelian docks. Erick however, was still pondering on that woman, if she was hardly human at all. There was just something strange about her, her energy, the way she was dressed, even the way she carried herself. Her posture and walk was akin to that of royalty, only even more proper and prim. Erick pondered this because he knew that she was definitely hiding something.
"See you later mom..." Claude mumbled quietly to himself as he glanced back to where the woman headed. They got to their ship and sailed towards the northwest side of the Aldi Sea. Within a few hours time they finally reached the docks and could see the Dwarven Cave near it. They landed and went into the cave. It smelled like fuel, gunpowder, and metal, and sounds of clanking and pounding could be heard all over the place.
"Lali-ho! How ya doin' ma good friend? May I help ya with sum'in?" A little dwarf said, popping up in front of Saria and making her jump a little. Leon stepped in front of the Dwarf and showed him the Nitro Powder. He jumped for joy and called out to his friends. Soon enough they were all surrounded by little dwarves.
"Ya be'er tell mi lad Nerrick! He's been looking all over the place for that stuff!" One dwarf said and they led him to Nerrick, who was at the far corner of the cave, trying to pound on the boulders with his hammer.
"By my beard! Could it be? The blasted Nitro Powder! Get it? Blasted!?" Nerrick and the other dwarves laughed and soon enough, the whole cave sounded like it was laughing. "Give her ere lad! By my word, how can we ever thank ya?" Nerrick said taking the Nitro Powder from Leon and putting it into a case with a rope hanging from it. Then the other dwarves told the Warriors to back off, and they led them a safe distance away.
"LALI-HO!" They heard Nerrick say as they saw him run their direction. Just then, the whole cave shook and the sound of something collapsing could be heard in the distance.
"There. We can get to the other continents now." Claude said, and they thanked the dwarves before going off. However, they were stopped by a little dwarf in red.
"Lads! I-I dunno how tee thank ya, but if you happen to find a metal I can use then I'll be appy to make a legendry sword for ya! Please, it's the least I can do!" The dwarf said and Leon nodded. Saria gave it a little pat on the head.
"Don't worry, you don't owe us anything. However if we find that metal do you mind still making the sword?" Leon said, kneeling down until he was face to face with the dwarf.
"Not a problem ya! Be safe lads! Oh, and do take this as a token of our appreciation!" The dwarf said, and other dwarves came from the cave, holding baskets and bags full of bread, food, fruits, and things for making various other kinds of food. Leon was shocked at how much bags and baskets there were.
"Thank you very much." Saria said. The dwarves went into the ship and put the bags and baskets down. Then they left and saw the Warriors off. Then they began to sail the waters, nothing in sight for the first two or so days. However, they began to see a sign of an island in the distance and they immediately headed for it.
Seriously, Astos was really no problem in all of my playthroughs, neither was Garland, but well, he's kinda a major villain. So I had to make him appear threatening, in game it's like bleh.
Oh yeah, and Matoya's kinda...really? After we gave you your eyesight back that's how you thank us?