Author's note: I don't own Dragon Quest IV

Battle For Glory

Chapter 12: Zenithia Tower

There was a knock on the door to the ladies' room in the inn as Airlia turned to open it. She saw Alistair standing in the liquid metal armor, with a matching helmet and sword with his Zenithian Shield. Seeing him in the armor made her insides shiver as he gazed at her softly. "Wow…" He breathed as she blushed a little.

Moving aside, they allowed the male members of the group inside to be able to figure out their next movement while Meena worked on healing the broken wing of the Zenithian woman. Ragnar bore the complete set of gleaming silver armor, as did Kyril. Torneko bore the same equipment except for the power shield in place of the silver colored shield that the knight and paladin bore. Borya wore the glombolero, the silver shield that his friend used and a happy hat, while wielding the magma staff.

The group all wore lucida shards, while those bearing swords wore mighty armlets and the magic users bore meteorite bracers and wore recovery rings. Airlia looked at Alistair, "Are you ready? The tower has a lot of climbing… but it also has some lifts to help preserve strength and energy."

He nodded, "I may not be wearing all of the Zenithian armor, but it's with me at all times."

Airlia laughed, "I've always wondered how the bags can carry items like that."

Ragnar chuckled, "Our bags are magically enchanted. Any item we wish to put into the bag will shrink down to fit comfortably until we need it."

The brunette smiled with a nod. "That's actually really convenient. We're not so fortunate where I used to live…"

Borya shook his head, "Pity my dear. You seem to be better suited to our world than your old one."

Rose nodded with a smile, "He's right Airlia. You're staying in this world if we have anything to say about it." She hugged her friend.

Airlia grinned with a nod, "Right. Now let's climb the tower and go to Zenithia to find our way down to Nadiria."

Psaro nodded as the group left the inn when a man approached them. Airlia recognized the garb as being the priest who takes care of Azimuth. "You're going to try and climb the tower to the south, aren't you?"

Psaro nodded, "We are." He was unsure of if he could trust this human. It was true that the group he now travelled with was good, but it didn't mean that he could openly trust others.

He smiled, "Feel free to leave your mare here, it'll be easier for her than being out at the bottom of the tower. Once you reach your destination, use your horn and you will find her with you again, having been brought there by a gentle cloud."

Alistair considered it for a moment before nodding. "It's a good idea. Thank you for helping us."

The man grinned, "My name is Raymond. I wish you all luck traveling up the tower, but if I might ask for your help with bringing another Zenithian up who landed down here with both wings broken?"

Ragnar nodded, "Yes, we'll help him up." It made little difference to him on if they had one or two injured Zenithians with them.

Raymond nodded, "Thank you! I'll go bring him over here now…" He left at a run towards the far corner of Azimuth to bring out the other man. After a few minutes, he returned while everyone gathered close together to figure out what the tower might be like.

"The tower was considered to be a holy place by many, yet there were monsters there. I wonder if they're good monsters so to speak. Like good animals rather than the ones out for our blood." Airlia said as she shivered a little. They were out for her blood because of what she had done.

Psaro nodded, "I suspect they are… or they could even be tests from the tower to see if we're worthy of ascending."

Alistair nodded in agreement as he pulled the brunette close to him, "Don't worry too much Airlia, it's going to be okay." He kissed her forehead softly.

Kyril nodded, "Right, we'll all be here with you while we climb. They're not going to hurt you. That's a promise."

Raymond returned with the man moments later as the Zenithian looked at Orifiela. "Hey Orifiela… how're you doing?"

She smiled, "Mason, you're okay! You went missing… and I had to go to the World Tree first to gather a few leaves to make World Dew before coming to look for you… but I broke my wing. Alistair and his group helped me…"

Mason nodded, his long brown hair bobbing with the movement. "I'm glad. Turns out we also have a young woman in our midst who might be a little different…"

Orifiela nodded again, "Right, but we'll figure that out when we go to see the Master Dragon. He'll know for sure what's going on there."

Alistair whistled, bringing their attention back to the present. "Shall we go then? I want the trouble making Aamon to not bother anyone ever again. Rose and Airlia won't be safe until he's dead."

The pair of Zenithians nodded as they all left, having filled their bags with snacks, and their water skins were filled to the brim with water in preparation for a long climb. Heading south, they could see the small edge of the tall tower that continued to grow as they approached. Alistair looked up at the giant tower as Alena swore, "Damn… it's huge… it's huge…"

Airlia nodded, "Alistair is the only one who can open the doors. Bearer of the Zenithian armor…"

The green haired man nodded as he walked up the steps and put one hand on each door before pushing them open with ease. "Here we go guys, stay close."

One by one, they all filed in as Psaro came in with Rose, surprised he was allowed to enter such hallowed halls. "Does this mean that… that Master Dragon would forgive even someone like me for what I did before? For what I attempted to do?"

Mason nodded, "Yes, the Master Dragon is kind and benevolent and knows that tragedy can give rise to evil… so long as you all remember that we cannot grow without tragedy, some events can turn you away from the light… away from good…"

Inside the temple, they looked around as Airlia took the lead, "Follow me… I know this tower like the back of my hand if it was anything like the game I played…" She led them to the east, along the carpet which gave way to the pure white marble stone beneath and the pond to her left. "It's so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined… wow…" She breathed as she looked around at the walls, the statues dedicated to the goddess.

Orifiela smiled as she came close to the brunette. "You really did a lot of good work in this world young woman… I never would have imagined that Psaro the Manslayer would turn good… But I never saw that his love would have been killed by humans sent by his own right hand man."

She looked away, "I had to do something. I couldn't let her die. All that matters is it's done, that she's safe… that things have changed to form a better future for all life." They rounded the corner and continued to the stairs in the nearby vicinity.

Alistair took the lead heading up the stairs, worried that they hadn't faced a test when they neared the stairs. Once everyone was on the second floor, a voice called out. "Fabled Hero long since foretold… if you had to leave a single person behind from your normal companions… who would it be?"

The green haired man shook his head, "I wouldn't leave anyone behind. We've all had our uses… Alena and Ragnar with their strength, Meena and Kyril with their healing magic, Borya and Maya with their fighting magic, Torneko with his merchant skills… Airlia – don't even begin to ask me how useful she's been in our quest… it's because of her that we have two new friends, Rose with the gentle and caring nature that brought Psaro to our side who has been an invaluable asset since joining us… restoring the people of Zamoksva, helping to heal Airlia when she was injured… All of my friends have been of incredible aid."

The voice continued, "So you wouldn't leave anyone behind then?"

Alistair nodded, "Not a single soul." The voice chuckled as a clicking sound could be heard. They proceeded into the other half of the room where two sets of stairs going up could be seen. He looked at Airlia, "Which way?"

She led them to the stairs on the same side of the room that they came up on towards the sunlight that glittered on the marble. "This place… it's so beautiful. Wow… I'm so… I'm so in awe of it."

They went upstairs to see an open area with a room sitting there in the center. Airlia shook her head. "That isn't anything, just a dead end…" She went to the edge of the tower and looked out over the world below. "The view… it's just so amazing. Hard to believe that anything would want to destroy the beautiful world before us." The wind came and tousled her hair.

Alistair watched the wind playing with her hair for a few minutes as he smiled. Something about the girl was amazing to him as he came over to her and smiled at her. "Yes, the world is beautiful…" He leaned over to whisper, "Not as beautiful as you are my Air… my seer of another world."

She blushed with a shake of her head, "Nonsense Alistair. But we should continue onwards. I think your response to the voice was right…" They proceeded onwards to the lift which took them up higher into the sky. "Because they listed it as actual floors that you explored rather than literal levels, I'd say we're approaching floor ten when the lift finishes."

Mason nodded, "That sounds about right. There will undoubtedly be another test for us somewhere along the way."

When they arrived to the floor, they went inside the only room available to see stairs leading down. Before them was a gate with a young woman standing there, looking fairly wounded. On closer examination, they saw it was a witch… "Please help me… I was badly wounded…"

Kyril nodded as he began to chant, a soft white light enveloped the witch, healing her wounds. She looked up at them. "You healed me even though I'm a monster?"

He grinned with a nod, "Of course we did. We've learned on the journey that not every monster is evil, and if there's even a chance to save some of you… I want to. Even if you were to attack me after."

Smiling, the witch nodded, accepting the answer as she vanished and there was another unlocking sound. "Very good… maybe… just maybe you can help put everyone on the path to peace… Good luck…" Her voice came from the nothingness as they looked at one another in question. What could all of this mean?

They went through the locked door to walk around to the back of the hallway and to the stairs in the far corner going up again. When they came outside, they saw a ladder going upwards as Ragnar groaned. "Seriously? Now they want us to climb up another five or so stories?" He was more than happy to comply, but he knew the ladies who hadn't really fought a lot would be as easy to climb.

Alistair nodded in frustration. "Agreed. I think here we'll take a small break, eat a little of our snack and gather our energy once more before we continue to climb up. Better to conserve our energy before another high climb."