Okay, another chapter is up and ready to go. As a refresher, thoughts are', spoken word is ", and - means change in point of view and/or a lapse in time. Thanks Sol Da Soaring Lion of the Sun for adding this to favorites.

I'm not very creative with disclaimers, so I shall simply say that Dragon Quest IX was created and copyrighed by Squaresoft.

Chapter XI: The Hights of Loneliness

Trent, Arianna, Conrad and Alicia went to a church where Raymond and Sasha were waiting.

"Any luck on the odd jobs?" said Conrad.

The Mage grinned"Yep, one guy asked for something to help stoke a fire where he was camping, so I gave him a Horse Manure I found back at the plains outside, as repulsive as that may sound. But I did get some cash out of it. As for what else we could do, I heard of a group stationed at the bar who could use some help."

"Okay, let's get to it. Trent, could you do me a favor and buy me a new weapon? My current one has a chipped edge from sparring and fighting big battles. You can sell the broadsword for a little extra money" said Arianna.

"No problem" said the Gladiator before turning to address Raymond"Mind lending me some of the money you earned?"

Raymond handed his earnings, ten gold, to Trent"You're really whipped aren't you?"

"W-what? What do you mean by that? Arianna's our leader, so I can't just say no" said Trent, defensively.

Arianna shook her head a bit at their antics while Trent went to the Weapons Vender, the purple haired warrior handed him her broadsword as he went.

"Our little group is anything but boring, eh?" said Conrad.

"Let's just get to the tavern, any information that we can find about the Hights of Loneliness would be helpful" replied Arianna.

As they went towards the tavern, Alicia addressed the Celestrian"So, has Trent admitted his feelings for you? I meant to ask him, but things have been getting hectic lately."

"Trent said he liked me. I was a bit astonished, but I have to keep my thoughts on the subject to myself for now. As cold as this may seem to you, my duty takes priority over almost all else" sighed the violet haired Warrior.

"Heh, I know your type to that extent. But seriously, you two are just denying it if you ask me" remarked Conrad.

Sasha glared at him"Please don't start any arguments, I don't want to risk having our team disbanded by putting each other on the defensive over such trivialities."

"Now who's 'whipped'?" said Trent as he caught up to them at the tavern's entrance, breathing heavily as he had run to and fro.

"That was quick" said Alicia.

The Gladiator addressed Arianna"I managed to purchase this, it's supposedly made of a stronger material then your old sword."

Trent handed Arianna a sword with a semi purple blade, saying"The local weapon shop owner called this the Cautery Sword. I'm not sure if it fits into your scabbard, but this should work out."

"Thank you" said the violet haired warrior, shealthing her new blade.

The group entered the tavern, where Arianna addressed the local bartender"Excuse me."

"Oh, how can I help you?" said the man.

The Celestrian replied"I need information on the Hights of Loneliness."

The Barman was surprised"Are you Adventurers? It might take me a bit of storytelling to explain, so why not buy a drink?"

"No thanks, we're not thirsty" said Sasha.

The Barman shrugged"Well, I heard that the Hights of Loneliness is a dangerous mountain range, monsters dwell on the mountain. Now don't take it too seriously, I heard that someone has constructed a stone-like series of structures called the Zere Rocks at it's peak."

"The Zere Rocks?" frowned Conrad.

The Barman laughed"I thought I requested that you don't take it seriously. All I hear is rumors, nothing more to it."

Nearby, another man shook his head'that barman's got to be joking'.

"Hey, do I know you?" Conrad addressed the other man.

The man spoke"You're Jerik's kid, right? Name's Buster, leader of the B-Team."

"How'd you know my dad?" said Conrad,

Buster replied"He worked briefly for a rival gang of thieves that my team competed against. Got himself busted by some guy named Johansan that he tried to cheat out of his coin. Jerik spent a long time doing hard manuel labor at Stornway I imagine as a penalty after getting turned in."

"Truly? My master never spoke of it" frowned Sasha.

Buster replied"Well, you guys want to join my B-Team? We could always use some help."

Sasha raised her eyebrows"Aren't you a thief?"

The 'thief' shrugged"I only steal from those who deserve it and give it to the less fortunate. Anyway guy, let me know because I need help recovering a certain treasure from a cave north of a town called Bloomingdale."

Conrad sighed"Never thought about joining a group."

Arianna interjected"He really needs our help. Buster, where could we find the treasure you need?"

Buster replied"You don't have help if you don't want to, but a beast called the Hunter Mech stole a Tycoon's Trove, and we need help taking it back."

Conrad thought for a moment before replying"All right, we'll help if we can, I'm just a novice thief and treasure hunter. We'll check out the cave if we're in the area."

"Well, be sure to bring back the Tycoon's Trove when you get it, all right?" said Buster.

Arianna nodded, then signaled her team to leave.

The six went to the inn, where they stayed the rest of the day and night.

"So the Hights of Loneliness is teeming with monsters, can we make it to the top?" said Sasha.

Arianna shrugged"We can do it, now let's try to get some sleep guys."

The next morning found the group eating a light breakfast consisted of some vegetables that Trent and Alicia bought and made into a salad.

When they were finished, the six heroes left the inn, walked up to the bridge overlooking Dourbridge and went north east.

It didn't take long before they came to a cave which led to a grassy passage.

"All right, it's time to do some mountain climbing" said Arianna.

Three Slime Knights blocked the way, but Raymond blasted them aside with Boom.

"That barman wasn't kidding about the monsters" said Trent.

The group delved farther in, until they came to some vines which led to the ledge above.

"These vines don't look stable, one of us should climb up at a time" remarked Trent.

"My thoughts exactly" said the purple haired warrior, who started going ahead.

The team climbed up to a tier of platforms, where Conrad spotted a treasure chest there.

But nearby, some Toxic Zombies and a Hocus Chimaera appeared.

Sasha knocked down two Zombies, while Raymond blasted two more monsters with Bang.

While his five teammates took down the monsters, Conrad picked up two more mini medals from the chest and pocketed them"Looks like Meddlin' is right."

"Just one more until you can trade the mini medals for the key that Cap'n Meddlin' promised, right?" said Trent.

Conrad nodded, then the six climbed higher up to more platforms and entered a cave.

The journey got even more treacherous as several Grin Nades and Slime Knights attacked.

"I don't have the time to fool around you guys, Bang!" Raymond cast a spell.

The Grin Nades self destructed from the blast, while Arianna, Trent and Sasha engaged the Slime Knights.

Sasha knocked one Slime Knight off it's steed and smashed the slime itself.

Trent and Arianna parried their opponents' blows before finishing them.

The higher they went, the more the heroes' resources started to drain a bit.

"We should get some rest once we're at the top" sighed Conrad.

"I think we're more then half way to the peak" said Arianna.

The climb to the peak was smooth sailing, save for a couple more monster encounters which they dispatched with ease.

Sure enough, when they emerged from the cave, the group came to a plateau.

"Looks like the sun is high already" commented Alicia.

"Must be noon, then" murmered Raymond.

As they stopped to take a break from climbing, Trent heard a voice groaning nearby and rushed to the source.

There, he found a man collapsed near the steps leading to the very top of the Hights.

"Oh no, Alicia!" called the blond Gladiator.

"What it it?" inquired the Priestess, rushing to her brother' side.

The man on the ground seemed to be in pain as he spoke"Anyone here? I need help."

"Who are you?" said Trent.

"Christopher Collapsus" gasped the man, who had somewhat a small cut on his chest and a gash on his arm.

Alicia shook his head"He's in immense pain, but nothing that some medicine won't fix. Trent, you go tell Arianna about this while I try to synthesize some special medicine from my herbs."

Trent nodded, then left his sister to her work.

The better part of an hour was spent on healing the injured man as Alicia cast heal spells on the gash, and transferred a bit of her power into a herb which she braided together with an antidote herb.

"Any luck?" Arianna approached.

Alicia shrugged as she tied together another medicinal herb to the mix"It's no special medicine, but it should hold him up."

The Priestess handed the medicine to the injured man, who forced himself to take the medicine. Within seconds, the last of his injuries were healed by the herb's magic.

Soon, the man stood up"Thanks, I was injured on my way up."

"At least you're better now" said Conrad.

Christopher reached into his pocket, pulled out some paper and handed it to Alicia"This is all I can do to repay you."

Alicia graciously acceped the paper, which turned out to be some kind of map.

"Thank you" said Arianna.

"Well, I will soon be heading down, see ya'" said Christopher Collapsus.

Alicia nodded as she rolled up the unknown map and put it in her bag.

Arianna, Trent, Conrad, Sasha, Alicia and Raymond bade good luck to the explorer before climbing the final set of steps to an astonishing sight.

It looked like the village of Zere. Except it all comprised of stone.

"So this is Zere Rocks" said Trent.

The group looked around until they entered a building, which happened to be the only one with an entrance.

To their surprise, a talking slime greeted them"Hey, welcome to Zere Rocks. Some guy called Stone Mason built this place."

"Really? Whatever for?" said Arianna.

The slime replied"Guy was heartbroken supposedly, his girlfriend married another man. He built the Zere Rocks, and somehow stationed a guardian here."

Just then, the ground shook.

"What the?" gasped Conrad.

The six rushed outside to be greeted by the sight of a monsterous stone gargoyle with massive wings on it's back.

"Bang!" Raymond cast a spell at the creature.

The monster shrugged off the damage as it growled'Fool, I am Garth Goyle, guardian of this stone village'.

With that, it charged at the Mage.

Conrad stepped in the way and was knocked backward.

Alicia healed Conrad, while Trent slashed Garth Goyle only to have his sword bounce off.

"Talk about hard skin, we may have to rely on magic" grunted the blond swordsman.

Raymond tried Crack, which staggered Garth Goyle.

The stone guardian punched Raymond, while Conrad darted behand and stabbed it in the 'wings'.

Garth Goyle roared in pain and bashed the thief.

Arianna and Alicia healed their allies while Raymond shot Crack at it.

Garth Goyle stubbornly blew a ice breath at the group.

Trent ducked beneath it and slashed at it's neck.

The blade made a crack on Garth Goyle, which retaliated by throwing a punch at Trent.

Sasha brought her battle stave down hard on it's head.

While Garth Goyle was staggered, Raymond cast another Crack spell on it.

Now that it was starting to get cracks, the monster desparately threw a knuckle sandwhich at Raymond, which Alicia intercepted.

Sasha used one of her medicinal herbs on the Priestess, while Arianna executed a double slash on Garth Goyle, the Cautery sword ripped a crack on it's chest.

As the monster countered, Trent ran it through with a powerful thrust.

Garth Goyle roared in pain as Trent tore his sword out, ducking out of the way while Raymond cast Bang on it.

The monster staggered towards the wall, Sasha smirked"Just the way I want you."

The Martial Artist focused her inner energy before lashing out with a mighty knucke sandwhich.

The stone guardian was thrown farther towards the wall, crashing into it.

With more cracks to exploit, Raymond threw a final Bang spell, blasting the creature apart.

As Garth Goyle crumbled into dust, Conrad smirked"That did it."

Suddenly, the ghost of an old man appeared.

"Are you Stone Masion?" inquired Arianna.

The man nodded"Yes, and I'm sorry I put you all through this."

"What do you mean?" said the purple haired warrior.

The ghost replied"I built Zere Rocks, trying to recreate the town as it was long ago. I was alive at the time, and my girlfriend had married someone else. With the power of a strange yellow fruit, the Garth Goyle was created to guard this place."

"So what will happen to Zere Rocks?" inquired Trent.

Masion replied"Eventually it will crumble. But now I have no regrets, good bye."

As the man faded into the afterlife, a yellow Fygg appeared.

Trent smiled"Well, now we have three."

Arianna added the fruit to her items in her bag"This battle was very tiring, let's zoom back to Stornway and get some rest."

"I agree with that" nodded Sasha.

"Where can the other Fyggs be?" wondered Trent.

"We don't know, but after we get some rest, Bloomingdale is our next destination" said the purple haired warrior.

The group held hands, and Arianna cast Zoom, teleporting them to Stornway.

Took me seven days, but here it is. Sorry for the wait, even I get writer's block sometimes. As for the unkown treasure map, I can explain more in a future chapter, but the main story is my focus for now.

I take responsibility for any details that I might be lacking, but using the exact script dosen't suit well with me. That, and I was a bit tired when I finished this.

Please feel free to review.