Mike AZ 2 here, another day and another chapter. Thanks PurpleDolphinPlush for adding this fic to favorites. I will be switching a bit to both Trent and Arianna's perspectives in this chapter.
Disclaimer: The Dragon Quest games, characters, locations, etc. were created by Squaresoft.
Chapter XX: Gortress Revolt
The Celestrian Arianna had half expected an unwelcome end as she fell from where she and Greygnarl were squaring off against the black dragon Barbarus and Lt. Hootingham-Gore of the Triumgorate.
But shortly after her fall, the Celestrian Warrior woke to find herself bound in chains. Surrounding her were some dark armored warriors who were marching the captive Celestrian towards a dark fortress. The interior of which had a guillotine and a wheel-like device in the courtyard, Arianna could tell that this was more of a prison then a fortress.
Arianna, seeing no way out of her predicament, cooperated as the guards escorted her to the basement level of the prison fortress. The Celestrian took a deep breath to compose herself as they walked farther down.
At the bottom floor of the forboding-looking fortress, the Celestrian found herself brought before a massive hog-shaped humanoid. One of the guards addressed the humanoid"Lieutenant Goreham, sir! We have a new prisoner!"
The hog humanoid, apparently called Goreham, chortled"Oh, this is a surprise. This girl does not look a bit like a Celestrian, does she?"
"No, sir" replied the guard.
Goreham-Hogg's eyes narrowed as he stared at Arianna before returning his attention to the guard"Humph! It matters not, she could still be useful. Throw her into one of the cells!"
"Yes, sir" nodded the guard.
Trent and his group sailed the Pride of Bloomingdale to the north west, Conrad addressed the Gladiator"So what's the plan, Trent?"
The Gladiator shrugged"I am not too sure, we don't even know how to get into the Empire."
"There is a tall, impenetrable wall up ahead. I can't sense what could be past that, though" interjected Raymond.
Angelo grimaced"Nowhere is exactly impenetrable, is it? Shouldn't it be possible to blaze our own trail?"
Alicia, who stood next to her brother at the helm, shrugged"Well, that depends what you have in mind."
Sasha studied the map as her group sailed for what seemed like hours. As soon as they came to the tall mountainous range that Raymond spoke of, Trent studied the terrain before speaking"I have a plan, we're going to blaze a trail over that. Hopefully, it will take us to the Empire."
"Your guess is as good as mine, but it's our best bet" nodded the Paladin.
The group docked the Pride of Bloomingdale next to the mountain wall. Trent's group and their guests gazed at the tall mountain briefly before the Gladiator addressed the Ranger"Got any crackers?"
"Yeah, what about them?" frowned Conrad.
Trent replied"The wall is soft enough that I can create some makeshift footholes and handholes in the wall using some salted crackers and Sasha's battle stave."
"A well conceived plan, but you could be risking your life that way" said Sasha, pointedly.
"Can you think of anything else? Does anyone have some rope I can borrow?" pressed the Gladiator.
Jessica and Angelo rummaged into their bags before passing two pieces of long rope to Trent from their inventory. Milly inquired"Is this enough?"
Trent nodded"I will use my sword as a marker. It's risky, but this could be our only way in without the Starflight Express."
"Just be sure to throw the rope down to us if you get over that cliff" responded Raymond.
"All right, let's get to work. Raymond, Conrad, you two need to keep a look out for sky-riding enemies. It's unlikely that the enemy will let us just waltz into their territory" spoke Astrid.
In the Gortress, Arianna shortly found herself in a small room with a bench in the corner. Through the bars next to her window, she saw the figure of a short, muscle-bound man wearing a silver chestplate and a dark helmet. The man gruffly addressed her"Hey, who might you be?"
The Celestrian replied"I am Arianna, might I ask who you are?"
"No more then a prisoner like yourself. My name's Sterling, you're new here, aren't you?" responded the man.
Arianna checked herself before responding"You can say that, my name's Arianna. Do you know of a way out of this place?"
Sterling shrugged"Beats me, there is a strange barrier surrounding the Gortress. Only the soldiers who have a Gittish Crest in posession are able to pass freely."
The Celestrian glanced down on her shirt and was surprised to find Gittish Seal that Greygnarl gave her'The Empire was far too foolish to take this off me. All I need to do is reclaim my sword and free myself'.
An hour passed, Arianna and Sterling sat quietly in their cells. A guard entered the man's cell and addressed him"You, show the girl around and see to it that she's put to work!"
Sterling nodded silently as the guard opened his cell, while another guard entered Arianna's cell and removed the chains binding her wrists. The Celestrian raised her eyebrow"What are you doing?"
The guard merely escorted Arianna out to the courtyard to where a few more prisoners were being put to work on a strange wheel-like device. Sterling addressed her quietly when they were alone"Those guards are not too bright, I have a plan. It would involve the other prisoners, though."
"What is that?" whispered Arianna.
Sterling whispered back"Get in line with the other prisoners, we don't want the guards getting suspicious. This will make it look like we're working."
The man proceeded to explain his plan"I saw a Gittish Seal on your shirt, it is barely recognizable though. The barrier prevents those without a Gittish Seal from leaving, but there is a generator somewhere."
"I was thinking of how to break away, myself. Do you know where my equipment is?" inquired Arianna as she helped the other prisoners, most of them men, turn the wheel which was controlling a strange contraption elsewhere in the Gortress.
"Most likely downstairs where Goreham-Hogg is, he dosen't trust people very much. But anyway, we'd best keep a low profile until morning" said Sterling.
Trent had started chipping away at the smooth surface, which proved tougher then the rest of the heroes thought. Raymond and Jessica's spells weren't much help either.
"What kind of half-baked plan is this, anyway?" sighed Conrad, watching Trent chip holes into the soft spots in the cliff with Sasha's stave. As the Gladiator slowly worked his way upward, Angelo proceeded to flirt a bit with Jessica.
Conrad took a moment to strike up a conversation with Sasha"What do you reckon is in the Empire?"
Sasha shrugged"If you look back at history, the empire was broken by Greygnarl the dragon and the people of Upover. I doubt it's much more then ruins after all these years."
"Sounds like Brigadoom" frowned Alicia, who was listening.
Trent climbed higher, making even more holes as he worked. Looking down after nearly making it to the top, he saw that the Pride of Bloomingdale looked like a very small ship from above.
"What are you waiting for?" said Jessica, impatiently.
"Sorry, it's just higher then I imagined" flushed Trent, climbing his way up to the top of the cliff, which led to a stone platform. On the wasteland below that, he could see a tall citadel south of a strange-looking fortress.
Shaking his head at the desolate sight, Trent tied together the two pieces of rope and threw one end of it down to his companions. One by one, the rest of the group climbed to where Trent pinned his end of the thick rope in place with his sword.
"Some mountain climb, eh?" grinned Conrad.
Trent sighed"What next?"
"We best make camp, the fortress ahead is closer from the looks of this barren place" said Astrid.
At dawn the next morning, Arianna subsisted on some stale bread and water that a guard brought her before being brought herself to the courtyard of the Gortress. When he arrived, the Celestrian saw a commotion going on at the guillotine. A young man was being held there by a group of guards, Sterling stood in front of her.
"What's happening?" whispered Arianna.
Sterling grunted"I had one of the other prisoners stage a rebellion by refusing to cooperate with the guards. This is what they do to prisoners who try to resist."
One of the guards tied the young man to the guillotine and was about to execute him in front of the other prisoners, when Sterling pushed the guard aside.
"Get back in line!" shouted another guard.
One of the other prisoners handed Arianna her sword"You'll need this, I managed to sneak it up here."
The Celestrian gratefully accepted the weapon, and charged at one of the guards. The guard, who was really a Lethal Armor monster, drew his own blade in surprise and stabbed at Arianna. The Celestrian gracefully dodged the blow and tore the armor apart with Falcon Slash.
While Arianna was at it, the other prisoners had taken up arms and confronted the remaining Gortress Guards. Sterling punched another guard who tried to subdue him before addressing Arianna"Get to the generator and deactivate the force field! Once that's done, we'll have to take down Goreham-Hogg. The Generator is in that tower ahead."
Arianna nodded and ran towards the tower, cutting down more Lethal Armors at she went.
Earlier that same morning, Trent and his group ate a small salad for breakfast before continuing towards the strange fortress. They had gotten down to the barren wasteland with little difficulty, and the sound of battle was soon audible as they got closer.
"Sounds like we're in for some action, gang" said Alicia.
"Let's go check it out" said Trent, rushing towards the fortress.
As they got there, the group saw an opening in the fortress, and a strange glow emitted from the entrance for a moment before it vanished. Raymond sensed that it was some kind of force field.
"Ready when you are" said Trent, brandishing his blade.
Trent and his allies barged in with their weapons ready to find a skirmish between civilians and some armored guards in motion. Conrad frowned"Hard to tell the good guys from the bad."
"I can tell, the armored soldiers are really monsters, they cannot decieve my eyes" said Milly.
Trent ran towards an armored soldier who was about to intercept a duel between his comrad and one of the struggling civilians. The soldier was taken by surprise as Trent ran his blade through him.
Angelo, Lester and Astrid struck down three Lethal Armors who had spotted them. Another Lethal Armor snuck up on Conrad, only to be knocked away by Sasha.
A moment later as the battle dragged on with Trent's group helping the civilians, Arianna rushed out of the tower with her task of shutting down the force field completed by smashing the device.
"Arianna, are we late?" said Trent, cutting down another Lethal Armor.
"No, you're right on time. Now let's get my armor back, and I have a Triumgorate Lieutenant to send back to the grave" said Arianna.
"Let us assist you" piped Sasha.
Arianna nodded"Okay, but some of you will have to help defend the civilians. What's more, I heard that one of the guards escaped to alert the other Triumgorate Lieutenant of the revolt."
Arianna, Trent, Alicia, Conrad, Sasha and Raymond rushed to the tower, bolding striding downstairs and striking down two more Imperials. As they got to the bottom floor, the hog-like monster was waiting for them"Gr, what is that noise? No matter, I can stamp out your silly little uprising."
"Bring it on, pig face!" said a voice as a fireball hit Goreham-Hogg square on the chest. The infuriated Lieutenant swung a massive ball-and-chain weapon at the caster, who turned out to be Jessica.
Sasha jumped in front of the female Mage, taking the fireball for her. While Alicia healed the Paladin, Conrad shot at Goreham-Hogg's face. The monster knocked the arrow out of the air with his mace before lashing out at Arianna.
Trent caught the chain with his sword and yanked the weapon out of Goreham's hand while Raymond cast Boom on the Triumgorate Lieutanent. The spell nicked Goreham-Hogg, who pulled out a dagger and charged at Trent. The Gladiator caught the smaller blade with his, only for Goreham to stomp on his foot and reclaim the ball-and-chain.
"Heck, no!" shouted Conrad, hitting Goreham-Hogg with an arrow to the shoulder, the hog monster bashed the Ranger with the ball of his weapon. Alicia healed Conrad, while Trent and Arianna charged Goreham-Hogg at the same time.
Goreham-Hogg swung his weapon at the pair, Trent and Arianna ducked out of the way while Conrad fired another arrow. the hog staggered back for a moment, giving Trent the opening he needed to stab the monster in the gut.
Goreham-Hogg opened his mouth as though to gasp before falling backwards onto the ground. Dust and smoke covered the Triumgorate Lieutenant's body as he faded, the spirit of the man he was in his proper life fading to where it belonged.
"We did it" gasped Conrad.
Arianna went to the treasure chests that Goreham-Hogg was guarding, retrieving both her armor and a strange key.
Sterling, who caught up to the group earlier, said"You did it, now we have to release the prisoners on this floor."
Arianna opened the nearby doors with the key, surprised to see more of her comrades from the Observatory being held captive. One of them was a woman with a darker shade of purple hair.
"Are you all right?" inquired the Warrior.
The woman sighed"Yes, thank you. We'll talk later, just lead the way out of here, all right?"
Arianna's group and the formerly captive Celestrians returned to the scene of the battle, which had just ended. One of the prisoners crowed"We won! Sucks for that hog's bunch!"
"Don't celebreate yet, look!" cried Lester.
The black dragon from yesterday towered overhead, blowing fireballs down at the prisoners. Sterling addressed the rest of the prisoners"Get out of here, leave that thing to me."
"But Sterling, you can't do anything about that beast, alone!" protested a man.
"I can, just get going" urged Sterling.
Trent and his group caught up to the musculer man"What are you planning?"
Sterling took ahold of a silver whistle tied around his neck and blew. In a flash of yellow light, the Starflight Express came smashing into the black dragon. The train landed next to Trent and his group while the prisoners fled from the dragon's wrath.
Sterling, Trent, Arianna, Sasha, Conrad, Raymond, Alicia, Lester, Astrid, Milly, Jessica and Angelo rushed onto the train, which sped off towards the sky.
"Well, it's about flap time I found you guys" remarked a voice, Stella was at the controls of the Express.
"Right on time" remarked Sterling.
Stella was surprised to see the newcomer"Old Fatguts! Where have you been?"
"No time for that, Stella, and don't call me that! Just get us to the observatory, pronto!" said the man.
"That was some rescue, eh?" grinned Angelo.
Arianna was surprised to see more guests from Stornway"Did you have to get involved? Not that I'm ungrateful."
Angelo grinned"Heh, I couldn't leave a damsel in distress now, could I?"
"Ignore that guy, I'm Jessica" said the female Mage.
Milly addressed Arianna"I wanted to speak to you, but instead we dragged ourselves into your troubles."
"No trouble at all, let's talk more about it when we get to the Observatory. Lester, isn't it about time you told us your story?" inquired Arianna.
Lester shrugged"Yes, I am secretly your older brother. Astrid has her own secret, but I won't spill it for her."
Trent was shocked"But what was that all about?"
"We'll talk later, we have to report to Apus Major. Angelo, Milly, Jessica, we'll drop you off at the Quester's Rest as soon as we can" said Arianna.
"How can you be Arianna's brother, Lester? You don't have any wings" frowned Alicia.
Lester shrugged"We'll explain it at the Observatory. For now, we have bigger things to worry about, there is no logic in the Empire's revival."
"Logic shmogic, stranger things have happened" said Sasha.
The train flew higher and higher until it came to the Observatory. The Celestrians who were held at the Gortress were rescued, but the rest of the Empire's army remained.
Another chapter is all ready, I hope that comment I made Sasha say dosen't count as a swear. If it does, I might have to increase the rating. My two temporary OCs will be explained next chapter, I promise. As for Angelo, Jessica and Milly, they'll only be around for the next chapter, if you don't mind.
While the next chapter will cover the Gittingham Palace area, I don't know if I should make the fight with King Godwyn (sorry for the spoiler) a separate chapter.
As for that mountain-climbing thing, I did that to make this chapter a bit more interesting. It's not possible to do that in-game to those of you not in the know. And sorry if the chapter title wasn't too good, I'm just trying to keep it interesting.
Please feel free to review.