Here it is, another chapter is up and ready. There will be a bit of jumping between characters, so - will be used a couple times in the chapter.
Disclaimer: The Dragon Quest series is Squaresoft's work.
Chapter XXX: The Granote Tunnel of Despair
"So according to the map, the next grotto is somewhere near Blooomingdale" mussed Conrad.
Arianna nodded"Exactly, though we'd best check our supplies. We don't know what the next grotto guardian is."
Alicia checked her bag to find that several herbs had gone bad and withered slightly. Tossing them out, she turned to address Arianna"Yeah, good idea."
The group headed out of the inn to the nearest item shop. Trent browsed the shop with his sister when they got there, while Arianna, Conrad and Sasha waited outside and talked.
"So when do you think Trent will propose to you, Arianna?" asked Conrad.
The Celestrian squared her shoulders"I do not know, its only been a little bit of time since we officially become a couple. Trent might be a bit forward, but even he is wise enough to take things slow, I can tell."
Alicia browsed the shop until she found a few new healing herbs and medicine. The sage went over to the counter to pay for them, while Trent browsed a bit longer before joining Arianna outside.
"So where exactly should we begin looking when we get to the Bloomingdale region?" asked Conrad.
"Not far from town, though I can only imagine what we'll face next" replied Sasha as she studied the treasure map.
Alicia joined the others outside shortly after she finished shopping. Trent addressed his sister"I have to say, when Arianna first hired us, I didn't think things were getting hectic at every corner. Not that its a bad thing."
"That's true, we'd never ask for a better leader. You know, I have to say the grottos we've been going to were interesting so far. Even though we don't know what they were for in the first place" nodded the female sage.
"Maybe we'll find out after this one. Let's head for the Bloomingdale region" spoke Arianna, heading out.
The others followed her outside where the Celestrian immediately used Zoom to teleport to the entrance of Bloomingdale. Trent piped up"Think anyone in Bloomingdale ever realized what happened to Marion?"
"It's very unlikely, and as before, we have no evidence so there's no point trying to reveal the truth. But hopefully if they ever do realize what happened to Miss Bloome, the town won't suffer too much" replied Arianna as they walked through the plains.
"The grotto has to be somewhere around here, right?" spoke Conrad.
"Supposedly" shrugged Trent.
"I'd suggest splitting up, but only I can locate it" spoke Arianna, walking ahead a bit. The others kept following.
The group eventually came to a patch of earth in the middle of the plains. With her Celestrian senses, Arianna sensed another flight of stairs"If only we knew how we missed the grottos last time... Well, no use complaining, now" she shrugged.
"So we dig here, right?" piped the blond Gladiator.
Arianna shook her head and uttered a spell to make the hidden staircase visible. With caution, she proceeded to lead the way into an underground passage similar to the Tunnel of Woe.
"Granote Tunnel of Despair... I wonder why the grottos have such awkward names?" mussed Conrad.
"Only the Almighty knows, but clearly the names reflect a certain kind of feeling or emotion" muttered Alicia as they looked around.
The path ahead eventually led the group to a crossroads, one path led straight ahead while another led to the right. Arianna surveyed the area before speaking"This grotto is a bit more complicated than the last one."
"So which path should we take?" asked Sasha.
The Celestrian squared her shoulders"Let's split up into groups of three. Trent, Conrad, you're with me. Raymond, Alicia, Sasha, you go ahead and take the path to the right. The rest of us will go ahead. If one group finds anything important, wait until the others catch up."
Trent nodded"Right, let's do it."
Raymond, Alicia and Sasha set off down the tunnel passage to the right. The male sage addressed his fiancé"You know, we don't have to keep up this adventuring business. Why not change professions?"
"Arianna and Trent may still need our magic to help solve the mystery of the grottos" replied the female sage.
The path down the right led to what looked like a dead end, but two shadowy red figures lurked in the shadows. Sasha stopped"Hold on, what's that smell?"
"Slimes?" Raymond approached the corner, then uttered a spell"I got this. Kaboom!"
"Wait, don't-"
Alicia's warning came too later, however. The moment Raymond's spell was cast, the two figures shrugged it off and retaliated with a mighty laser beam attack. Annoyed, the female sage cast Multi-heal on her allies to undo some of the damage.
"Dead end, and there are monsters here, no doubt. I suspect that those are Darkonium Slimes, they shrug off magic damage. I'll hold them here, you go get the others" instructed Sasha.
Raymond nodded"Right" and left with Alicia. Sasha stood her ground as the two slimes lunged, the Paladin jabbed at one Darkonium Slime as it lunged.
Arianna's group went on ahead until they found a staircase. Arianna stopped"This might lead to our destination, but there is only one way to find out."
"So we're waiting for the others?" asked Conrad.
The Celestrian nodded.
"These grottos sure are dark and damp, what were they originally?" wondered Trent.
"Probably some ancient structure or some sort of tunnel network, I was never told of them before my fall onto the Protectorate from the Observatory. Corvus sure didn't hesitate to unleash that quake on both our worlds. But now he is at peace, so I shall not trouble the dead with our concerns" said Arianna, thoughtfully.
"Reckon the higher ups should know?" asked the brunette ranger.
Trent shrugged"Probably not. They are probably very busy, and we don't really have solid evidence, the maps could've led to anything."
"Hey" Raymond and Alicia approached.
"Find anything? Where's Sasha?" asked Arianna.
Alicia replied"Raymond foolishly provoked a couple Darkonium Slimes, now Sasha is facing off against them while we came back to get you. Darkonium Slimes have some sort of protective magic that drastically lessens the effectiveness of magic."
"I'll go" Conrad darted ahead.
The Female Paladin managed to slay one Darkonium Slime before the other one attempted to slam her. Sasha barely got out of the way and retaliated with a jab. The monster jumped back and countered with a laser beam attack.
Sasha was blasted off her feet for a moment before she managed to get up and dodge another laser beam. The Paladin jabbed again at the monster, which retaliated with a body slam.
"Need a hand?" Conrad rushed into the room and fired an arrow at the slime. The arrow passed through, but stunned it long enough for Sasha to finish it off with a mighty thrust.
"So much for that" grinned the ranger.
"Thanks, Conrad" acknowledged the Paladin.
Conrad smirked"No problem. Trent, Arianna and I found a staircase below. Oh, and look there" he raced into the shadowy corner of the room to find a treasure chest. Opening it, he found a mini medal and some gold.
"Great find, let's go the other path" acknowledged Sasha.
The two headed back to the fork and took the other path back to where the others were waiting. Arianna glanced at the two"We all appear to be unharmed, let's check downstairs."
The group went down to another passageway on the lower level, navigating through a couple more chambers before coming to one guarded by a huge reddish slime with a moustache and goatee. Its rider, a green and blue-clad imp stared down at the group.
"Another grotto guardian... Not that I'm complaining" remarked Trent.
The monster acknowledged the group"Aye, and I am Shogum. I challenge you all!"
"Shogum, silly name for even a slime I reckon" smirked Conrad.
Shogum swung one of its two swords down, nearly slicing into Conrad. The Ranger rolled out of the way and fired an arrow in retaliation, only for the red slime to slam into him. Sasha and Trent slashed at the red slime's jelly-like skin, only for Shogum to cast Kaboom.
Alicia healed her allies while Raymond readied a counterspell at Shogum"Kaboom!"
The spell barely dented Shogum, who retaliated with a flurry of sword slashes at the group. Annoyed, Trent lashed at it with Double Slash. Conrad fired an arrow at Shogum, who promptly used a second sword to knock the arrow out of the air. Raymond and Alicia cast a magic shield spell to defend their allies as Shogum launched another Kaboom spell, only for the monster to remove the effects with a disruptive wave.
"Witless slime knight, isn't it?" shrugged Conrad, firing an arrow at Shogum. This time, the attack caught it by surprise.
Arianna cast Kabuff on her allies before slashing at the red slime's 'face'. The monster retaliated with Kaboom and slammed the group hard. Alicia healed the group again, while Raymond attacked Shogum with Kacrack.
"Don't let it get to you" Sasha jabbed the monster with her lance while Trent struck hard with Dragonslash. The Red Slime staggered long enough for Conrad to shoot Shogum with another arrow. Irratated, Shogum cast another Kaboom spell.
"Omniheal!" Arianna healed her allies while Trent hacked again at the red slime. Shogum attempted to cast another Kaboom when Conrad shot the slime knight in the chest.
"Foiled" smirked the Ranger.
"Its not over yet" snarled Shogum, slashing at the group before unleashing one more Kaboom spell.
"Trent, let's double team this monstrosity" said Arianna.
Trent nodded with a smile"Let's do it."
Facing Shogum, the duo channeled magic energy into their blades before unleashing it"Gigaslash!"
Shogum staggered and retaliated with Kaboom and another fierce flurry of sword slashes.
While Alicia healed her allies, Arianna gathered magical energy into a more powerful spell, unleashing bolts of light at Shogum"By the arcane might of thunder and the divine power of the Almighty: Gigagash!"
The spell pummeled Shogum and its mount, eventually wearing them down. The Slime Knight fell of its mount, dead, while the huge red slime melted into thin air. The group sheathed their weapons.
"Another guardian bites the dust" smirked Conrad.
"There's another treasure chest" Trent walked over to a chest at the end of the room and opened it, revealing another map.
"What does that one say?" asked Alicia.
The Gladiator shrugged"The Granite Ruins of Doubt... I wonder what's there."
"I see a plaque" Sasha ran over to some writings on the wall.
Arianna walked over to inspect it"Hm. Ah, it could be describing the grottos and their respective guardian beasts."
"It looks like its written in some sort of ancient transcript" remarked Sasha, noting the strange writings which did not look like the modern alphabet.
The Celestrian studied the plaque"I've seen this before at the Observatory. But the place is gone, so I would not be able to go to my old home even with the Starflight Express. I wonder if Lady Celestria knows about them."
"Should we drop in on her at the Realm of the Almighty?" asked the blond Gladiator.
Arianna shrugged"I suppose it cannot hurt to try. Whether she knows anything may be doubtful however since she spent the last several hundred years or so in the form of the Yagdrasil Tree."
The group studied the ancient murals on the plaque before turning around to leave the grotto.
Finally got the next chapter ready, next will have Erinn's quest, but I don't know the exact details of the quest you do to unlock her as a playable character. After the next grotto-centered chapter will feature Aquila's sidequest.
Don't get me wrong, I will try to wrap up the grotto subplot as best I can before covering the quest that unlocks Aquila as a playable character. I will also cover the OCs Raymond and Alicia's wedding, though I may not have Trent and Arianna marry in this fic. I can do that though if you want me to.
Please feel free to review.