Chapter 3: Silent Castle
Ceodore and his allies emerged from the Devil's Passage into the town of Baron. They headed to the castle, but as they reached the gates, something was wrong.
The guards in front of the gates were mysteriously pale, and they didn't recognize Ceodore. Though the prince had yelled" It's me, Ceodore! Don't you recognize me?"
The guards just stood there, saying" No one passes... orders from the king".
The Hooded Man sighed" We're just wasting time here, we must find another route". Ceodore hesitated, then followed the Hooded Man and the two Mages away from the castle gates.
Ceodore was puzzled" something is not right, the guards were pale and they didn't recognize me".
The Hooded Man explained" there is an underground passageway in Baron, which leads into the castle courtyard".
Ceodore was puzzled" Isn't it locked?"
"Someone has to have the key, we should ask around" said the Hooded Man.
The group returned to Baron and began to ask for information from the people. When they got to the north-westernmost house, Ceodore knocked.
A voice said" who's there?"
"It's me, Ceodore" said the blue haired prince.
A woman answered and was pleasantly surprised" Good to see you Ceodore".
Ceodore smiled" nice to see you too. How are things going?".
The woman replied" My father has been working a lot at the castle. But lately, there have been strange things happening, my husband went to the castle, but the guards didn't acknowledge him".
The Hooded Man spoke up" We are heading there, and we need the key to the Underground Passage".
The woman replied" Oh, okay. Here it is".
She handed the key to Ceodore and said" if you see my father, Please tell him to stop overdoing it, he's getting too old to be running around like that".
Ceodore replied" I will, and thanks".
After resting up at the inn, Ceodore, the Hooded Man and the two mages went to the entrance to the Underground Passage, which was southwest from Cid's house.
The Underground Passage was still crawling with monsters, though they were supposedly few now. Occasionally, as Ceodore and his allies crossed, they were attacked by Crocogators and Electrifish, which they defeated with magic and steel.
The rest of the trek was somewhat smooth, except for when they encountered a Black Lizard and a Mythril Golem.
The Black Mage cast his most powerful magic, Ceodore and the Hooded Man took on the Black Lizard and the Mythril Golem separately, while the White Mage supported the two fighters and the Black Mage from the back.
The fight was fierce, but mercifully brief. Ceodore, the Black Mage, the White Mage, and the Hooded Man eventually won and continued on to their destination.
As they emerged from the passage, and entered the castle via the southwest door, Ceodore called out" Mother! Father!".
The Hooded Man spoke up" Ceodore, your parents are in this castle?".
Ceodore replied" yes, my father's name is Cecil and Rosa is my mother". The Hooded Man was surprised at hearing Cecil and Rosa's names, though Ceodore didn't notice.
The prince continued" I'll go look around, there should be some survivors"
"Be careful" said the Hooded man.
As Ceodore went ahead into the castle's keep, the White Mage explained to the Hooded Man" We must part here, our objective was to see you to Baron. We will return to Mysidia to report this".
The Hooded Man nodded" Farewell".
The two mages left the castle the way the group came, and the Hooded Man went to investigate the castle's current state on his own.
When he looked in the dungeon, he saw that most of Baron's guards were knocked out and stuck in the cell.
The Hooded Man was astonished as he thought 'Ceodore might be in trouble. I hope he's okay, but I'll check out the throne room'.
With that, he went to the castle's main keep to find out more about the castle's silent predicament.
When the Hooded Man stepped into the throne room, which looked empty at first, a voice came out of the shadows" Who is there?".
A familliar silver haired paladin had emerged from the shadows, and sat on the throne, it was Cecil.
The Hooded Man spoke first" I'm glad you're okay."
"Of course I'm fine. I have to be if Baron is to continue protecting the peace, how did you get in?" asked Cecil.
The Hooded Man was silent, as though sensing something strange about the paladin.
Cecil continued" if you are just a stray begger or something like that, I have to ask you to leave, I am a busy man".
The Hooded Man replied" My apologies" and left the throne room.
When he exited, Ceodore met him in the hallway" There's no one here, the Enterprise is gone, I wonder if they're all dead".
The Hooded Man nodded" Seams to be that way."
"I'm going to look for the Enterprise" said Ceodore.
" I will continue to accompany you" said the Hooded Man, as they proceeded to leave the castle.
Not long after, Cecil summoned several of his guards and sent them to intercept the Hooded Man.
While outside, the Hooded Man caught wind of whats happening by hearing the distant sound of the castle gate" Looks like we overstayed our welcome, we should hurry on towards Mist."
"Understood" said Ceodore. With that, the duo headed into the Chocobo forest to the southwest of town and raced on two chocobos to the entrance of the Mist Caverns.
There, the Hooded Man exposed a Zombie Infantry, which was really a monster in disguise.
Ceodore and the Hooded Man defeated the imposter, and began to traverse the cave.
Sorry that chapters were so short so far, but I will try to include some longer ones. Oh, and in case whoever reads this hasn't played FFIV: The After Years, Cecil isn't himself.
Anyway, feel free to review.