A/N: Hello, guys, and welcome back to let's play-Wait what, no, this isn't a let's play, shut the hell up, me.
Ahem, anyway, here's the next chapter (as I promised). I'm writting part of this in school, so yeah. If I manage to actually complete this here... well, that's a new achievement.
So, without further a do, let's get this over and done with-I mean let's do this! ^v^''
*warning and disclaimer in the first chapter (how many times do I have to write this...?)*
Enjoy!
Chronicles of the Drowned City
C.6: What are your reasons for going into the Labyrinth?
The ship had already sailed into the middle of the ocean, sometimes passing chunks of land here and there. Supplies are still plenty, so they should be able to sail for a few more days.
Heinrich however, wishes for them to hurry on back to shore, supplies still plenty or not.
Cia and Adisa, on the other hand are enjoying this not-so-little boat ride. The ship is surprisingly quiet right now, save for the sound of the wind, the rocking waves, and Heinrich's constant puking. How the hell is he still able to puke? He hasn't eaten anything in a while. His stomach contents should be empty by now.
"Hey, Cia?" Adisa called.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you want to go into the Labyrinth?"
Cia started at the question. Why she wanted to go into the Labyrinth?
"Why do you ask?" Cia asked back.
"Hey, I already told you about myself, right? So now's your turn," Adisa answered. Cia sighed and thought about it for a second.
"Alright fine. You know the Labyrinth in Etria, right?" Cia asked. Adisa nodded and let her continue.
"My grandad was part of the Guild that managed to explore that Labyrinth down to the last floor."
"How many floors were there?" Adisa cut in.
"About 30. Each stratum has 5 floors, they say," Cia explained.
"Anyway," she continued,"my grandad... was the last victim of that Labyrinth, and the only member of that Guild that didn't survive while fighting the Primevil, the monster on the 30th floor, and I guess the root of the Labyrinth," Cia said, unsure of the last part. Adisa's expression turned from that of cheerfulness to pity. Not that kind of pity though.
"They buried him in the Labyrinth, just in front of where the Primevil once stood, just as my granddad wanted just before they left to fight him."
"I see...," Adisa said ,"then, why did you enter the Labyrinth? Your granddad died in one of them, after all!"
"And that's exactly why!" Cia exclaimed, her tone suddenly becoming brighter. She then looked up to the sky.
"I want to see what my granddad saw, smell what he did, heard what he heard, felt what he felt!" she said, then sighed.
"I want to know why he would die just to see it," she said,"my granddad's always been one for exploring..."
Adisa looked at her with thoughtfull eyes. That is very different from her reason for going into the Labyrinth. She just wanted to tag along with Heinrich just to make sure he'll be okay. The same thing he's been doing for her all these years.
"Well," Adisa began ,"I'm counting on you!" she said, patting Cia's shoulder. Cia just looked at her, confused.
"Well, um... yeah, I'm... counting on you, too," she decided to answer ,"though hasn't it been like that from the beginning?" she asked.
"Well... just to make sure I can," Adisa said.
"H-Hey, what do you mean 'just to make sure you can'?! Does that mean you couldn't trust me before?!" Cia exclaimed.
"Whoa, slow down there! It's not like that!" Adisa answered, raising her hand in defense. Laughter suddenly erupted from Cia, and both laughed soon after.
Heinrich looked at them from where he's standing. So that's why she wanted to join a Guild so badly?
He smiled, knowing that they had a firm resolve to explore the Labyrinth. He then saw the sea again.
Let the puking commence!
"Ok, so a... um... mind getting this guy off of me?"
The small group have finally arrived at the Explorer's Guild. Right as they arrived, the -still- drunk Buccaneer ran over to the guy who owns the place, and immediately tackled him-well, no, not tackled per se-, and begged him to sign him up to the Guild.
Guad ran over to him and got his rake ready.
"Well, I guess I have no choice... Sorry!" He said, and hit the Buccaneer with the rake, knocking him out and releasing the Guild Master.
"Ok, thanks," he said, dusting off his shoulders. Yuki grabbed the now knocked out man and dragged him towards the nearest seat.
"I'm really sorry about that!" The Farmer said.
"No, no, it's okay," the Guild Master replied. "So, what was it again? Rudollf, a Buccaneer, and you, Guad, was it, a Farmer." Guad and the others nodded.
"'K, then, your now members of the uh... Zephyr Guild," the Guild Master said, scribbling down something on a parchment. When he was done, he stamped it and gave the parchment to them.
"Here," he said,"keep this with you, just in case."
Guad happily took it, and stowed it in his bag, he then went to where the Buccaneer is seated and tried to lift him off the couch, but then remembered just how heavy that man is compared to him.
"Umm... sorry, Yuki, was it? Could you... help me get him up?" the Farmer said. The Shogun sighed, and lifted up the Buccaneer with little difficulty, and all four of them went out of the Guild House.
After getting the Buccaneer up, they traveled to Napier's Firm. She did say something about not being able to sell certain things until they have permission to. Since they have the said permission now, they decided to talk with Napier again. If of course, she'll let them in...
Which, to their surprise she did.
"Glad to know that kid isn't with you right now," Napier said, sounding relieved.
"Kid? Who?" Zakharia asked.
"The Monk. The red-head Monk," she replied, annoyed.
"Well, you'll be seeing more of her soon," Yuki said.
"Tch... So, what can I do for you today?" She asked. Yuki then handed over the documents to her, which contained permission for the shop to have all items available for sale to them. She carefully read it over and nodded.
"Ok, then, so you survived the first quest. Good," she said. "Right then," she began, putting the parchments in one of the drawers, and taking something out of the cabinets.
"There are somethings I couldn't sell to you before," she said, then putting the item she grabbed on the table ,"like these," she said. The others looked at it, puzzled.
That thing looks like an ordinary long piece of thread. Why was that item not available to them until they got authorization to explore the Labyrinth?
"This baby here is called the 'Ariadne Thread'. Oh, and before you think this thing isn't important just because it looks like a piece of string," she explained ,"it's a valuable item. It let's you teleport back into the city instantly."
The others looked baffled by this. That string? Teleporting them back? Well, maybe that is a valuable-if not, the most valuable item to have in a Labyrinth. Besides weapons and armor of course, but those can break. This thread can help them if that happens.
Thank God they don't have to walk back everytime they get into the Labyrinth!
The Buccaneer is especially happy with that, and went to grab the thread. Just before his fingers came into contact with the wire, though, the shopkeeper slapped his hand away from it.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Did I ever say that this is going to be free?" she said, waving her pointing finger left and right ,"or any of the items here, for that matter?"
Yuki sighed. Ah, I knew it. This girl isn't going to give up the wire just like that. This is a shop, after all... everything here is bussiness.
"Fine. How much are you going to charge us that for?" Yuki asked. Hopefully, he can bargain with her.
"I'll sell it for a 100 En each. Lowest price you'll get~. I usually charge higher for these babies," she said. Yuki's expression darkened a bit. 'Lowest price?' he thought ,'Like hell. You think it's easy to got that much money?'
"So, will you take it or not?" she asked. "Of course, we have quite a bit of these in stock, so feel free to come back here any time you want. I'll have these ready," she said. Guad nodded.
"Alright, then... we might as well collect some money first, right?" He said, then excused himself and the others and got out of the shop.
"Oy, you think item gathering'll do the trick?" Rudollf suggested.
"Item gathering?" Zakharia asked.
"Yeah. 'Heard you can find spots to take herbs or mine stuff. Gather those items 'n sell 'em. They say those items sell for more than any material you'll get from monsters on said floor," Rudollf explained.
"Oh right, I've heard of those," Zakharia inquired ,"my old Guild members took some items from spots like that, too," she said.
" 'Old Guild members'?" the Buccanneer said, surprised ,"Kid, you've been to a Labyrinth before?" he asked. Zakharia nodded.
"But only to the second floor, so you shouldn't expect too much out of me," Zakharia said.
"Should we go now, then?" Yuki said, and started walking, the Zodiak clinging onto him. The Buccaneer shrugged, and started walking, Guad following suit.
As soon as they arrived in the Labyrinth, even the now only semi-intoxicated Buccaneer got sober.
What?
This Labyrith look amazing. That's all they could think right now. Yuki urged all of them to continue walking, their first order of bussiness being to find the sunbathing spot and collect some frog parts while they're at it.
It's nightime right now, as the sky indicates, so more frogs should come out. But...
How will they find that sunbathing spot?
Zakharia let go of the Shogun for a little and stopped on her tracks to read the stars. It's easier to do at night, so this shouldn't take too long. Hopefully, this'll also help them with finding the sunbathing spot.
Which of course it didn't.
"So, got anything?" Yuki asked. Zakharia shook her head, and started making her way towards where Yuki's standing right now. She then tripped on one of the tree roots sticking out of the ground. Yuki caught her just as she was about to hit the forest floor.
"Careful! Next time, just stop me when your about to do a reading," he said. He knows that she's capable of seeing without her eyes, but she's not really... good at it yet, so they still need to keep a close watch on her until she's good at it.
But, then again, latching onto someone all the time wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe he'll help her train that skill for a little while.
It's to dangerous to do so in the Labyrinth though, so hey, better safe than sorry, right?
He then held her hand and guided her through the passages, the others following behind him. Guad hesitated at first, but curiosity took over and he decided to ask anyway.
"Hey, Zakharia?" He called ,"why did you decide to go into the Labyrinth?"
"I just wanted to continue exploring again," she said. "I lost my sight because of a wound I got in the Labyrinth, but I can cast spells, and it's not like my skill's rusted or anything. I can manage."
"Really?" Rudollf asked, pulling out another vial of liquor he happened to sneak in.
"Where the hell did you get that?" The Shogun asked.
"Sneaked it in." And as the Buccaneer said that, he opened the lid, and started drinking. He only drank a little though, as Guad knocked the vial off of his hands, spilling the contents out.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, but we can't be having a drunk person walking around in the Labyrinth. You want us to die, or something?!" yelled the Farmer.
"Wait."
Everyone turned to Zakharia. Has she got something from the stars?
"I think I know where the sunbathing spot is," she said.
She lead everyone to the small clearing on the northern edge of the map. It's small, but the moonlight pierced right through the trees. Also, the area seems safe enough from monsters. If that fisherman can sneak past the monsters and head here, he could sunbathe anytime he wants to.
"Ok, so right here, is it?" said Rudollf, as he marked the map. His mapping skills are good. Maybe he could be a replacement in case Heinrich's not there with them?
They then heard rustlinng noises coming from the bushes near them. Three frogs then came out. Abnormal looking ones.
These are huge, white skinned frogs. Just like the ones Yuki and Zakharia fought when they entered the Labyrinth for the first time.
They all got their weapons ready. But, just as they were about to strike, Rudollf stepped forward and walked towards the frogs, brandishing his weapon, a wide grin on his face.
"You needed frog parts, right?"
He got his weapon ready, standing in his usual battle stance.
"Then I'll slice 'em up real good!" He then rushed forward, weapon in hand, slicing up the frogs, making sure to keep the parts they need intact. With a few swift, but not-so-accurate strikes, he defeated the frogs, and a few other enemies-those fish head things- that came at them. Most likely from hearing all the ruckus that's going on.
"There. Got 'em," the Buccaneer said, putting his sword back in it's sheath. Yuki was quite impressed by the man's skill. Sure, he didn't wield it like a Shogun would, but hey, there's a pirate for you. That sword looked big, it's impressive how easily that man wielded it.
They alll picked up the frog parts-the cheeks and legs- and went off, narrowly avoiding a Great Lynx that nearly set it's eyes on them.
As soon as they got out of the Labyrinth, they went towards the pub, handing over the items for the quest.
"Oh goodie, you got 'dem frog parts!" The bartender then took a look at the map they held out. "Ooh, and the sunbathing spot too, I'll take it? Nice, you got all two quests done!"
She then handed over three tent sets, and a pouch, with 100 En inside. Zakharia took the pouch, and Yuki took the tents.
"Right then! I'll see ya'll! Pubs 'bout to close, and there aren't any other quests at the moment," the bartender said. She then grabbed her things and walked towards the front door, waving her hand at them as she opened it.
"Come by often! There could be some new quests available for you guys!" She then walked out of the front door. As soon as she did, Yuki and the others walked out as well. Rudollf not forgetting to smuggle in some liquor for himself, of course.
What? The man's desprate for a drink!
And you know desperation makes people do things.
Well, a man can't live without a friend, right?
-To Be Continued-
A/N: Ahh, I'm so sorry for not updating after MORE THAN A YEAR PROBABLY. So, I decided to write two long chapters to compensate for that. GOMEN!
Ahem, anyway, yeah, so hope you guys enjoyed, and feel free to smack me upside the head if I don't update after too long... I'm that forgetfull and lazy...
'K then, bye!
And now I shall watch videos *creeps into youtube*