Second chapter done!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 2: Unfortune-Teller

[BGM: Peaceful Town – Dragon Quest VIII]

"Crikey! I dunno wot the old codger's on about sometimes!" Yangus said, as we were walking towards the stairs leading to the upper level of the town. "But I s'pose we'd better do wot 'e says."

"Well, he did give us why the reason we're seeking him." I reminded.

"This town is pretty big, though." Youmu observed. "Where should we start looking?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'm the best there is when it comes to lookin' for people." Yangus spoke up. "It's my 'piece de resistance', as they say." …I was surprised that Yangus was able to speak French so well.

"Aw, and I was just about to go around asking people…" Aya sighed in disappointment.

"Yeah, and doing that while probably taking embarrassing pictures of them as always." Reimu rolled her eyes.

"Hey!"

After sweatdropping at that moment, I decided to ask Aya, "Say, there's something I've been wondering about you, Aya…"

"Really? And what is it?" Aya asked.

"How did you make your wings disappear from your back all of a sudden?"

"Oh, glad you asked! See, I'm able to make my wings appear and disappear at will! Like this!" she then made her crow wings pop out from out of nowhere, before retracting them back as she turned around to show me that her wings were really gone again.

"Wow… Cool!"

"Heh heh, I know!"

"Well, anyways…" I changed the subject and addressed Yangus, "Where do you suggest we go first, Yangus?"

"I suggest findin' the town's bar." Yangus replied. "From my experience, we can find all sorts o' info there wiv no problems, guv."

"Then it's settled. We're going to the local pub." once up at the upper level, we immediately saw a sign with a big mug of ale printed on it with a little swishing arrow. Just from seeing that mug of ale on it, I could tell that we've arrived at the bar and so we went around to the side, where the entrance to it was. "Oh, wait…" I stopped and turned to the girls. "I'm afraid that you girls will have to stay outside."

"What? Why?" Marisa asked.

"Basically, children aren't allowed in bars since they're illegal to drinking. And even if some of you girls are many years old, you still have the appearance of children, so you might get kicked out instantly…"

"Ohh…"

"Well, fine, we'll wait out here." Remilia said. "But you better be quick about it!"

I blinked a bit at Remilia's sudden commanding tone, but I nodded back and then I and Yangus entered the pub.

[BGM: Boogie-Woogie in the Bar – Dragon Quest VIII]

Lively music from a piano and the strong smell of ale immediately greeted the two of us the moment we went in. The bar wasn't filled to the brim with people that much, but it was just enough to make the place lively and loud. There was also a single Bunny Girl, who works as a barmaid, flitting about filling up the customers' mugs.

"Well, 'ere we are." Yangus said. "Now we just 'ave to find information about that Rylus geezer."

"Right." I replied. "I'll be going to the counter." and so I walked over there, where I saw a middle-aged man with afro-like black hair and wearing what seemed to be orange and red gypsy clothes sitting in front of the counter while interacting with the barkeeper. Because I was just a few feet away from him, I could clearly see that this man looks like he's been getting piss drunk for a long while, as there were several empty bottles on the counter around him and he sported a flush red face.

"Haven't you had enough, Mr. Kalderasha, sir?" the barkeeper asked the man, who's apparently named Kalderasha. "I'm sorry but I've got a business to run. This, er, haphazard fortune-telling of yours is costing me a fortune in free drinks!"

"WHAT!?" Kalderasha yelled, slamming his glass cup onto the counter angrily, spilling liquid all over it. "My fortune-telling… HAPHAZARD!? Are you a complete fool!? Let me tell you something for free. All fortune-telling is 'haphazard'! What do you expect!?" then, he proceeded to mumble what's possibly drunken monologue. "Anyway, so what if I saw it? So what if I foretold the fire? If I'd tried to stop it, then what!?" 'Fire'? Oh, he must be talking about the burnt down house I saw earlier. "It would only have led to another disaster, that's what!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kalderasha, sir. I don't follow…" the barkeeper trailed off. "If you're saying you knew about the fire, shouldn't you at least have warned Master Rylus?" Hey, that's the one we're looking for! I immediately perked my eyes the moment I heard the name and continued to listen to the conversation.

"Yes… Poor Rylus… How many times I argued with the old man… I cannot believe he is gone…"

…Did he just say 'gone'?! I almost couldn't believe my ears. Rylus had died in the fire, and it was all because he didn't listen to Kalderasha's warning. All my hopes of trying to get a clue about Dhoulmagus now seemed lost for me. But who would even burn Rylus' house down anyways? I really wanted an answer for that. So I approached Kalderasha, and it didn't take too long for him to immediately notice me:

"What!? What is it?" but before I could reply… "Hmm!? …You!" Kalderasha suddenly pushed himself out of his chair and leaned in very close to my face in drunken wonderment as I, bewildered and a bit freaked out, immediately backed up. Sheesh, that's the second time someone invades my personal space…

"Um, s-sir… Personal space, please…" I murmured uncomfortably.

But Kalderasha just ignored me and creepily added, "Come, show your face to the Great Kalderasha! Yes! Yeeesss!" Ugh, was this prolonged 'yes' really necessary…?

[BGM End]

Just then, the bar door was thrown open in a loud bang, catching everyone in the bar's attention as they turned over to see a man standing at the entrance.

[BGM: Hurry! We are in Danger – Dragon Quest VIII]

"Q-Quick, quick! Everyone come quick! There's a monster in town!" he shouted in despair.

My face went pale. "Oh, no…" I thought, as I knew exactly whom he might be referring to.

"What!?" one of the customers exclaimed in alarm as he stood up from his seat.

"Just come and see! The whole town's gone crazy!" the man said shrilly, and then I watched as all the customers in the bar (except for Kalderasha) sprinted out of the bar, following the man.

I quickly ran over to Yangus. "Yangus! Did you hear all that?" I asked.

"I did. This don't sound good." Yangus replied, then his eyes widened in realization, "I wonder if that monster they 'ad 'ere was…!?"

"No doubt about it. Let's go get the girls and then we'll see it for ourselves!"

With that, we both ran out the bar and out of the alley, where we spotted the girls looking down at the town's lower level. The girls heard our footsteps and turned around to us.

"Oh, there you are!" Reisen exclaimed, then she pointed down at the square asked, "What's going on down there?"

"No time to explain! Hurry!" I ushered as I and Yangus raced down the stairs, with the girls following us. Down there, we stopped by the fountain where we were met with a huge, ear-deafening mob that filled the entire court.

"Wot the…!?" Yangus gasped. "This ain't good!"

Cirno then flew up a bit, possibly to take a look at what was in the middle of the crowd (and thankfully, no one seemed to notice her), and then she replied to us, "Hey, they're gathering around that ugly green toad king that's with us!"

I sighed as I facepalmed. "That's what I've been dreading about…" then I removed my hand from my face and told everyone, "We'll just have to force our way into the crowd and help him!"

[BGM End]

As we proceeded to force our way through, we could already hear some of the disgusted reactions from the citizens:

"Urgh! It looked at me!"

"Ewwww! It's hideous!"

Then, the same man who busted into the bar barked, "Get out! Get out, monster! You're not welcome here!" and… they all started throwing rocks at poor Trode as he cowered on the floor helplessly while crying in pain.

Suddenly, a horse neigh was heard and the rock-throwing fit stopped as much to everyone's surprise (and mine as well), Medea had fiercely stepped in front of Trode to shield him from the mob's sight, glaring at them with a valiant look. I soon snapped out of my awed trance and continued pushing my way through the crowd while saying, "Excuse me… coming through…" and once I, Yangus and the girls finally reached Trode and Medea, I went over to take Medea's reins while shooting the mob a stern look, while Yangus picked up Trode and then we all proceeded to take our leave.

"Get out! Out out out out!"

"Get out of 'ere!"

"We don't want your kind 'ere!"

We heard the jeers of the crowd behind us as we were leaving the town, and these sounds were only drowned out after the entrance gates shut once we were back outside.

[BGM: Peaceful Town (Night) – Dragon Quest VIII]

By the time we made it out, it was already nighttime. The moon was high in the sky, and owls could be heard in the distance. I had led Medea onto the soft grass right next to a tree, while Yangus dropped Trode off onto the dirt path.

"Well! That was a fine reception!" Trode scoffed before he started stomping his foot on the grass. "Don't they realize who I am!? Hmph! Judging a book by its cover! Don't they know it's what's inside that counts!?"

"Yeah! You can say that again!" Yangus agreed huskily, nodding his head.

"If only convincing them was that easy…" Alice sighed. As much as I don't want to admit it, she really does have a point.

Trode was able to calm down afterwards, and addressed me. "So then, Eight, did you manage to find Master Rylus?"

I fidgeted for a second, since I knew he was not going to like the news. "Well, about that…" I slowly began. "He's…dead."

Trode was immediately left shocked. "What!? He's dead!? Oh, no, no, no…"

The girls also had the same reaction. "Is that true?!" Aya asked.

"Afraid so." I lamented. "That burnt down house we passed by before? That was Rylus's all along. He had died in the fire."

"Oh…" Aya frowned.

We all went silent as Trode began to pace and walk a little down the dirt path, clearly looking distraught about the news, until he turned around and spoke to us, "Well…I suppose there's no point crying over spilt milk…" Huh… he certainly changes gears really fast. "It's Dhoulmagus we're after! He's the one who cursed the Princess and I, after all. He's the one who made us look so ridiculous!"

"We know that." Reimu said.

"I had hoped Rylus might be able to help us locate him. But it seems we'll just have to track Dhoulmagus down by ourselves. With Rylus gone, we have nothing further to gain from staying here. Let's be on our way!"

He began to walk over to the carriage as we followed suit, but then…

"Wait!" a voice called out to us from behind as we turned around, and we saw that this voice belonged to a girl with soft brown hair, watery deep blue eyes, and wore a plain orange and white dress. Wait… where did she come from? Has she been following us? "Please…wait…" she spoke again, with her hands held in prayer and her eyes melancholic. "I'm sorry to come running after you like this. It's just that…I wanted to ask you a favour."

We all exchanged surprised glances. "Are you not afraid of me, young lady?" Trode asked her. Oh, that's right… She didn't even seem frightened one little bit by Trode's appearance, unlike the rest of the town's citizens. How odd…

"I dreamt about you…" Uh…what? "I dreamt that some people came to town with a strange creature. It was…sort of halfway between a human and a monster… And I dreamt that they could make wishes come true…" O…kay? I don't really see myself as a wish granter. I was looking at her in complete confusion, with even the girls having the same reaction as they glanced at me with an expression of 'what's her deal?', and I only gave a shrug in response.

"A strange creature!?" Trode questioned in cold shock, causing Yangus to laugh at him like a lunatic. "Are you referring to me?"

The girl quickly realized her mistake. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude!" Meanwhile, Trode recovered from the insult to his pride and glared at Yangus, which made him stop laughing as he looked away… and then he proceeded to pick his nose. Ew…

"Heh, not to worry. I've had worse things said to me today!" Trode chuckled like it was no big deal. "You know, you remind me of my Medea. You're about the same age. Anyway, you said you had a dream about me? Most peculiar…"

"I'm sorry…" the girl apologized with a small smile. "I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Valentina, daughter of the great fortune-teller, Kalderasha." Wait, she's Kalderasha's daughter? Ah, now those prophetic dreams make sense since she could have inherited some of her father's powers. Although… they don't really look much alike…but that's just me. "If you could just come to my house, I'll explain everything there. It's by the well, at the far end of town. I'll be waiting for you!" she then runs back to the town.

"Wot was she rabbitin' on about?" Yangus questioned. "Come round my 'ouse, she says…" You know, not even I could make much of this situation either…

"Magnificent!" Trode suddenly blurted out in extreme excitement, as we all shifted our gaze to him. "She wasn't afraid to look at me at all! Not one bit! Ah, she reminds me of my Medea! We must give this young girl a helping hand!" he then turned to look at me. "Right then, Eight, my boy! Go and find the house by the well and see what it is she wants."

I guess we didn't have much of a choice. "Okay, but what about you?" I asked.

"Hm? Me? I'll wait here with the Princess. We don't want to cause any more of a stir." Fair enough. I mean, considering what has happened just before…

"Right. Come on, Yangus, girls." I said and we walked back into the town again. I just hope we won't get kicked out again since…you know, we were very calm towards Trode unlike the citizens and they might suspect that we were with the 'monster'.

Luckily for me, nobody that was still wandering around the town seemed to bat a suspicious eye at us, and it also helped that the streets were mostly empty due to being so late.

"Ah, I'm glad that it's finally night." Remilia spoke up in a relaxed manner, doing a stretch.

"Oh, is it because vampires like you are more comfortable in the night?" I guessed. Well, that's what I've heard about when reading about vampires.

"Yes, indeed. That, and the fact that I'm much more powerful in the night."

"Huh, I see."

"Uh…Cirno, what are you doing?! You're going to draw people's attention!" I suddenly heard Reisen exclaiming to Cirno with anxiety and so I turned over… to see that the ice fairy was flying in the air next to us. Oh, boy…

"Oh, it'll be fine! This place is mostly empty, anyways!" Cirno replied dismissively.

"So? You just said 'mostly empty'!" Reimu pointed out. "Therefore, that doesn't mean it's entirely empty!"

"Eh, I doubt anyone will notice me when we're here in the alleys!" And sure enough, we were already at the upper level walking around the alleys in between houses right now. "Just you wait! By being up here, I will locate the well in no time!" she proclaimed confidently… "Ooof!" right before she would slam into the wooden portion of… a well.

"Idiot…" Marisa facepalmed. "We would've been able to find it by walking anyways!"

"Well… at least we found our destination." I said while looking at the house next to the well.

"'ey, guv…" before I could twist the door's handle to enter, Yangus tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. "I think I'm gonna wait fer you and the girls right 'ere." he said, leaning against the well.

"Huh? Why?" I asked, confused.

"Well, if that Kalderasha bloke comes back, it's likely that 'e would be freaked out by me bein' in there… if ya catch me drift." Ah, now I understood. Any father would be beyond the edge of the netherworld finding a guy like Yangus talking to their daughter at night, and that might almost certainly lead to another mob fiasco. "B'sides, these girls weren't allowed to enter the pub wit ya, right? So consider this as me payin' the debt to 'em."

"You didn't really have to… but we appreciate it, nonetheless." Youmu replied.

"Alright, then I'll be back soon." I said with a nod, reaching out for the doorknob again. "Let's head in, girls." and with that, we went inside.

The interior of this house was quite something; it had curtains, draperies and rugs everywhere, and several magical items and strange masks hung along the wall. "Wow, so many magical items…" Alice awed in fascination as she took notice of said stuff. "I would actually kill to have all of these back in my house."

"Are you very fond of magic, Alice?" I asked her.

"Very much." she nodded with a smile. "Ever since I became a magician, I've been highly attached to magic in general. As a result, I happen to have a large collection of magic items in my house."

"Ah…" If that's the case, then she's really going to enjoy what my world offers. Magic is incredibly common here, after all! Anyways, we would then focus on the circular table in the middle of the room, where a large crystal ball stood… and Valentina was right behind it, sleeping with her head on the table.

"Oh, that poor girl… She must be really tired." I thought pitifully, as I walked over to her silently and gently shook her.

Slowly, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. "Ah! You came!" she exclaimed upon taking notice of us, and stood up from her chair to straighten her clothes. "I'm so sorry! I, I must have drifted off. How rude of me!"

"It's okay." I replied with a smile. "It's getting late, after all."

"So, what do you want from us?" Reimu asked.

"I wanted to ask you a favour about this crystal ball." Valentina replied, directing to the crystal ball at the table.

We looked at it, but then we would look back at her with blank looks. "Um, what about it?" Aya asked. "Looks pretty normal to me…"

"…Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I should start from the beginning?"

"Yeah, maybe you should." I said.

"Of course. Let me explain. My father, Kalderasha, was once a really famous fortune-teller. Lost treasure, missing people… There was nothing the Great Kalderasha couldn't help people with. But then one day, he lost his powers. All of a sudden, nothing he foretold turned out to be true any more." she directs to the crystal ball again. "It's probably because he stopped using a real crystal ball. This glass ball isn't-"

[BGM End]

But all of a sudden, the door burst open right at that moment, making Valentina gasp as we all turned to see Kalderasha, still looking a bit drunk, standing on the doorway. Uh-oh… this could spell out trouble.

"Valentina! What is going on here!?" Kalderasha questioned as he strode in. "How many times have I told you not to touch my crystal ball?" it was then that he saw me. "What? Aren't you that boy from the pub!? What brings you here?" I was about to reply…but he cut me off, "…Gah! Never mind! I do not know what my daughter has asked you and these girls, but you can forget it! I do not need your help! I am fine as I am." he then addresses Valentina again. "I am going to bed. Valentina! Say your farewells and show our young visitors to the door." and with that, he trod up the stairs.

"Yeesh, how rude of him…" Remilia muttered with a pout, folding her arms across her chest.

Valentina sighed sadly. "I'm sorry about my father. But whatever he says, he's the one who's really suffering since he lost his powers. That's why I wanted to ask you this favour. Can you find him a crystal ball? One that's big enough to bring back his powers?"

I stood quiet for a bit as I thought about my answer. Perhaps if we do help Kalderasha get his powers back, he could track Dhoulmagus for us. That would definitely solve our problems instead of having us wander around this immense world like lost lambs for days. Plus, I didn't really know what it was about Valentina; maybe it was her (admittedly) pretty face, or the fact that she was like Medea. Either way, I just couldn't refuse her. "Sure, we'll do it." I smiled. "Right, girls?" I looked down at them.

They exchanged odd glances, before Reimu replied for them with a shrug, "Yeah, I guess."

"Really? You will!? Oh, this is exactly how it all happened in my dream! So far everything's come true!" Valentina beamed. "I also dreamt that there's a crystal ball hidden deep inside the cave under the big waterfall to the south of town." …Wow, she even dreamt about the crystal ball's location? But good thing she did, though; that will make our search for it far easier now. "I suppose only the daughter of the Great Kalderasha could know a thing like that!" Heh, so true.

[Resume "Peaceful Town (Night)" BGM]

With things done in there, I and the girls exited Kalderasha and Valentina's house and we immediately met up with Yangus. "So? 'ow did it went?" he asked. We then told him about everything Valentina said to us. "Ah, gotcha. Well, I guess we better report back to the old codger, eh? Mind you…" he gave out a long yawn. I couldn't blame him, though; I was feeling very tired as well, and the same might be for the girls too. "I'm pretty knackered. I thought givin' up the old bandithood would mean I could keep up more silverised hours!" Oh right, Yangus used to be a bandit before we met. "But life on the straight road don't seem no better in that area. Still, you know best, guv!"

I smiled. "That I do."

Soon, we all exited the town and found Trode sitting in the carriage. "Hmmm, I see…" Trode mused, taking in the information we had told him. "Magnificent!" he blurted out in excitement again, making me flinch in startle at that outburst. Honestly, I don't know what's up with him sometimes; he tends to get excited very easily. "Such devotion to her father! I'm impressed! Just how a daughter should be! And if this Kalderasha gets his powers back, there's nothing he can't find, am I right? Then we'll kill two birds with one stone! If everything goes according to plan, we'll find out where that hateful Dhoulmagus is. But time's getting on."

"No kidding." Marisa said, and yawned. "I could sure go for a nice rest now…" You said it, Marisa. I could barely stand anymore.

"Medea and I will stay outside." Trode said. "That's the last time we set foot in a barbaric town like this. But you all should spend the night at the inn and rest well so that you're ready to take on the world tomorrow! In the morning, we leave for the waterfall cave!"

"Understood." I nodded. "Well, see you tomorrow, Your Majesty." and with that, I turned around along with Yangus and the girls back to the town once again, ready to get a good night's sleep at the inn and officially set off on our journey tomorrow morning.

To be continued…

Eight: So, I guess the real action will start out next time, right?

Yes indeed! Are you excited, Eight?

Eight: You bet I am! Don't worry, I'll be patient.

Okay, and I hope you'll all be patient too! See you then!