After a very long hiatus... I'm finally back with writing again!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 11: A Kingdom in Despair

We now move on to the next day, where we were all sleeping in one of the abbey's guest rooms and I was once again the first one to wake up before everyone else. I still felt quite tired, nonetheless; we went through a lot during the night of the day before the previous one, so I and my party didn't get enough sleep for the day of the funeral as a result. We had spent the entire previous day in the abbey suffering from fatigue, and I even remember that I had immediately collapsed on my bed and fallen asleep while completely skipping dinnertime. Because of this, I was feeling very hungry when I woke up.

Just then, the door opened up and I glanced over to see Angelo leaning against the doorframe. "Ah, you're awake!" he said. "…I realize I said it before the funeral, but I just wanted to assure you that everyone knows you're innocent. If it weren't for you, Captain Marcello could well have been killed too. We're all in your debt."

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. "Well, thanks… And also thank you for getting us out of that cell."

"It was nothing. I was just clearing my debts; never let it be said I don't pay what I owe." Angelo smirked, but then his face went serious. "…Anyway, the Templar Captain has summoned you to his office." he directed a thumb to the other side of the door.

"Oh, is that so?" I asked… and then my stomach growled, causing me to lightly blush in embarrassment as Angelo chuckled in amusement by that.

"I figured that you must be feeling very hungry, considering that you skipped dinner last night. Don't worry; I set up your breakfast in Marcello's office. Well, I'll see you later then." he turns around and strode out the room.

[BGM: Friar's Determination – Dragon Quest VIII]

Not even thinking twice (blame my hunger for that), I began making my way to Marcello's office. There, I was met with two Templar knights guarding the door to the office, so I let them know about my appointment and they cleared the way for me.

The room was pretty comfortably but at the same time not richly furnished, having a few books on a shelf in the left corner of the room and several robes and armor hung on the wall in the right corner. Marcello (whose head was still bandaged) was at the far end of the room, sitting behind a desk with a plate containing bread, eggs and cheese and a glass of milk laid in front of an empty chair across from him, so I assumed that this was my breakfast.

"…Ah! There you are! I trust you slept well." Marcello finally greeted after a moment. I didn't even had time to come up with a reply, because as soon as the familiar scent of eggs went into my nostrils, I instantly found myself sitting on the chair and starting to eat my breakfast, not even caring if Marcello was watching. Knowing him, though, he probably doesn't seem to care that I was eating right in front of him.

"King Trode has explained everything. I apologize for having doubted you." he continued. "Dhoulmagus is the true culprit. In the name of the Goddess, we must strike down that diabolical jester! But I cannot leave here now. As the new Abbot, I have much to do. I must be here to guide my people. So I was wondering… According to what King Trode tells me, you are all pursuing Dhoulmagus, right?" I nodded. "So I have a proposal. I would like my brother Angelo to accompany you on your quest."

I nearly choked on my milk upon hearing this. Angelo? Joining on our quest? While I do appreciate another traveling companion with us, the problem comes from Jess herself (whom he clearly fancies): he may have made up for his betrayal, but she still hasn't forgiven him for the way he propositioned her outside Simpleton's pub. In that case, then he'll need to work hard to get her to forget that.

"Brother?" and speaking of the devil, Angelo's voice came from behind me as I, startled, turned my head to see him quietly leaning against the wall by the door, his arms crossed while shooting an unamused glare at Marcello. "I thought you said you wouldn't have a rule-breaker as a brother…"

"Quiet!" Marcello spat. "I wasn't talking to you!" how rude… and I could see that Angelo did not take that response kindly as he looked away with a scowl. After calming himself down, Marcello spoke, "Angelo. You are the only one we can spare at the moment." at this, Angelo loosened his scowl and looked back at Marcello. "Everyone else here has duties to fulfill. Only you are without such responsibilities."

"…I'm useless, you mean! No need to beat about the bush." Angelo then walked closer to the desk while nonchalantly shrugging and stood next to me. "Fine. I understand. You've made yourself perfectly clear. I will leave the abbey. I will travel with these people. And I will avenge the Abbot's murder." he gave a bow, and stormed out of the room.

Marcello cleared his throat in order to catch my attention, as I immediately turned back and saw him handing to me an old paper of sorts. "…This is a map of the world. If you're going to catch Dhoulmagus, I'm sure you'll find it indispensable." ah, finally! A map! "Consider it a peace offering. For having doubted you and your friends. Please." by the time he said that, I had finished my breakfast and so I took the map from him and put it into my knapsack. After that, we both stood up and Marcello did a clap. "Very well then! I entrust Angelo to your care, and wish you well on your journey." then we bowed to each other, and I left the room.

"Looks like Dhoulmagus gave us the slip again, eh?" soon after I left, I heard Yangus' voice as I looked over to see my companions on the hallways having a conversation. "An' all them people dead… I can't believe it."

"Yeah… I couldn't sleep at all last night." Jessica sighed. "Argh! Curse Dhoulmagus!"

"Just what is he trying to do? Kill as many innocent people as he can?" Alice wondered.

"No idea, but we have to get to the bottom of this somehow." Youmu said.

'Maybe it's best if I divert from this topic right now before they discuss it further…' I thought and called out, "Hey, guys!"

They all looked at me. "Oh! Mornin', guv!" Yangus waved as I went over to them. "Where 'ave ya been? We were lookin' all over for ya after our breakfast!"

"Oh, that's because I was on a meeting with Marcello just now."

"Marcello had summoned you?" Aya asked, and I told them everything.

"…Seriously? That filthy cheat is coming with us?" Jessica deadpanned. I should have seen that reaction coming…

"And you said that he and Marcello are brothers?" Reimu raised an eyebrow, then she turned to Remilia. "I thought you were just kidding when you told the rest of us."

"Come on now, have I ever lied to you?" Remilia questioned.

"Well, it's hard to believe that those two are brothers when they look nothing alike!" then she decided to change the subject. "Whatever. Might equals right, as they say. I'm happy to take whatever help we can get."

"So that new guy is joining us? Hooray!" Cirno cheered.

"Awright! Sweet! Nice! Diamond!" Yangus exclaimed. "…I'm right fired up now! Ready for action!"

I cracked a chuckle by both Cirno and Yangus' upbeat demeanors before we all proceeded to the abbey's exit, where we found Angelo standing there waiting for us.

"Hello again." he greeted, appeared to have restored his usual good humor. "Well, it looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other. I hope you don't mind me coming along. I'm not doing this because Marcello ordered me to. I'm doing it for Abbot Francisco. He was like a father to me. That jester…Dhoulmagus… He can't get away with this. And…" he paused, his eyes hardening and his face turning serious. "…This place. I'll be glad to escape. It's no hardship being asked to join you, believe me."

Suddenly, he was right in front of Jessica, doing a courteous bow to her. "And anyway, I promised you, didn't I? I said I'd reward you for helping me. So, Jessica. From now on, I'll protect you. I won't leave your side. Consider me your personal bodyguard."

As you might expect, Jessica scoffed and looked away from Angelo while folding her arms across her chest. "Sure, Romeo. In your dreams!" she sassed, but Angelo just grinned unrepentantly.

"Okay, let's hit the road!" Angelo said while making a 'come on' gesture to the doors, and so we all left the abbey for real now.

[BGM: Strange World – Dragon Quest VIII]

Outside and in the open fields, I immediately went to get the Alchemy Pot in the carriage to start working on creating more items. With Angelo joining our party, it's fair enough that he would need some supplies too in order to keep up with me, Yangus and Jessica. As I waited for the Pot to finish its work, I was watching Angelo striking a conversation with the Gensokyo girls, presumably to get to know them better since they're from a different world than ours. Yangus and Jessica were also standing next to them.

"So, since I'll be sticking with you all in this journey for a while, I believe it's fair that I should get to know more about you, right?" Angelo said. "Is it true that you girls came from another world and are demons?"

"Yes, indeed." Reimu nodded. "We came from a world known as Gensokyo, to be precise. And as for us being demons… sort of. Only I and Marisa are humans…well, Youmu technically counts too but she's also half-phantom, so…"

"Half-phantom?"

"Basically, I exist as both human and phantom at the same time, making me half-dead." Youmu explained.

"Okay, that's…quite complicated to understand. But then again, I just know that crazier things will get thrown at me eventually."

"Anyways…" Reimu continued where she left off. "The others with us that aren't human belong to different species each: Cirno is a fairy, Remilia is a vampire, Reisen is a moon rabbit, and Alice and Aya are both youkai, or in other words, demons."

"I see."

"Youkai can also come in different species, too." Alice added. "I'm a magician, while Aya is a tengu crow."

"That's right!" Aya exclaimed, spreading out her crow wings to further empathize her point.

"Huh, fascinating…" Angelo mused. "…Still, I would never expect to see demons like you that look so…human-like."

"That's pretty much how all demons in our world look like." Reimu said.

"But don't worry, you'll get used to it! Just like Eight and the others with him!" Marisa grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

"Right." Angelo chuckled amusedly. "I highly appreciate you all welcoming me aboard so quickly."

"Hmph… I'm still quite mad about how you pretended to betray us in the last two days…" Remilia pouted. "I understand the reason behind this, but that was still uncalled for!"

"Exactly!" Jessica agreed.

"Now, now, let's not dwell in the past." Angelo advised. "It's never a good thing, you know." he has a good point there.

"Like 'e said." Yangus spoke approvingly.

Angelo hummed. "It's about time I left the abbey, really. Far too many rules and regulations and not enough fun for my liking. And besides…I wouldn't mind getting to know the delightful Jessica more intimately too." yep, he definitely has hots for her.

"Tch…" Jessica scoffed, looking away from Angelo.

"I'm surprised that ya only flirt wiv Jessica, but not wiv the little gals 'ere." Yangus remarked.

"Hey, just because I like to charm girls doesn't mean I don't respect their ages." Angelo replied. "I only do this for young women; these girls right here look far too young."

"Hey! I'm not too young!" Cirno retorted. "I'll let you know that I'm over 77 years old!"

This earned a dumbfounded look on Angelo, Yangus and Jessica's faces while Reimu sighed. "Eight, are you done yet?" she asked me, attempting to change the subject.

By this, I glanced down at the Pot and saw that it stopped rumbling. "I think it's done!" I said as everyone immediately turned to me. "Although, I mostly created stuff for Angelo considering that he just joined us."

And so, I gave Angelo another Feathered Cap and a Scale Shield, as well as providing some batches of Strong Medicine to him too. Oh, and remember the Iron Nail I found in the Ruined Abbey? I used it on my old boomerang to create a Reinforced Boomerang, and I decided to equip it. Then, once we were all ready to set off, I put the Alchemy Pot back into the carriage and we walked over to Trode on the driver's seat.

"Well, well! So Angelo's joined the ranks of my retainers now too!" he said. Yep, he likes to refer anyone travelling with him as 'retainers'.

"Hey, I'm just coming along for the ride for a while." Angelo reminded. "I'm not in the habit of pledging my services to monsters."

Trode didn't take this response kindly. "What impudence! You're even more uncouth than that oaf Yangus!"

"'ey!" Yangus exclaimed offendedly, but Trode ignored him and continued:

"Being in your sorry company makes me look all the more dignified!"

"Now wait a minute, 'Grandad'!" Angelo exclaimed. Oh, looks like Yangus isn't the only one calling Trode that… "…Never mind. Let's just be on our way."

"Y'know, apart from the abbey, there's also a big town an' a castle on this cont'nent." Yangus informed. "But they're both a fair old way away, mind."

To confirm this, I took out the map Marcello gave me and unrolled it. For a quick information about my world, it was incredibly big, divided into three large continents. There were also five islands in the middle and another one on the far upper left corner, which did make me wonder who would live in an island that's so isolated from the others. But anyways, I shook that thought off and focused on searching for our location in the map, and upon finding it, I carefully traced the road with my finger… and hoo boy, Yangus was right: the town and kingdom he was talking about was Ascantha, and it was indeed very far away from where we were standing now. We would probably take an entire day to reach it. Luckily, there was a chapel on the way located next to the river, so we could rest there and reach the kingdom on the following day.

With that in mind, I proceeded to address my companions, "Then we'll go with Yangus' suggestion and head off to that kingdom, Ascantha. We might not know where Dhoulmagus headed off to, but perhaps we can find some clues there."

"Well, there are still plenty of places we haven't explored on this continent." Jessica stated. "Dhoulmagus must be here somewhere!"

"Right. Problem is, Ascantha is so far away that we'll take a whole day to get there." I said while showing the map to them. "But there's also a chapel somewhere close to the river, so we can spend the night there."

Aya sighed. "If only you guys could also fly like us… Then we would be able to get there in just a short time!"

"You could definitely get there in mere seconds." Youmu said.

"Don't forget about me." Remilia said with a smirk. "Vampires like me possess the speed of tengu, after all."

"I can also make it there fast as well!" Marisa chimed in pridefully. "With the help of my mini-Hakkero, I can speed through the sky like a rocket! Of course, I have to admit that I'm still nowhere near as fast as Aya when she flies at max speed…" she sweatdropped.

"Same for me, as much as I hate to admit…" Remilia muttered.

"But alas, no one in this world is able to fly like us." Alice stated. "Then we have no choice but to go at their pace and on foot."

"Man, that's boring…" Cirno grumbled.

"We know that, but it's the only option we got." Reimu said. "So quit whining."

"Well, then it's settled!" Trode exclaimed. "We're off to Ascantha!"

And with that, we proceeded down the road, knowing that we'll be encountering more monsters along the way.

[BGM End]

Several hours of fighting later…

"Whew…" Reisen sighed tiredly, as it was currently dusk and we were all making our way to the Riverside Chapel looking very tired and almost running out of energy after fighting so many monsters. "I'm…beat…"

"Same 'ere, bunny…" Yangus threw in.

"I wouldn't be feeling this tired if it was nighttime…" Remilia groaned.

"How much further until the chapel, Eight…?" Jessica asked.

Looking up ahead, I spotted a bridge over the river and on the other side was a chapel. That must be it! "We're almost there!" I replied. "We just need to cross the bridge!"

Gathering all the strength we could muster, we all crossed the bridge and entered the chapel, ready to spend the night there and recover ourselves.

…

…

However, no matter how much I tried… I couldn't sleep at all. Perhaps it was anxiety about heading over to a new kingdom, fear that Dhoulmagus might attack at any point (he did disappear into the darkness last time, after all), or something else entirely. Either way, something was bothering me, and my body felt a little tense as I laid on my bed. Maybe heading out for some fresh air might calm me down a bit, I thought. So quietly, I climbed out of my bed and snuck out of the room and out of the chapel, where the cold breeze of the night soon greeted me.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" I barely finished rubbing my eyes when I suddenly heard Angelo's voice nearby, causing me to jolt up in surprise and look around until I found him a few feet away from me, with his back leaning against a tree and arms folded across his chest.

"Angelo?" I spoke as I walked over to him. "What are you doing out here?" but he didn't respond, and instead looked up at the night sky. I eyed him suspiciously; by his posture and the look on his face, he seemed troubled about something. "Is something bothering you?" I asked him.

Angelo sighed. "It's nothing important…"

My eyes perked up; I knew that when someone gives that answer, it really does mean that something is bugging their mind lately, and they don't want to say it out to others because they feel insecure or scared to say it out. Noticing a tree stump behind me, I sat down on it and addressed Angelo, "You know, maybe it's best if you get that out of your chest now. Not that I want to force you, mind… I'm just saying that because you'll feel much better if you do that instead of keeping it in for too long."

After a short pause between us, Angelo finally unfolded his arms and replied, "…I don't know. Maybe things will never be right between us. He… Marcello… will never forgive me. If only we didn't share common blood, I'm sure we'd get along fine."

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.

Shutting his eyes, Angelo followed, "Perhaps I should start from the beginning…"

And thus, Angelo began telling me his backstory. It went off something like this…

[BGM: Prisoncity – Ys IX: Monstrum Nox]

"Abbot Francisco was always well-known around these parts for his benevolence. He'd often take in children who had nowhere else to go." Angelo retold. "And I was one of them… My parents were well-off, part of the aristocracy. But then they both died… All of a sudden I was left with no family and no money. The abbey was the only place I could go.

"I was only a young, insecure child back then. When I got inside the abbey, I was terribly scared because I didn't know anyone in there. That is, until someone came over to me… and that was a young Marcello, but I didn't know him at first."

"…You're new here, aren't you?" Marcello asked, looking down at Angelo with a smile. "Are you here to join the brothers? Have you come all on your own?" Angelo hesitantly nodded in response, and then Marcello took notice of the small bag his half-brother was carrying. "Oh… You must be exhausted. Where are your things? Is that all you've got?"

"Um… My mummy and daddy died. So I don't have many things." Angelo murmured. "And I don't have anywhere else to go…"

"…You sound a lot like me." Marcello sympathized, bending his knees and patting Angelo's shoulder. "But there's no need to worry. Abbot Francisco and all of us will be your family from now on."

"B-But…"

"…Let's go and find the Abbot. Come on now, don't cry. Why don't you tell me your name?"

A bright smile appeared on Angelo's face as he extended his hand to Marcello. "…Angelo."

Unfortunately, by hearing this name, Marcello's smile was soon replaced with a look of realization before hatred took over as he stood back up. "You… So you're Angelo." he sneered. "…Leave." Angelo's smile immediately faded. "I want you to leave. You… Leave and never come back. I don't ever want to see you again!" a short pause, and then Marcello followed, "So you're intent on ruining this life for me as well, are you?" and with that, Marcello stormed away, leaving a very confused and distraught Angelo behind.

"Marcello was the golden boy of the abbey. He studied hard and had a bright future ahead of him. But when it came to me, his attitude wasn't so positive."

It was at this moment that Abbot Francisco came walking over to Angelo and spoke with pity in his voice, "…I'm so sorry, child. I'm sad to say I heard that little exchange. It's so unlike Marcello to act like that. I just don't understand…" he looks at Angelo. "Ah… I see…" he then went over to ruffle the young boy's hair. "I always knew he had a half-brother… That's you, isn't it? You're Angelo. Well, they say time heals all wounds… Let's hope your living here will make everything all right. Now, come along with me." he wraps his arm around Angelo. "From today onwards, this will be your home. Why don't I introduce you to everyone?"

"…Not long after that, I heard the full story for the first time. About how I had a half-brother who was born from an affair between my father and one of the maids. And that was Marcello… If I hadn't been born, he'd have been next in line to my father. But when I was born, Marcello and his mother were thrown out of the house with nothing to their names. She died soon afterwards. He had no one. So he ended up at the abbey, hating me and my father for all those years."

[BGM End]

When Angelo was done telling his backstory, I was left shocked. It's hard to imagine that a person full of charisma and with a playboy attitude would have such a tragic past like that. The fact that Angelo's mere existence is what ruined Marcello's early life easily justifies his hatred for his half-brother that is now travelling with us, but Angelo wouldn't be so lucky either; he would eventually lose his family as well, so both half-brothers' fates were already sealed. But what really disgusted me is the fact that Angelo's father outright cheated on his own wife just to bear an heir. Was he desperate or something? Couldn't he have just, I dunno, waited a bit until his wife gets pregnant? If he had waited, this conflict wouldn't have happened… but then Marcello would cease to exist. Man, how could life be so cruel?

But most importantly, I felt something within me that I'd never expected to feel from someone like Angelo: relation. The part where Angelo told me about how he had no family and nowhere to go reminded too much of myself ever since I was taken to Trodain. I had no memory of my parents and of my old home (if I ever had one to begin with), and now that I know Angelo went through a similar situation as mine… I…I can't believe I'm saying this… but I pity him. In a way, he was no different than I.

"…There. I got it all out of my chest, just as you told me." Angelo said. "Quite a bombshell, don't you think? I was so young and innocent then, too. The whole thing hurt more than you can imagine."

"Angelo…" I whispered.

"Still, c'est la vie…" oh… he knows French too, huh? "My father got off lightly. He did just what he wanted and then died and left me to take the consequences. I'm the only one left for Marcello to hate now." he spoke on, his face completely collected despite the harsh subject. "…In a way, I can't say I blame him. And it was probably good that we lived together. At least it gave him someone to take it all out on. It certainly added a bit of spice to the humdrum life at Maella Abbey anyway!"

That led me to sweatdrop. "You say all that like it's a good thing…" I muttered. Way to kill the mood, Angelo…

*COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!*

Before Angelo could reply, we both suddenly heard the familiar noise of a singing rooster in the distance… so that could mean only one thing. I looked up at the sky, and much to my surprise, it was already dawn! Once again, time sure does fly when you're interacting with others…

"This story's gone on long enough. Look! It's nearly daybreak!" Angelo pointed out the obvious, and then he started walking over to the chapel.

"H-hey, wait!" I called out as I stood up from the tree stump and ran after him.

Sometime later…

I and all of my companions were all standing outside the chapel, all properly equipped and ready to go. However, I wasn't quite in a bright mood as I usually am since my mind was reeling as I was still taking in the story Angelo just told me.

"So just northeast of here is Ascantha, right?" Remilia asked.

"Yup!" Yangus nodded. "I know me directions! We'll find it easy enough!"

"I sincerely can't wait to get there." Angelo said, a delightful smile spread across his face. "I can think of more thrilling things to be doing than hanging about talking to a couple of old fogies. And castles always tend to be the stage for beautiful maidens, intrigue and vengeance, right? Sounds perfect to me!"

"There you go again…" Jessica rolled her eyes. "But that aside, I wonder what the King of Ascantha looks like? I've never met a king before!"

"Um, hello!? What about me!?" Trode questioned offendedly.

"…Except for you, of course. But for some reason, it just isn't the same. I suppose it's your looks!" Jessica replied, leading Trode to sulk and grumble under his breath.

"Still, we haven't really seen royalty before." Youmu stated.

"Yeah! This could be exciting!" Cirno chirped.

"For once, I'm with you. I can't wait!" Marisa grinned.

I really wanted to smile at the Gensokyo girls' excitement, but because of what my mind was focusing on, I couldn't. And it didn't take long until one of the girls, Alice, noticed my gloomy mood and approached me.

"Eight, are you feeling okay?" she asked with a hint of concern. "You look unusually quiet today."

'…I can't think about that right now. I have more important things to worry about.' I thought, and so I quickly shook off my quietness and replied, "I-it's nothing, Alice, I'm alright. I'm just… tired, is all."

Alice eyed me a little bit, until she said, "Well, if you say so." but I knew that by her tone, she wasn't entirely convinced.

Cleaning my throat, I got everyone's attention, "Alright, let's go ahead and set off to Ascantha!" they all nodded and we proceeded to follow the road ahead.

[BGM: Lost in Green – Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana]

Of course, it wasn't too long before we would run into new monsters on our way to the kingdom: Puppeteers, Pan Pipers, Slime Knights, Clockwork Cuckoos, Kissers and Chimaeras would suddenly stand in front of us and block the path ahead, thus forcing us to stop and take our weapons to fight them off.

Jessica stabbed a Puppeteer with her Dagger before incinerating it with a Frizz spell, then she would cast Sizz on a group of Puppeteers to take them out as well and cast Crack on another one approaching her from behind. But when she noticed another group of Puppeteers coming over and she tried to cast another Sizz at them nothing came out since she was drained out of her magic supply, causing her to gasp as the Puppeteers charged straight at her… but then a Woosh spell whisked them away as Angelo, with his Rapier in hand, proceeded to swiftly slash through the remaining Puppeteers until they were all defeated.

Meanwhile, I, Cirno and Aya were fighting off the Pan Pipers as they proceeded to throw a Cursed Verse in order to inflict a curse on us. Cirno and Aya quickly flew out of the way of the curse wave while I just stood still to let that magic barrier-thing protect me from it, then I would use a Power Throw to take out the Pan Pipers on the front before feeding Munchie a Chilly Cheese as he let out a Chilly Breath on the Pan Pipers standing in the middle, then I left the ones on the back to Cirno and Aya.

"Hail Sign: Hailstorm!" Cirno yelled, unleashing hail-like danmaku.

"Gust: Wind God Girl!" Aya yelled, unleashing danmaku that were oddly shaped like red and purple butterflies. Either way, both girls' attacks were deadly enough to kill all of the remaining Pan Pipers.

Yangus swiftly dodged an attack from a Slime Knight before he would use a Hatchet Man to kill it, but when he saw the rest of the Slime Knights approaching him, he put his axe away while grinning… and let out a loud Warcry, which left all of the Slime Knights stunned in place.

"Your turn, blondies!" he called out to the Gensokyo girls with him, which were Marisa and Alice.

"We're on it!" Marisa exclaimed. "Light Sign: Earthlight Ray!" she yelled, throwing some sort of magic bombs.

"Magipulation: Return Inanimateness!" Alice yelled, throwing a doll. And just like that, both the bombs and the doll exploded spectacularly and launched all of the Slime Knights into the air, where they were history.

Reimu threw Yin-Yang Orbs at the Clockwork Cuckoos, but they swiftly dodged them and proceeded to launch a barrage of metallic feathers at her, as she quickly flew to the side and pulled out a spell card. "Dream Land: Great Duplex Barrier!" she called out and a barrier appeared around her, and the feathers launched at her suddenly warped to the opposite side while purple ofuda were launched out and hit the Clockwork Cuckoos, instantly defeating them.

At the same time, another group of Clockwork Cuckoos charged straight at Youmu while spinning their bodies like blades. She quickly rose her wakizashi to parry their attack before countering back with a powerful slash from her katana, defeating some of them but a few managed to fly out of her range and spread out. However, they wouldn't last long enough. "Cherry Blossom Sword: Flashing Scattered Flowers!" Youmu called out and then seemingly disappeared from view, leaving the remaining Clockwork Cuckoos utterly confused as they looked around for any sign of their opponent… until a flurry of airborne pink slashes with cherry blossom petals cut them all down. Youmu landed back on the ground, sheathing her katana with a victorious smirk.

"Scatter Sign: Luna Metropolis!" Reisen called out, unleashing bullet hell on the Kissers after avoiding their Sweet Breath attack. They tried their best to dodge, of course, but were eventually hit one by one since they moved so slow (then again, they are snails). And nearby in the sky, Remilia was clashing with the Chimaeras, powering through their Flame Breath and slashing them with her claws from her free hand since she was holding her parasol on the other. Then, when some more Chimaeras came over and proceeded to divebomb directly at Remilia, she would throw her parasol into the air before surrounding herself in a scarlet aura.

"Night Sign: Demon Lord Cradle!" she called out, spinning upwards and ramming into the diving Chimaeras at full force that knocked them all away…but she wasn't done yet. "Nether Sign: Scarlet Netherworld!" she fired a shower of red bullets at the falling Chimaeras, just for insult to injury.

[BGM End]

With them defeated, Remilia caught her parasol back in order to shield herself from the sun again and gently floated back down to the ground. "I might have gone a bit overboard this time… but that's how I like it!" she grinned boastfully.

"My hero." Jessica sarcastically addressed Angelo, rolling her eyes.

"I'll be taking that as a compliment." Angelo chuckled, before he pulled out a vial of Magic Water. "You know, it's not wise for you to rely on just using spells or you'll easily drain out your magic from your supply. Luckily, I happen to carry this with me." he offers the Magic Water to Jessica.

Knowing that she needed to restore her magic supply no matter what, Jessica accepts the Magic Water. "Thanks…I guess." she then drank it all, as I watched this with my eyes perked up.

"…I didn't know you were carrying Magic Water!" I exclaimed.

"I happen to have plenty with me." Angelo replied. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Magic Water?" Reisen asked.

"It's a potion that's used to restore a small amount of magic points." I explained. "In this world, everyone has their own magic supply full of magic points, and these are what allow them to cast magic spells. So without any magic points, spells cannot be cast."

"Oh…"

"So, magic in this world relies on magic points and magic supplies? Interesting!" Marisa exclaimed.

"Magic points… I think I've seen this term plenty of times." Alice mused. "I believe it is from this thing in the Outside World called 'video game', or something." well… she got it right off the bat! Yes, I am fully aware that I'm a video game character, otherwise I wouldn't have even mentioned this term 'magic points' in the first place.

"Look! I can see something up ahead!" Aya exclaimed, pointing to a very tall tower-like castle in the distance surrounded by settlements. "That must be the kingdom of Ascantha!"

"Awright! We're almost there!" Yangus exclaimed. "C'mon!" and so we took off.

As we approached our destination, we came upon a ramp leading up to an opening in the settlements. Once again, Trode stood outside and we went up the ramp, finally entering the castle town of Ascantha at long last.

[BGM: Where is the Hope? – Dragon Quest XI S]

But instead of being greeted with the usual bustling and noisy town, what we were greeted with… was emptiness and silence. The streets that should have been lined with merchants crying their wares to the people coming and going were completely empty, and by looking at the dry vegetation around them, it shows that it has been this way for quite a long time. Not to mention that there were barely any people present at the town's main street, and when we did see a few passing by, we noticed that they were all wearing black clothing while having gloomy expressions on their faces. The houses weren't in good condition either, as they all looked worn down and suffering from neglect. And finally, looking up at the main tall building that was the castle, we saw long black banners that appear to be drooping lifelessly.

A lifeless and bland-looking kingdom… This isn't normal at all. Something is definitely wrong in here.

"What…happened in here?" Youmu breathed. "It's so empty…"

"Um… We came to the right place, right?" Aya asked me.

"I'm sure of it." I nodded firmly, double-checking the map just to make sure.

"There was also a sign outside saying 'Welcome to Ascantha'." Remilia added. "Still, for a town to be so quiet…"

"There must be a reasonable explanation for this." Marisa said. "After all, what could have happened to drive an entire kingdom like this?"

"…Dhoulmagus could." Alice replied quietly, leading the rest of us to gasp in realization.

"You don't think…he caused a murder in this town too?!" Reisen asked.

"We can't be sure of that… but we can't also dismiss that possibility, either."

"Well, we're not going to get any answers to that by just standing out here." Reimu said impatiently, glancing over at the castle. "Let's head into the castle."

We began walking down the street, our steps echoing in silence, passing by the houses and the few people wandering about. They glanced at us of course, but their expressions of sadness remained unchanged.

"Look at all these people mourning… They all look so sad." Jessica whispered. "It reminds me of…of when Alistair died…"

"…Jessica. I, er, I dunno wot to say…" Yangus murmured, only to exclaim in frustration, "Oh! This is why I ain't no good wiv women!"

"You might not be, but I certainly am." Angelo snarked. "I do spy some strikingly pretty faces amidst the drab tones. Perhaps I might be able to cheer one or two of them up."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "No time for that, genius. We have a more important business to attend."

By the time Jess said that, we already reached the castle's entrance, where two guards stood in front of the doors.

"And who might you all be?" the guard on the left asked in a dull tone, almost as if he's uninterested in speaking anything. "What business do you have in the castle?"

"We're just travelers." I replied formally. "And we, uh…just came for a quick visit to the castle." that was…partially the truth. "But first… Could you tell us what exactly happened in here?"

"Ascantha is in a period of official mourning for our late Queen." the guard on the right said. "It's been two long years now since she passed away."

Our eyes shot wide. "Two years!?" Jessica questioned.

"Indeed. But, the King…"

"The King…what?" Cirno asked.

"…Er, never mind. You all may enter."

"Just don't go making any unnecessary noise!" the guard on the left warned as he and the other one stepped aside and opened the doors for us, and we went in.

"Okay… just for the fact that the guard said the queen died two years ago, I think we can safely conclude that she wasn't killed by Dhoulmagus." Reisen spoke as we walked along the halls of the castle.

"Yes, so that means he didn't pass by here." Alice added. "Honestly, I'm glad that I was wrong…"

"Still, for the people to mourn the queen's death for two long years nonstop… How does the kingdom even survive?!" Marisa questioned.

"I know, right?!" Reimu threw in. "I doubt the people would accept this after so long time has passed. How could this period of mourning last so long?"

"If even the castle's residents are mourning, then this kingdom is really in trouble." Youmu stated. "I mean, I highly respect the dead as a resident of the Netherworld… but this? This isn't right. It's not fair for the townspeople."

"True." Angelo nodded. "It's like this kingdom is one giant tomb."

Yes, that was exactly as Angelo stated; Ascantha was like a giant tomb. No one here was really living, and instead are merely existing day after day waiting for this torment to end. I shuddered at the thought. No wonder the kingdom looked like it was nearly abandoned. And if this keeps going, then the kingdom would face severe declining consequences: it could go bankrupt due to lack of markets, or possibly initiate a civil war if the townspeople can no longer handle the mourning. This will surely lead to the kingdom falling as a result, just like… just like…the cursed Trodain…

…No. There's no way I'll stand for this. I've already suffered enough seeing Trodain's situation, and I definitely do not want to face the same thing with Ascantha. No matter what, I will NOT allow another kingdom to fall like that. We have to get to the bottom of this and quick. Perhaps if we see the king, we could get some answers. The only problem is finding him, since we just passed by the throne room and we found it empty. So, we continued our way up, going up some stairs until we ended up outside, at the very top of the castle's single tower.

Just then, we heard footsteps from nearby and we silently walked around to see a blonde-haired young girl dressed like a maid walking over to a wooden door before doing a few knocks on it.

"Are you feeling all right, Your Majesty? It's me. Emma, the maid." the girl, Emma, spoke to the door. "I see you haven't eaten any of the lunch I brought you, Your Majesty. I'll be sure to bring you your favorite for supper…" but no response came from the other side, causing Emma to sigh sadly. "Please, Your Majesty. Please answer me. I just want to make sure you're all right." again, no response.

Feeling defeated, Emma stepped away from the door and bowed. "…Very well. I'll leave you in peace. Excuse me." and so she sadly walked off, not even shooting a glance at us as she walked past, and made her way downstairs. After exchanging glances, we all decided to head back downstairs, where we found Emma speaking with a short and plump mustachioed man.

"He's hardly eating a thing either. And I could hear him weeping all through the night yesterday." she told him. "He was such a benevolent and wise king when the Queen was still alive." she then crestfalls miserably. "I'm terribly sorry I'm of so little use to him, Mr. Chancellor."

The man, the Chancellor, cresfalled. "I see… So it continues. It must be difficult for you, Emma." he rose his head back up. "But I need you to keep trying. If the King cannot recover from this, the country will fall apart." yep, just as I feared… "…I just don't know what to suggest."

Believing it was the perfect time to get answers from that, I interjected, "Excuse me…"

The two immediately turned around to face us. "Ah, hello there! Do you seek an audience with the King of Ascantha?" Emma asked. "I'm afraid that His Majesty has been unavailable to visitors since the period of mourning for the late Queen began…two years ago."

I sighed. This is going to be a lot more complicated than I thought. "Is there any way we can even see the King in person?" I asked.

"He comes down to the royal suite every night, but I doubt that he'll grant you an audience." Emma replied. Seeing our confused reactions, she followed, "…I realize that that must seem strange to you, but if you return after dark, you'll see for yourselves." and with that, she and the Chancellor left.

Welp, I guess we have no other choice but follow Emma's suggestion and wait for nighttime… and right when we just got to this place, too…

To be continued…

Now in the original game, it was Trode whom Angelo told his backstory to. But since this adaptation is about Eight telling the story through his point of view and that knowing Angelo's backstory is an important part of the plot, I had to change the scene in which Angelo would tell his past to Eight instead.

Eight: That's right. Good call there, Fairy.

Anyways... the sob fest is finally over (for now)! The next chapter is where things start getting heartwarming by having Eight and his pals find a way to restore Ascantha to its former glory!

Eight: Great! Because I seriously don't want Ascantha to fall apart just like Trodain did! We'll see you next time!