The next chapter is finally here!

Enjoy! ;)

Chapter 14: Labyrinth of Traps

[BGM: Strange World – Dragon Quest VIII]

"I still can't believe Medea and Youmu's sword have been sold already! And they were only stolen a few minutes ago!" Jessica exclaimed, as we were right now making our way southwest to find Red's home after Yangus gave me the directions. "Wow, you really DO have to watch out in that town! I think I finally understand why they call it the 'home of impropriety, crime and vulgarity'!"

"Right!?" Angelo agreed. "Now we've got bigger fish to fry! Ugh, let's just forget about the Princess and the sword. I can't be bothered with them." at this, we all stared at Angelo incredulously. "…Oh, come on! I'm only joking! Don't look so horrified!"

"…Once again, you managed to dodge a bullet there." Jessica rolled her eyes.

"And we don't have time for jokes! You know how much I'm worried about my Medea!" Trode said, then looked down. "Hmph. Travelling without the carriage is jolly hard going. My feet are positively on fire." so now you know how it feels, huh? "Er… Of course, it's the Princess I'm really concerned for. We must rescue her without a moment's delay."

"And my Hakurouken, too." Youmu threw in.

"Speaking of which… When did you lose it in the first place?" Cirno asked.

Youmu folded her arms. "If I have to guess, it was probably before I entered the pub with Eight and Yangus."

"Right… We were so engaged in that conversation that we didn't pay attention to our surroundings." I recalled, then sighed. "If only I knew this would happen…"

"'ey, don't feel bad about it, guv." Yangus patted my shoulder. "It ain't yer fault."

"Y'know, I kinda miss hearin' the sound of the wagon behind us." Marisa commented. "It feels all wrong without it."

"Same." Reisen agreed. "Especially considering that the Alchemy Pot was left in it."

"Well, at least we managed to buy new equipment back at Pickham." Aya said.

"And now we're off to the bandit woman's house…" Angelo spoke… only to gag afterwards. "Urgh! I just had this image of Yangus dressed up as a woman! Merciful Goddess! Purge this frightful vision from my tortured mind!"

…Ooookay? While Yangus and Cirno seemed to be chuckling quietly while Jess was snickering next to me, I, Trode and the Gensokyo girls just blinked in bewilderment at that random statement from Angelo.

"Aaanyways…" I spoke up in order to quickly change the subject and turned back to Yangus. "Yangus, it almost sounded like you knew Red for a long time back before we left Pickham. Is that true?"

Yangus sighed. "It's true, guv. But oh, nah, nah, nah… I don't want anyfin' more to do wiv Red! I wish we didn't 'ave to go an' see 'er. But I s'pose this ain't no time to be moanin'. The 'orse-princess you and the ol' codger care so much about is in trouble an' all, while that phantom girl's treasured 'eirloom is taken from 'er."

I can see that Yangus looked very uncomfortable at the thought of having to go see an old acquaintance of his. 'I wonder what's the connection between him and Red? Could she be…his ex-girlfriend or something?' I thought… then I slapped myself for thinking such an absurd claim. 'No, no way! She can't be! Gah, why was THAT the first thing that came into my mind!?'

"In an ideal world, I'd planned on never goin' back there again." Yangus continued. "But I s'pose this is fate, eh?"

"Heh, probably." Remilia said with a small smirk. "I do believe that old acquaintances are fated to see each other again after a long time."

"And coming from the vampire of fate herself, you better believe it." Marisa threw in.

"I guess so…" Yangus shrugged.

[BGM End]

Some more walking and a few encounters with monsters later…

[BGM: Quiet Village – Dragon Quest VIII]

"So! Here we are, eh!?" Yangus said as we all crossed a wooden bridge over the river before any more monsters could engage us. "I've tried to prepare meself for this, but now that I'm 'ere… Crikey, I'm nervous!"

"Whoa… This is where Red lives? Wow!" Aya exclaimed excitedly… and she had a fair justified reason for this: the house itself looked more like a small manor, only two stories high but of a considerable size and built in stone. It looked surprisingly picturesque, far different especially when comparing it to the worn-down houses back at Pickham.

"Huh, I was not expecting a professional thief like her to live in a place like this." Reimu remarked. "I thought she would be living somewhere more, I don't know, dodgy."

"Same, but even I wouldn't mind living in a place like this!" Jessica said. "It's a nice location. She seems to be doing pretty well for herself."

"Yeah, considering how she lives far away from Pickham." Alice threw in. "She's probably far different than any of the bandits from there."

"Mitts was nothing more than a common criminal. But Red…" Angelo let out a low whistle in appreciation. "No, there's nothing common about Red. She's in a different league to that moron. She's certainly an intriguing lady, living out here on her own with no one but herself to answer to."

"You ain't wrong, there." Yangus nodded before he began taking a few steps forward. "Now y'all wait out 'ere. I'll 'andle Red meself."

"Well, okay." I said as Yangus then walked towards the manor's entrance, where a Guard (who looked just like Dodgy Dave, for…some strange reason, only that he wore a leather helmet instead of a metallic yellow one) stood in front of the door. "I need to speak wiv Red. Yer gonna 'ave to let me through." I heard him talking to the Guard.

"Yangus! You think Red's gonna wanna see your ugly mush!?" the Guard questioned. "Get out of 'ere! Hop it!"

At this, Yangus squared up and looked up at him defiantly. "Don't you boss me around, mate! I ain't goin' nowhere 'til I see Red. So shift, skivvy!"

"Skivvy!? Who the 'ell d'you think you are!?" Oh I swear, if yet another fight breaks in…

"What's all the noise!? I can hear your gabbin' from in here!" thankfully, a harsh woman's voice who I guessed belonged to Red, rang out from inside the manor before it could happen.

The Guard quickly turns around and addresses the door, "S-Sorry, boss! I got some geezer wiv no manners out 'ere. He'll be gone in a mo…"

"It's Yangus, isn't it?" Red cut him off. "Just let him in. I'll speak to him meself."

Nodding begrudgingly, the Guard steps aside and directs Yangus to the door. "…You 'eard the boss! Go on! Inside wiv ya!"

Without further ado, Yangus swaggered straight past him, not giving him another glance and entered the manor. After Yangus closed the door, Trode let out a heavy sigh.

"I still can't believe it all led up to this…" he lamented. "I swear, if that Red person treats my Medea abusively…"

"Hey, I'm sure she wouldn't do that!" Marisa reassured. "If that Red person bought her at such a high price, then that means she probably knows about quality and will make sure it'll stay that way, otherwise there would be no point in buyin' her in the first place." he turns to Youmu. "Same goes for your sword."

"I guess that's a relief." Youmu said.

"As reassuring as that might be, you know that it's not just her physical condition I'm worried about; it's the way she's going to be treated." Trode said savagely. "Red isn't aware of the curse like we are, so she's going to treat my daughter like a horse and not with the courtesy she deserves. She'll be left all alone in the stables with no one to comfort her, far from home and I won't be there for her. So how can you say she's going to be alright? She must be terrified as we speak!"

There was a small silence after Trode had said that, as I looked over at Jess, Angelo and the girls who were all sharing glances. By their expressions, it gave me a slight hint at what they were all thinking: because none of them had a close connection with Medea like Trode and I do, it was a bit easy to forget that she's supposed to be Trode's daughter, aka King and Princess. It's simply something that briefly faded into the background of their day to day lives; it didn't personally affect them or what they did, so what did it matter for them? But now that they were reminded of Medea being an actual person, and that she'd been technically kidnapped from the only ones that knew about her former identity, unable to even speak or defend herself… It had finally clicked for them about why I had gone pale with worry, and why Trode kept freaking out. And honestly, despite all Trode had put all of us through for this entire journey, who wouldn't feel sorry for a father that's visibly frantic and paranoid about the worst things that could happen to his daughter that was just taken away from him by a complete stranger?

Just then, we heard the door of Red's home opening as we looked over to see Yangus walking out and walking towards us. "The Venus' tear… Surely she can't still…" he murmured to himself. "Nah, not after all this time! She's wanted that gem for bloomin' ages now. An' she never gives up on nuffin'. She's right dodgy- I mean, dog-eared- Nah! I mean, dogged!"

We tilted our heads as Yangus stopped in front of us. "What were you talking to yourself about just now?" Remilia asked. "And how did things go with Red, by the way?"

"Oh… Well, it went about like this…"

Flashback…

"Don't often see your face round these parts anymore, Yangus." Red said, giving Yangus a sideways glance as he came up to her rocking chair. "So… what brings you here?"

"It's like this, Red… You bought an 'orse an' a sword from the black market drum in Pickham, right?" Yangus began. "Well they belong respectively to this bloke and white-'aired little girl I'm travellin' wiv, see. Someone pinched them off 'em and then sold them on. That's 'ow they came to be in the shop. I ain't gonna beat around the bush. I need them back. I'll pay wotever ya want for 'em. Name yer price."

"Straight up as usual, eh, Yangus. I like that about you. But I'm not sellin' that horse. She's a quality mare. Tows the line and she's got a decent coat on her. Same with the sword that I'm proudly hangin' on my wall over there." she pointed over to it. "That weapon is like anything I have never seen in my life. There's no doubt that it's been made with rare and high-quality materials." she looks back at him. "And you know how much I like quality! However much you're willin' to pay, I am not partin' with them!"

"Wot!? Not for nuffin'? Look, it ain't for me, it's for me mates. I've gotta get 'em back… I'll do anyfin' you want."

"Interestin'… Never thought I'd hear words like that comin' out of your mouth. Must be good mates, eh?" Red stands up from her chair. "Awright, then. Here's what you're gonna do. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the cave just north of here, right? Just bring us the jewel that's hidden in there. You know, the Venus' tear."

"Wot!? Not that! You know I been in that cave before, an'…"

At this, Red stormed over to Yangus. "You just said you'd do anyfin' I want! You gonna welch on that now, are ya? Just bring us the Venus' tear. Then I'll think about the 'orse and the sword."

End of Flashback

"An' that's pretty much it." Yangus finished.

"Hm…" Angelo mused. "Even if Red must be a beautiful woman, she sounds a touch too prickly for my liking. I enjoy a conquest as much as the next man, but breaking down the doors of that particular citadel would require more than an attractive horse! I'll let another crusader lay siege to her."

"Yeah, I could tell she was quite intense." Jessica chimed in. "Talk about making us an offer we can't refuse."

"Well, we have no other choice. Our hands are pretty much tied." Reimu said. "We'd better bring her that Venus' tear. But I have to say that this whole thing doesn't sit quite right to me."

"Why's that, Reimu?" Marisa asked. "I mean, it's not like we're stealing anything!" this caused Reimu and the rest of the Gensokyo girls to stare at her with odd expressions. "…What?" Marisa spoke defensively. Huh… could she be hiding something related to stealing?

Trode sighed. "Just lovely… We finally find the Princess and now we have to go off to a silly cave! It's preposterous! I won't allow it!"

"'ey, calm down, Grandad!" Yangus told him. "We're in my territ'ry now. Just go along wiv it an' leave this to me."

"Absolutely not! I'll go speak to this Red woman myself! She'll soon see sense if I talk to her!" Trode was about to storm off towards Red's house, but I stepped in to block his way. "What are you doing, Eight!? Stand aside this instant!"

I firmly shook my head. "There's nothing to worry about, Your Majesty." I reassured. "We'll be sure to get the Princess back, so just try to keep your cool. All we need to do is go and fetch this jewel that Red wants and Medea will be just fine. Simple as that."

I expected Trode's usual stubbornness to kick in and I braced myself for it… but strangely enough, he instead came to an abrupt halt and looked away, all of his righteous fury vanishing instantly. "Hmph. Very well. If you're sure, my boy…"

Hearing this, I relaxed and gave him an assuring smile. "You can rely on us for getting her back. Nothing is going to stop us from that."

"Yeah! Just leave it to the strongest!" Cirno boasted…as usual, which led me to playfully sweatdrop.

"And remember that you're not the only one who had something precious to you taken away." Youmu spoke up. "We're both on the same boat, and yet I'm not as preoccupied as you are. You want to know why? Because I believe in Eight's words."

Not going to lie, but I was touched by what Youmu just said. Just goes to show that one by one, I'm earning the Gensokyo girls' trust with my encouraging words. Maybe that's why I was able to befriend their other friends in Gensokyo so quickly.

"Very good." Trode replied after a brief silence, before he turned back to me. "Well then, Eight. I'll be counting on you."

I gave a determined smirk. "I will not fail you, Sire. We will get the Princess back." then I turned to Youmu. "And your Hakurouken too, Youmu."

Youmu mirrored my expression. "I know we will."

With that, I pulled out the map so I could once again ask Yangus for where we must go. "Yangus, could you show me where this cave is located?"

"Lemme see…" Yangus looked at the map. "I believe it's located right… 'ere." he touched the destination with his finger: a rocky hill located just above Red's Den, at the north.

"Alright, thanks. Let's be off."

And so, we took off, with Trode deciding to stay over by the stables, where Medea was being kept.

[BGM End]

Fortunately for us, our destination wasn't too far away: it was just a 40-seconds jog and we've already arrived. The entrance to said cave was made of stone, with a pedestal on both sides where a statue of a swordsman stood… although only the one on the left was fully intact, as the one on the right only had its legs remaining. There was a stairway leading down to a wooden door that looked quite forbidding and severe, possibly to intimidate anyone thinking of entering. Well, I for sure am not going to be intimidated, not when we have to retrieve a precious jewel for Red if we want to get Medea and the Hakurouken back! Without hesitating one bit, I went down the stairs and opened the door.

[BGM: Riddles of the Labyrinth – Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana]

I for sure was not expecting the sheer amount of dissonance that would greet us inside: this place certainly didn't look like a cave, and instead looked more like a massive underground dungeon. The walls, floor and ceiling were made out of large stone slabs in a plain and austere style, and torches were lit everywhere to give the place some light. Up ahead was what I assumed to be the dungeon's main hall, as it featured the same swordsman statues from the entrance.

"Uh, this doesn't look like a cave at all…" Youmu pointed out, taken aback by the sheer scale of the room.

"Well, it is underground, but wot do I know?" Yangus chuckled. "I 'eard this cave was made years ago by some collector who wanted to keep people's 'ands off 'is prize treasure, the Venus' tear. And wiv these traps goin' off all over the place, there ain't no way I coulda got to the treasure chest it's in on me own."

"Traps?" Reisen echoed. "What kinds of traps?"

"Er, I kinda forgot about 'em… All I remember is that nothin' is wot it seems."

"Gee, that's very helpful." Angelo said sarcastically.

"Don't be sarcastic." Jessica rolled her eyes. "It could be an important clue."

"Still, I know that these traps are wot kept me from gettin' my 'ands on the Venus' tear in the first place." Yangus clarified.

"Oh, so that explains why you were so hesitant on going here…" Aya concluded, as Yangus nodded in response.

"In that case, then we should keep our eyes open all the time while searching for the jewel." I advised. "And Yangus, this time you will manage to get your hands on it when you previously couldn't."

"If ya say so, wish-granter!" Yangus joked, leading me to laugh before we actually got to move on.

For starters, the main chamber featured a split path, each with a door at the very end. I decided to try the right door first and so we went there… only to find an empty hall leading to a dead end. There was a stone tablet at the end of the hall, though, so out of curiosity, I approached it to see what was inscribed on it.

'The Swordsman's Labyrinth was created for the purpose of protecting the Venus' tear. Only those with wisdom and strength shall attain true glory.' it read. Interesting, so this place is called the Swordsman's Labyrinth then. If I have to guess, the Venus' tear must be at its deepest level, which considering this place was meant to be built in a way to heavily safeguard a precious jewel as the tablet said, it would make sense.

Since there was nothing else we could do in this room anyways, we turned around and went back to the main hall in order to take the left door next. It led us to a hall with a right turn…where we could hear laughter, undoubtedly belonging to monsters, coming from around it. And indeed, the laughter came from these monsters called Goodybags, known for their high resistance to magic. When I informed about this to the Gensokyo girls, Alice offered to step in to deal with them by using a spell card that doesn't use any magic, and instead uses just… you guessed it, dolls.

"War Command: Dolls' War!" she called out as her dolls, equipped with blades, lunged towards the distracted Goodybags while spinning and cut them all down before they could even react. With our way cleared, we went down the stairs to reach the first lower level of the labyrinth.

Not too long after we zig-zagged around the corridors we were met with more new monsters: Lost Souls, lingering anguish of the forgotten given form. Like most spirit-based monsters, they have pretty high durability, prompting Jessica to cast Kasap to lower their defense before Yangus launched an Axes of Evil attack with his Iron Axe to damage them with wind, and then Angelo finished them off with a Swoosh spell.

When they were taken care of, we continued our progress… or so we would if we didn't come across not two, but three branching paths. Yep, this is a labyrinth alright. After debating for a bit, we decided to take the left path where we found this monster called a Hipster. The Hipster would swing its spiky tail at Aya, but she swiftly avoided it and before the demon could use Sultry Dance, the tengu acted first:

"Tengu's Gravel!" she uses the power of wind to send debris into the air, then she made them all rain down into the Hipster and crushing him to death. Sadly, that wouldn't accomplish anything for us since this path we took led us to another dead end.

Letting out collective sighs of exasperation, we turned around and went for the center path next, where we would come upon two doors. We went for the first one and I proceeded to turn the handle… or rather, tried to. Turns out that this 'door' was just a painting of one in the wall, causing us to blink in surprise. We then went for the other door (which was a real one), and it took us to a narrow hallway that had two treasure chests at the end. Our eyes perked up, and we immediately dashed over to the chests to open them. However, both of them were being guarded by… a Witch monster. Oh gods, the Witch… She's widely known for her seductive charms, and of course, these are most effective on men.

Sure enough, I could see that Yangus and Angelo were starting to go into a loving daze over the Witch's charm as she used her Puff-Puff ability… and so was I. Due to me being distracted at that time, I didn't know what was going on until I, along with Yangus and Angelo, managed to snap out of it. And by the time we did, the Witch has already been defeated.

"Eh? Wot? Wot 'appened?" Yangus asked as he shook out of his daze.

"I and Marisa just took care of the Witch ourselves." Jessica smirked proudly, while continuously tossing her Poison Moth Knife. "I was lucky to both poison and paralyze her while I did Toxic Dagger."

"And then I finished her off with a Magical Waste-Recycling Bomb!" Marisa added. Oh, so that explains the damaged walls and floor. "Must suck bein' a male in this situation, no?"

I, Yangus and Angelo instantly shot her looks of disapproval. "Gee, thanks a lot…" Angelo muttered.

Marisa chuckled. "Oh, I'm only kidding! No offense to any of ya." intentional or not, she's still quite inconsiderate…

Anyways, with the Witch gone, we could now open the chests. The one on the right held a Kitty Shield, which Jessica decided to equip it since she thought it was cute, but the one on the left… was a Cannibox in disguise.

"Not again!" Reisen exclaimed, quickly jumping back along with the rest of us when the Cannibox began biting its fangs around wildly like an angry dog.

"Hold still!" Angelo said as he readied his Hunter's Bow while aiming at the Cannibox, and shot a Sandman's Arrow at it. As luck would have it, the Cannibox was put to sleep.

"Nice! Now leave this to me!" Reisen smirked. "Undersense Break!" a powerful red wave flashed from her eyes and hit the Cannibox, defeating it. "Hey, I'm getting good at this!"

"Cor, I never imagined there would be a Cannibox in 'ere…" Yangus commented. "But then again, I couldn't make so far into this place anyways."

After leaving the hallway and back to the triple-split path for the second time, we now took the remaining one at the right. There, I saw a lone door at the end of the wall just before turning around the corner. Again, curiosity took over me as I went over to turn the handle… aaaaand the door suddenly flung itself into me due to having a spring attached to its other side, sending me staggering backwards.

"Whoa, whoa, whooooooa!" I yelled as I tried to regain my footing, but it ultimately failed and I ended up falling into a hole on the floor that… happened to be placed at exactly the right spot for anyone who falls for this trap.

"Guv!" Yangus cried out after I landed on my back at the lower floor. "You awright!?"

Groaning by the hard landing, I opened my eyes to see everyone else looking down at me from the hole with worry. "I'm okay!" I replied.

"Should we go down and join you as well?" Youmu asked.

As I pushed myself up to my feet, I turned around to see what lies here… and saw a large pool of poison up ahead. And unlike back at the Ruined Abbey where there was a way for us to cross the poison safely, this one had no such thing. "I don't think it's a good idea; there's a pool of poison in here." I informed. "And unless we're able to fly like the Gensokyo girls, there's no way we can cross it unharmed."

"So you're saying it's best to remain up here?" Reimu asked, and I nodded.

"I'll go rescue you, then!" Marisa offered as she hopped on her broom and flew down the hole, where I would gladly sit with her on the broom and be brought back up with the others on the upper level.

"Thank you, Marisa." I smiled.

"No problem!" Marisa winked as we proceeded to turn right and get through a door, where we would head downstairs back to the lower level where I fell down to, but on another portion of it.

In it, another branching path awaited us and it was only two this time. We took the right path first… and our way was suddenly blocked by a horde of Mummies that emerged out of the ground. Without warning, the Mummies started throwing cursed orbs at us, hitting everyone but me (since the curse as always evaporated before even reaching me) and Remilia, who managed to fly out of the way in time.

"Ack! What's going on!? I can't move!" Aya exclaimed, as I and Remilia saw that they were all left paralyzed by the curse.

"Oh, you'll all pay for that!" Remilia growled at the Mummies, readying a spell card. "God's Punishment: Young Demon Lord!" cue a barrage of light blue lasers, plus yellow and blue danmaku obliterating all of the Mummies in an instant. The curse affecting the others in our group was lifted as a result, but they were still wincing and wobbling in pain.

"So that's how it feels like to get cursed…" Angelo groaned. "Goddess, my body aches all over!"

Suddenly, I heard a mouse squeak coming from my shoulder and turned to see Munchie holding a heart-shaped light red cheese, the Mild Cheese, in his mouth. Seeing this, I knew exactly what to do as I took the cheese. "Well, nothing like a little healing will do it!" I then fed Munchie the cheese, and he magically healed the group as a result.

"Ah, much better!" Aya smiled. "Your pet is amazing, Eight!"

That led me to chuckle in embarrassment while Munchie leapt back into my pocket, then we would progress ahead and come across another lone door. I opened it, and found… nothing but the portion of the wall that was obscured by the door behind it.

"Uh…" I blinked. I definitely didn't see this one coming. "…alright." I awkwardly closed the door back.

"You know, I think I'm now starting to understand the meaning behind what Yangus mentioned about the traps being 'nothing is what it seems'…" Alice mused. "For instance, this is the third 'fake' door we've encountered so far in this labyrinth."

"Right… that does make sense." Angelo chimed in. "However, I highly doubt that those 'traps' alone are enough to drive any person away… well, except for maybe that spring-loaded door sending to a poison lake, but still."

"Come to think about it… Yeah, these doors really ain't wot drove me away from this place. It was somethin' else." Yangus recalled. "I still can't remember wot it was, though."

"Then let's keep going. That way, maybe it will help jog your memory." I said.

"Aye, aye!" Yangus nodded as we turned back and moved over to the left path, where I had to push a swordsman's statue to reveal an entrance to the other side.

We walked through it, taking us to a long corridor that stretched very far to another stairway up ahead. But as you might expect by now, our trek through the corridor wouldn't be smooth sailing, as Phantom Fencers were the next monsters to ambush us. Acting quickly, I casted Sizzle to send a wave of hellfire at the Phantom Fencers, damaging them a little as they in retaliation attempted to Thunder Slash me, only to get themselves caught in a trap of ofuda set by Reimu as she prepared her spell card.

"Dream Sign: Evil-Sealing Circle!" she called out, firing dozens of ofudas at the trapped Phantom Fencers where they instantly vanished in a flash.

Afterwards, we finally reached the labyrinth's deepest level, where we did some left turns and were met with yet another double branching path. The right one led to another dead end as we learned that the hard way, so we immediately turned back and went left. We were quite thankful that no more monsters attacked us along the way, as the other path led us to a wide room with a drawbridge over a gap on the right. While the Gensokyo girls could easily clear the gap just by flying, I had to move another swordsman statue right into a switch on the floor to lower the drawbridge so I, Yangus, Jessica and Angelo could cross to the other side and join with the girls. Later, after some jogging around the halls, we eventually came upon a door… only that it was being guarded by a Restless Armor.

Upon spotting us, the Restless Armor proceeded to summon a Healslime to assist it before it went over to attack Cirno, but she dodged away as she prepared to use a spell card. But while she was distracted with the Restless Armor, the Healslime took the opportunity to try and tackle her… only to get shot by an arrow from Angelo, and it fell in defeat immediately.

"Ice Sign: Icicle Machine Gun!" Cirno called out and shot rapid-fire icicles from her hands at the Restless Armor, bringing it down as well.

Now we were able to go through the door, and on the other side was a large chamber with a five-by-five grid floor in the middle, two swordsman statues that were placed outside the boundary of the grid, and a plaque on the opposite wall. Obviously, we would head over to the plaque first, and it read:

'Look to the sky above to see the path!'

We all knew this riddle was supposed to be some sort of clue for a puzzle, but we still raised eyebrows in confusion. What could it mean?

"…Hey! That's it! Now I remember!" Yangus blurted out as we all glanced at him. "This was the point where I gave up back then!"

"Oh, really?" I asked.

"Yup. Couldn't figure out wot the 'eck I was supposed to do 'bout this puzzle; I ain't good wiv these, after all."

"Considering the vague riddle from this plaque, I can tell." Jessica said. "But let's try looking up at the room's ceiling anyways since the riddle says something about looking above."

At this, we all walked over to the grid floor and looked up at the ceiling. There, we saw that it shared the same grid pattern like the floor, but there was a small square-shaped opening at the rightmost portion.

"Well, there's a hole over there." Cirno pointed up to it. "We can easily fly through it!"

"Yeah, but Eight and the others can't, and we won't be able to carry them up because the hole is too small for two people to fit through." Alice pointed out. "But I just know that hole could be a key to solving this puzzle, I can feel it."

"I agree, there's got to be a trick to it somehow." Angelo agreed. "They say the way to solve a difficult puzzle is to look at it from another perspective."

'Another perspective…?' I thought with my eyes perked up as I darted my eyes back and forth between the floor and the ceiling, then at the two statues… Oh. Oh, I could see it now… it was so obvious. "Everyone, I think I got it!"

Immediately the whole room turned to me. "You did!? Tell us then!" Marisa demanded.

"Look at the pattern on the floor, and then look at the one in the ceiling." I began explaining the solution. "Do you see how they match up perfectly? Now take a look at the statues and next at the hole. That hole is actually an indicator for where we should position the statues in relation to its floor counterpart."

I see that some members of our group were starting to understand the puzzle, but Yangus and Cirno still looked confused. "What do you mean by that?" Cirno asked. "There's two statues, but we can't put them both on the same tile."

"That's not what I meant. Okay, I know how to make this clear for you two: Look to the front of one of the statues and imagine that there's a straight line shooting out of it, then do the same for the other statue. By the way those statues are arranged, wouldn't their lines eventually cross with one another where we could draw a single dot on it?"

"…Oh! Yeah, yer right, guv!" Yangus exclaimed, he and Cirno finally getting it.

"Exactly! This means that we must arrange the statues in the way where their meeting dot is right on the tile where the hole in the ceiling is located! So we just do this…" I proceeded to move the statues into position so that they were aligned correctly with the right tile… but even after solving the puzzle, nothing seemed to have happened.

"Um… nothing's happening." Reisen spoke.

I raised an eyebrow. "Odd…" I mused as I walked towards the tile. "Maybe there's something else in this room that we misse-" Suddenly, the tile erupted beneath me and I was catapulted upwards and through the ceiling hole.

[BGM: In the Dungeon Depths – Dragon Quest VIII]

Despite my surprise, I managed to safely land on my feet on the floor. "…Well, I wasn't expecting that." I remarked, and then one by one, the rest of my party joined me in this hidden room.

"That's a very unusual way to enter a room." Reimu commented. "Makes me wonder how they even managed to get a slab on the tile to throw us up like that."

"I know, right? That's just something nobody would ever think of doing." Remilia threw in. "It's no wonder no one's been able to get the Venus' tear before now."

"This trick with the pillar took me completely by surprise!" Angelo exclaimed with a hint of exasperation. "The ceiling nearly did irreparable damage to my immaculate features. You have to look after perfection like this, you know!" seems like he really likes to flaunt about his looks, huh? "Whoever built this place certainly seems to have had a penchant for deadly contraptions."

"I mean, ya ain't wrong; one of the traps sent the guv down a room filled wiv poison, after all." Yangus recalled.

I sweatdropped. "Please don't keep reminding me on that…" I muttered and then we looked directly in front of us, where a stone slab stood defiantly in between two torches. There appeared to be words inscribed in it, so we took a closer look as I read for them:

"'Welcome, seeker of the Venus' tear! Now begins your final trial! You who boast the wisdom to solve the riddle of the swordsmen must now prove your strength. If you lack the courage for judgment, you may retreat into the hole behind you and leave this place.'"

As soon as I spoke out the last syllable the stone slab lowered itself into the floor, revealing a stairway leading upwards. We walked up the stairs and past the two large swordsman statues, and at the very top sat a treasure chest. Looking at it, I could see that it seemed very special: it was huge, being twice the size of a normal chest, being inlaid with gold around the edges and had a jeweled clasp in the middle.

"At last, there's the chest!" Yangus exclaimed with a broad grin on his face, rubbing his hands together. "Fer years, I ain't never managed to get as far as the chest. But now I ain't doin' the off wivout it! Time to get that Venus' tear! Must be a real gem!"

I smiled. "Well, since this is your territory, would you do the honors?"

"Sure thing, guv!"

However, as I watched Yangus walking excitedly towards the chest, the thought about the final trial mentioned on the stone slab still didn't leave my mind. Where is this trial? Because as far as I'm concerned, there was nothing else in this room.

[BGM End]

Little did I know, however, that I would find out about it right now. Why? Because the moment Yangus reached for the clasp… the chest without warning sprung open on its own and lunged itself at the ex-bandit, startling him and making him fall on his back, while we looked on in shock before we ran over to check on him. As we did, the now sentient chest began to levitate in midair while a frightful skeleton with a flexible serpentine spine, horns and a sickening long tongue peered out of it. Using its bony arms, the skeleton made the lid of the chest split open into two, serving as its hands. Finally, spikes protruded out from the chest's edges and its fancy colors were replaced with a dull brown one.

[BGM: No Time to Think – Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX]

"Ack! It's a creepier Cannibox!" Reisen cried.

"Nah, it's worse! It's a Trap Box!" Yangus yelled. "Wot's it doin' 'ere!?"

Then it finally hit me. "…The trial!" I blurted out as I looked over at my party. "I think this must be the final trial of the labyrinth!"

"Oh, yeah! Just like how it was mentioned in the stone slab!" Marisa realized.

"Well, whatever the case, it's clear that if we want the Venus' tear, we're going to have to beat it." Jessica stated, already readying her knife.

"Looks like it." I nodded, glaring at the Trap Box who was leering at us horribly while I reached for my sword. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready." Youmu answered for the others as we all struck a battle pose. "And if retrieving the Venus' tear means getting my Hakurouken back…" she draws out her Roukanken.

[BGM: Feel Force – Ys IX: Monstrum NOX]

"…Then I won't back out!" she finished, and we got ready to battle.

Angelo began by casting Kabuff on all of us to raise our defense as the Trap Box flew over with its hands spread out and attempted to crush us like grapes, but we quickly jumped back. Angelo then brought out his bow and aimed directly at the Trap Box to fire a Cherub's Arrow, then I ran over and Flame Slashed it while Youmu joined me with a spell card in hand.

"Reincarnation Sword: Slash of Circular Vicissitude!" she called out, slashing repeatedly at the Trap Box and sending it back… but then it suddenly sent out a Snooze spell on her, managing to put her to sleep. My eyes widened as I saw the Trap Box lunging towards the sleeping Youmu to attack her, but I quickly stepped in front of her and blocked the attack with my Iron Shield before slashing it back as Angelo proceeded to cast Tingle on Youmu to snap her awake while Jessica launched a Frizzle at the monster.

"We might need a distraction here!" I cried. "A high amount of danmaku could help!"

"No worries! One high amount of danmaku comin' right up!" Marisa grinned as she, Remilia and Reisen flew overhead of me with spell cards. "Magic Space: Asteroid Belt!" Marisa called out, firing a high concentration of star-shaped danmaku.

"Scarlet Sign: Bloody Magic Square!" Remilia releases blood-dripping knives, with the blood immediately turning into scattering danmaku.

"Wave Sign: Mind Shaker!" Reisen fires bullet-shaped danmaku in a way that they seem to blur into two, which could be pretty hard on the eyes if you were to see them.

With the Trap Box distracted by the danmaku while at the same time trying to dodge them, Reimu and Aya flew over and the two delivered a kick right at the skeleton's skull, and I could've sworn I heard it cracking when they did it. This made the Trap Box really mad and casted Crackle, hitting not just Reimu and Aya, but also Marisa, Remilia and Reisen, causing their spell card attacks to be canceled out as all of the danmaku vanished.

"Here, have some ice back at you!" Cirno smirked. "Freeze Sign: Minus K!" she releases danmaku that instantly freezes over until they break apart into smaller bullets, a few of them managing to hit the Trap Box. So it wasn't a very effective one when attacking, but it was good for distracting. However, it looked like the Trap Box wasn't going to fall for that this time since it proceeded to cast Fuddle on Cirno, confusing her and leading her to stop the danmaku onslaught.

But before the Trap Box could do anything, Yangus quickly hit it with a Parallax while Jessica gave Angelo a power boost with Oomph as he was firing a barrage of arrows at it… until the still-confused Cirno ends up hitting Angelo with some icicles, stopping the arrow barrage as the Trap Box saw an opportunity and charged directly at Yangus and Jessica, smacking them to the ground.

"Cirno, snap out of it!" Aya exclaimed as she flew over to restrain the ice fairy, while I watched as the Trap Box was flying closer to Yangus and Jessica.

'Hopefully this works…' I thought to myself as I prepared to cast a new spell that I should have learned by this point. "Zap!" I shouted…and it happened: a bolt of holy lightning struck down into the Trap Box, making it screech in agony.

"Yo! Nice hit!" Marisa complimented me in approval.

"Thanks!" I smirked as Yangus and Jessica got back up, with the latter stabbing the Trap Box right in the face, making it groan in pain and then it flew up to avoid an arrow shot by Angelo, unaware of Alice positioning her dolls around strategically for an attack.

"Seeker Wire!" she called out as she fired a red laser towards one of her lower-positioned dolls that it directed to the next one and so on, creating a chain reaction until the laser reached the last doll and it hit the Trap Box, causing it to fall down to the ground severely weakened.

"Time to finish this trial." Youmu said as she got into position. "Hesitation-Cutting Sword: Slash of Departure from Hesitation!" a huge amount of blue energy was poured into Roukanken, and Youmu mowed down the skeleton's spine with it while leaving a massive blade trail. The skeleton looked over at its broken spine in shock… and before it knew it, Yangus approached it and brought his axe down heavily on its cracked skull, smashing it like a nut.

[BGM End]

With the skeleton monster's skull gone, the rest of its body crumbled apart before disappearing with a poof. "Whew, good riddance." Yangus sighed, as we all put our weapons away.

"Good timing, because Cirno is now back to her senses!" Aya reported.

"…Why am I being held on like this?" Cirno asked, and then Aya let go of her before they flew back down to the ground.

"I also just finished healing everyone who got injured during the battle with the Medicinal Herbs I had." Reisen said. "Now where's the jewel, by the way?"

We all looked over to the remains of the chest, where we could make out a faint sparkle coming out of it. Yangus ran over to it and after fumbling around a bit, he pulls out a translucent blue gemstone in the shape of a teardrop, which I assumed it must be the Venus' tear. It was quite a big gem too – about the size of Yangus's hand.

"So this is it, eh…? The Venus' tear! You beauty!" Yangus marveled.

"I'll say." Remilia chimed in. "This might be one of the most stunning jewels I ever laid my eyes on."

"The fact someone as treasure-crazy as Red is in love with the Venus' tear just goes to show you how beautiful it is." Jessica said. "Jewels don't usually do much for me, but giving this one away's going to hurt!" she shakes her head. "Oh, it's too much of a temptation! Let's just give it to Red and get it over with!"

"True, this jewel must be worth a fortune, and we wouldn't want to give ourselves in and accidentally sell it." Angelo smirked, then he shot a glance at me. "Then it'll be goodbye to Medea forever."

I knew he was joking, but I still felt a bit hurt by it. "Angelo!" I snapped at him.

"What? You know I was only kidding. Can't you take a joke?"

I sighed as I folded my arms. "Yeah, yeah, I knew that… but did you have to nearly scare me by bringing up the absolute worst-case scenario in this situation?"

Angelo chuckled amusedly. "Sorry, but I just found it too fun to mess with you." he teased, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Anyways…" Reimu spoke up to change the subject. "Are we finally getting out of here or what?"

"Oh, right." I said. "Gather around me so I can Evac all of us out." everyone did as I told, and then I took all of us out of this place with the Evac spell.

Soon…

"You know, guv… Last time I tried to get this stone, I done it for Red." Yangus spoke to me as we were all nearing Red's Den. "Now we're just rivals, I guess, but I actually used to 'ave a bit of a thing for Red."

"Huh, is that so?" I asked as my eyes perked up.

Yangus nodded. "Back in them days she weren't a scary old bird like she is now. An' I was well green. So I thought I'd get her the Venus' tear to impress her, like. But I ended up doin' meself an injury an' I 'ad to leave it. Never thought I'd end up gettin' it like this, though!"

I immediately noticed an inconsistency in what Yangus said, and I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, but didn't you say back in the labyrinth that you gave up because of that statue puzzle?"

"Nah, that was a lie I made up. I did it so that me story would be more interestin' to y'all."

I snorted. "Oh, Yangus…"

"I wonder 'ow it all would've turned out if I 'ad got it back then, eh?"

"Who knows? Maybe Red wouldn't change her ways like she is today and be more trustworthy towards you. That's just my guess."

"Yeah, maybe so. Anyway, just me old wounds. Now that we've got the Venus' tear, I finally feel like I can lay me troubled past to rest. I 'ated feelin' like I'd messed up before, but now… I'm glad I was wiv ya for this old gem!"

"Oh, it was nothing!" I replied in embarrassment, rubbing the back of my head as Yangus gave a hearty chuckle.

"Still, would ya mind keepin' all this to yerself, guv? Ain't the kind o' thing ya want goin' around."

I wasn't one to turn down a promise. "Of course, Yangus. My lips are sealed."

A genuine smile formed on Yangus. "Thanks, guv. Yer the greatest friend I could ever 'ave." I would be lying if I said that those words didn't warm my heart. Looks like being nice has its perks, am I right?

[Replay "A Quiet Village" BGM]

Eventually, we arrived back at Red's Den… with the very first face that would greet us back being Trode. "There you are!" he exclaimed as he ran over to us. "What took you all so long!? I was starting to think you weren't coming back! Just how hard can it be to find one simple jewel!?"

Remilia rolled her eyes. "Well, forgive us for having to navigate a whole labyrinth filled with traps and dead ends, not to mention having to fight a chest monster at the end!" she said in an annoyed tone.

"She's telling the truth, Sire." I threw in wearily, but then smiled. "Needless to say, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that we've retrieved the Venus' tear." as I said this, Yangus took it out for proof.

At this, Trode immediately cheered up. "Ah, good, good! Then all we need to do is take it to that bandit woman in exchange for my Medea. We must rescue her before she suffers a second longer! Come on, chop, chop!"

We then followed him on the final stretch to Red's house. "I was a bit worried about the Princess, too." Jessica admitted. "Thank goodness we can save her this time."

"And I can finally get my hands on my Hakurouken again." Youmu added.

"To think that we were only in Pickham trying to find a lead on Dhoulmagus… Who'd have thought we'd get caught up in a robbery and a kidnapping?" Aya remarked.

Angelo gave out a small snort of laughter. "I suppose you could say it's been one of those fairy tales, 'rescue the Princess from peril'-type affairs." if only I knew back then that I would get myself involved in this again… "Hard to get that into your head really, what with her looking the way she does."

"I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get really curious about how she originally looked like." Marisa said. "So I can't wait to finally kick that Dhoulmagus' butt and break the curse!"

Alice playfully rolled her eyes. "I imagined you would say something like that, Marisa. But I'm also a bit curious too."

By the time Alice finished speaking, we were already standing in front of the door of Red's house. "It still feels a bit odd givin' Red the Venus' tear now." Yangus said as he opened the door for us. "Last time I tried to get it for 'er, me reasons were a bit different, like. That's all in the past now though…" he finished with a shrug, and then we all stepped inside.

[BGM Pause]

There, we decided to stay in the back and wait as Yangus walked over to Red. Oh, and since I was seeing Red for the first time at that moment, I guess I should describe her appearance to you all: she appeared to be a 32-year-old woman, possessing a slender athletic build and angular features on her face. She had tanned skin, blue eyes and dark grey hair that was tied up in a messy ponytail, with a few fringes framing her face. She was wearing silver hoop earrings, a metal choker with a ring on it, a red leather tube top with straps on her left shoulder, red detached sleeves held up by metal armbands around her biceps, red shorts under a fur wrap that held a dagger in its scabbard, red leather boots that reach over her knees and metal bands around her thighs. Like how Yangus described last time, she was sitting by her armchair, swaying back and forth with her arms crossed.

"There! I got it! The Venus' tear!" Yangus spoke to her proudly, presenting the glorious gem to her.

Red instantly took the gem from him and rose to her feet. "Now that is quality! Oh yes, this is the real deal." she marveled, cradling the gem in her hands. "Well, Yangus, you excel yerself!"

"Now 'and over the 'orse 'n' cart an' the sword like you promised!"

Red gave him a dubious look. "…I never promised that! I said I'd think about them when you brought me the goods." she then hands over the gem towards Yangus. "And I've thought about it now, and I'm still not givin' 'em back." …What!? No…she can't be serious! "You can keep the stone."

I felt like my soul just got crushed there; not only did Red change her mind, but she's also handing back the gem to us, as if all that trek we just went through was all for nothing. And I can bet that Trode and Youmu were feeling the same way I was, too.

"Oy! That ain't wot you promised!" Yangus scowled, refusing to take the gem. "That's a pretty low trick, Red! I'm surprised at ya!"

"Promises!? You wanna talk about promises!?" Red snapped. "If I remember rightly, you promised me ages ago you'd bring me that stone!"

"Wot? That was years ago! You can't dredge up the past like that!"

"Well you're in no position to argue! I ain't sayin' it again! The 'orse an' the sword stay wiv me!"

Yangus was about to argue back, but he stopped short. "…Yer right." he said quietly, much to our surprise. Apparently, Red was also surprised, as she stared down at him incredulously. "I was outta line before breakin' me promise to you an' all. I ain't surprised yer 'acked off wiv me. But this ain't just about me now. I can't leave wivout the 'orse an' the sword! It's for the guv!"

'Yangus…' I thought, surprised at how much Yangus cared for me… and if that wasn't surprising enough, Yangus would suddenly get down on his hands and knees on the floor.

"Look, do wot ya want wiv me… But, I'm beggin' ya, give the 'orse an' the sword back!" he begged, speaking in a way that almost sounded like he was on the verge of crying.

"…Eh!" Red gasped as she took a step back, until she finally took notice of us in the back. "Ooh…" she looked as if she understood the situation, then after a quick nonchalant shrug, she knelt down to Yangus and touched the side of his head. "…Awright, awright! Behave, would ya!? Stop grov'llin' about on the floor! Be a man!"

Yangus rose his head to look at her. "Well…?"

"I thought I'd 'ave a bit of fun wiv ya, but you've lost it!" Red exclaimed as she stood back up. "Have the 'orse an' sword, then! Do wot ya want wiv them! But I'll be keepin' that Venus' tear. That's what we agreed, right?"

Yangus also stood back up. "Yeah, fair enough. Thanks, Red. And…sorry about ev'ryfin'."

"…For cryin' out loud! Pull yerself together!" Red angrily dismisses him. "We're done 'ere, right? So go on then! Hop it!" Yangus then left her without another word, and we followed him outside also not saying anything.

[Resume BGM]

Once back out, we saw that Medea and the wagon attached to her were already standing out on the road, and to our left, the Guard was holding Youmu's Hakurouken on his hands. "Red told me to get the 'orse an' the sword out for ya before ya got 'ere." he told us. "Looks like she knew you'd come up wiv the goods. She must rate ya."

Youmu would then immediately take her Hakurouken from the Guard's hands. "Oh, my Hakurouken! I missed you so much!" she beamed, hugging it tightly. "I promise that I'll never let you leave my sight again!"

"Medea! What a terrible ordeal you must have been through! I'm so sorry! I won't leave you alone again!" at the same time, Trode was crying with joy at being permanently reunited with his daughter as he was stroking her mane tenderly. Even Medea seemed to be overjoyed, as she was nuzzling her father warmly. "I'll never go to the pub like that again! I promise!"

"COR BLIMEY!" Yangus exclaimed. Third time now, huh?

Meanwhile, the rest of us just stood there smiling while watching both happy reunions. I'm so glad that this whole ordeal was finally over.

Afterwards, Trode climbed up to the wagon's driver seat and we all came over to him. "Well, we're ready to leave whenever you are, Eight." he said to me. "What's our next destination?"

Before I could reply, Yangus spoke for me, "How about tryin' Brains again? Maybe the old geezer'll be around to give us some intelligents this time. Let's 'ead back to Pickham."

"Pickham!? Absolutely not!" Trode protested. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going there again! Look what happened last time!"

"Chill out, grandad. I wasn't even sayin' that you 'ave ta go wiv us inta town. B'sides, we've gotta find out where Dhoulmagus is. Otherwise we'll just be wand'rin' 'round like 'eadless chickens."

"As much as I also don't want to go back there because of what happened to me, he has a point." Youmu said. "We need directions right now, and if going to Pickham is our only option for that… then so be it."

Trode stood silent for a bit as if he's taking in Youmu's words, before finally giving in and sighing, "Hmph. It would be no hardship to me if I never ever set foot in Pickham again. But I suppose we have no choice."

And with that, we were off… back to Pickham. I just hope we wouldn't get robbed once again.

To be continued…

Soooo...two things I have to address here. First, the chest holding the Venus' tear in the original game was located in plain sight as soon as you enter the dungeon, across an unreachable gap beyond the balcony. I had to change that in this adaptation because that way, the Gensokyo girls could easily fly across the gap and reach the chest, thus skipping the entirety of the dungeon, and we wouldn't want that, right?

Eight: Indeed. Fairy here is making sure that everyone in the party would be evenly balanced out and playing an equal role in this story, because as far as I'm concerned, she had informed me that in Touhou crossovers, people sometimes tend to write off the Touhou characters as being too OP, which doesn't seem fair at all for the non-Touhou characters.

Exactly. And second, some of you probably have thought that this next boss fight is where Youmu's boss spotlight would happen. Well, it was originally that. But as I was writing the battle with that in mind, it just didn't feel right for me because I wanted to do this with Youmu having both of her swords so that I could show off the cooler spell cards like I did with Aya and Remilia previously, and some of these cooler spell cards couldn't be done without Youmu's Hakurouken. So, this was scrapped in favor of writing a regular boss fight with everyone involved instead (besides, it has been a while since I haven't done this type of battle anyways). But don't worry, Youmu will get her boss spotlight eventually, as there will be another boss fight coming up later!

Eight: True that! You all just need to be patient!

Well, that's all I have to inform. Next time the group will try to get information about Dhoulmagus, as well as head over to a certain kingdom that Eight wouldn't be too happy to return to...

Eight: Ugh, now I'm starting to dread at the thought of going back there... but I guess my party would have to know what happened there eventually.