I do not own Dragon Quest VIII or any of its characters.
Ascantha
Kane looked around in silence as they made their way through Ascantha. It was a fairly small city, the majority of the ground inside of it being hard-packed earth with a few wide cobblestone streets leading through it like veins but reaching only the most important buildings, like the castle, church, and inn. The buildings were all brightly-colored stone, and under normal circumstances, the castle's banners, which would hang from every side of the castle's central spire, would accent the stone nicely and make the castle seem to shine in the sun. However, currently, it seemed anything besides normal circumstances. Long, thick, black banners reached from the top of the castle's spire to the outside of the circular wall around the castle. The sky overhead was clouded, and the few citizens roaming the city wore black.
"They're in mourning," Kane realized. "We might be too late."
"I hate to say I told you so, but..." Angelo trailed off as Marik walked over to a lean, young man with his yellow hair in a bowl cut.
"Have you heard of a Jester passing through here carrying a dark scepter?" Marik asked. "Maybe introducing himself as Dhoulmagus?"
"Have I heard of a jester called Dhoulmagus?" the man scoffed. "As if a Jester would come to a gloomy old place like this!" His voice took on a cold, exhausted tone. "Look around you." He gestured about the city with his arms. "Everyone here's dressed in black. If a jester had been here, he'd have stuck out like a sore thumb." And then, the man turned and walked away.
"If Dhoulmagus really hasn't been here, we might be looking in the wrong place," Jessica reasoned.
"Maybe," Kane nodded, frowning. "But I want to talk to the king. He may know something, and I'm curious why he's in mourning. Or...maybe the queen."
"Before that, let's do some shopping," Angelo suggested. "It couldn't hurt to have some decent armor and weapons, could it?"
"Oh, don't get him started on weapons, please," Jessica sighed.
"It's fine," Kane sighed. "I've accepted that Marik doesn't view his weapon the way I do, and none of you are bound by an oath the way I do. As for armor, he's right. We should have some. It might not change a lot with Dhoulmagus, but it's worth trying."
Yangus bought a new axe with a thick, smooth, wooden shaft, a dark, double-sided head, a small, metal point above the head, and the lower half of the shaft wrapped in textured, red cloth. Jessica bought a magic staff that reached her lower ribs from the ground, was a dark, roughly-carved wood, and with a head featuring a spherical, orange crystal clutched in a four-fingered hand that the wood had been carved into, each finger wrapped around the crystal at what would be the corners of a box and tipped with a small, white stone that had been carved into a claw after being inserted into the tips of the wooden fingers. Kane could sense the staff's crystal's affinity for fire-type magic. It was a good fit for her. She also bought a new dagger, this one being forged with the same mold as her bronze knife, but with a pale, purple metal and with the blade inscribed with runes along the four faces of its blade. Kane recognized the runes as a magic blessing that would make the dagger more lethal against undead and demons, and the metal was blessed by a very high-level priest. The weapon shop owner clearly didn't know how valuable the knife was, because he let it go for almost nothing. Angelo was disappointed that there were no swords, but he did buy himself a shortbow, which he claimed to be rather skilled with, along with a quiver that the weapon shop owner claimed was enchanted to never run out of arrows, and for which he charged a hefty sum. Kane made an agreement with him that they'd test the quiver, and if it truly was endless, they'd pay the amount requested, but if it was a lie, they'd pay considerably less.
For armor, at the next store over, Jessica found nothing that she was willing to wear, while the other four all got various sizes of Iron Cuirasses. Marik took off his shirt to wear the armor under it, concealing it, Yangus wore his vest over his, and Angelo and Kane both wore theirs under their coats.
Jessica shook her head. "What, are you afraid that if someone sees the armor you won't look pretty enough?"
Kane chuckled as he fastened his coat, Marik pulling his back on, and Angelo fastening his own. "Angelo might be, but Marik and I will stick out too much if we're seen in armor. We're too comfortable in it to blend in."
Jessica rained an eyebrow, then shook her head, shrugging. "Whatever. Let's test Angelo's quiver and then head for the castle, shall we?"
The others all nodded, and they headed out of the city to test the quiver, finding the weapon store owner had been telling the truth, so they paid him the large price for it. Then, with that taken care of, they began to walk toward the castle. However, within minutes, Angelo began to complain.
"This armor's too heavy!" Angelo griped. "And it's not comfortable! It keeps shifting around and rubbing against my ribs!"
"It's sized wrong," Kane guessed. "I'll resize it tonight so it'll sit correctly."
Angelo sighed, nodding, and they headed toward the castle. On the way, however, they met a maid who explained to them that two years ago, the queen of Ascantha had died, and that the kingdom had been in mourning ever since, and nearly all of the citizens had fallen into depression from the constant atmosphere of loss and melancholy. At the castle, they were allowed inside without a fuss, and they made their way through the castle in silence, the guards and various serving staff they passed maintaining a proper, mournful silence, seeming to have become exceedingly accustomed to doing so, as it had been two years. They were all near completely silence now, after the ample practice. They made their way up the castle, eventually being told by the king's minister that the king was unavailable to see them as he hadn't granted anyone an audience since he fell into mourning. They also learned from one of the maids that the queen's personal maid, Emma, had been diligently trying to convince the king to rejoin the world for more than a year, without success. They headed up to the top of the castle, where the king's private chambers were located, and found Emma, a young, petite, blonde maid, standing outside the king's door.
"Are you feeling alright, Your Majesty?" Emma called through the door. "It's me. Emma, the maid. 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. Please, Your Majesty. Please answer me. I just want to make sure you're alright." She sighed silently as she got no response. "Very well. I'll leave you in peace." She bowed to the closed door. "Excuse me."
She walked away with her head bowed sadly, and Kane sighed, shaking his head. He wanted to help. To find some way to lift the king's spirits. As much for Emma's sake as for the sake of finding out anything they could about Dhoulmagus.
"She's very devoted," Jessica noted. "To spend so long trying to bring the king out of his room."
"She genuinely cares for him," Kane reasoned. "She isn't serving him purely out of loyalty."
"This city is nearly as devoid of happiness as Trodain," Marik mused. "We should try to help them."
"Yeah," Yangus nodded. "Maybe we could find a way to 'elp the king cheer up a bit."
"Perhaps I could help one or two of the rather striking faces among all these drab robes cheer up," Angelo mused.
"Now's not the time!" Kane growled. "We're not here so you can whore around, Angelo. And bedding a handful of the women in this place isn't going to change anything, except maybe the population."
Angelo huffed. "I think a few smiles would do this place wonders."
Kane shook his head, heading for the stairs back down into the castle. "Let's go and talk to Emma. Maybe she'll have some idea how to help the king. Or maybe the minister will."
"I'll start with Emma," Angelo volunteered. "You all can talk to the min-"
"You can talk to the minister with Marik and Yangus," Kane cut him off. "Jessica and I will talk to Emma. The last thing we need is you flirting with the one person with some hope in this city."
"Agreed," Jessica nodded.
However, it ended up being easier to find both Emma and the Minister than Kane had expected, as the two were speaking to one another at the foot of the stairs.
"He's hardly eating a thing, either," Emma was saying. "And I could hear him weeping all through the night yesterday. He was such a benevolent and wise king when the queen was still alive. I'm terribly sorry I'm of so little use to him."
"I see," the minister sighed. "So it continues. It must be difficult for you, Emma. But I need you to keep trying. If the king cannot recover from this, the country will fall apart. I just don't know what to suggest."
Just then, the Minister noticed Kane and the others, Emma noticing his shift in attention and turning.
"Ah, hello there!" Emma greeted them. "Do you seek an audience with the King of Ascantha? I'm afraid that His Majesty has been unavailable to visitors since the period of mourning for the late queen began...two years ago. He comes down to the royal suite every night, but I doubt that he'll grant you an audience. I realize that that must seem strange to you, but if you return after dark, you'll see for yourselves."
"We want to find a way to help the king recover," Kane said. "Seeing him may help us understand."
Emma nodded and promised to meet them at the front door once the sun had set, so Kane and the others headed out of the city to where they'd have enough space and few enough spectators to train.
Kane frowned, staring up at the mountain. Emma had sent them to talk to her grandmother, who lived near the Riverside Chapel, where Kane and the others had spent the night, about a story regarding making wishes come true. Her grandmother had directed them to this mountain, called Wisher's Peak.
"So, tonight's the full moon, right?" Kane asked.
"Yes," Jessica nodded. "As long as it's not cloudy."
"So, wot, we're gonna just 'ang out of there 'til some magic door opens or somefin'?" Yangus asked.
"That's what Emma's grandmother told us," Marik nodded. "Wait on the summit all night, and a door to another world will open."
"I'm not sure if I believe in that type of magic, but if it'll put a smile on that lovely maid's face, it's worth it," Angelo mused.
"Do you think about anything besides women?" Kane growled. "You really are pathetic."
"I don't recall asking for your opinion," Angelo growled.
Kane snorted, drawing his sword and slipping his shield on before walking calmly into the cave at the base of the mountain. The cave system would apparently take them to the summit, but it was a maze of tunnels and was home to many ferocious monsters, according to Emma's grandmother. And sure enough, within moments of entering, several Slime Knights and a Walking Corpse attacked them, only for Kane to leap into the air, spinning and slashing, flames roaring along his sword as he slashed through all three of the Slime Knights. At the same time, Angelo sent an arrow into the walking corpse's forehead, killing it instantly. Kane nodded in approval, and Angelo slung his bow again, drawing his sword as they headed deeper into the caves. Monsters swarmed them near-constantly, but they were easily able to keep up. A Mummy Boy lunged for Kane, but with an upward stroke of his flaming sword, it crashed to the ground. A Slime Knight hopped toward them, but Yangus leapt into the air, flipping and bringing his axe down hard, splitting the Slime Knight's armor and then splitting a deep gash down the front of the slime's body, killing it. A swarm of Hell Hornets swarmed Angelo, who began to strike rapidly, his sword glowing as slashes rapidly tore through the hornets in sets of two concurrent slashes. A massive, muscular bat twice the size of Kane's torso with a wide, canine snout flew out of one of the tunnels, only for Marik to kill it easily. Several Walking Corpses lunged at Jessica, only for her to rapidly launch a fireball for each of them, wiping them out.
Then, suddenly, something crashed down behind Kane. He spun, then ducked aside, using his shield to deflect a powerful blow from the monster's thick, right arm. It was a Diemon. A demon-type monster with light blue fur covering most of its hulking body, grey skin on its three-toed feet, its over-large hands, and its pointed ears. It had a wide mouth with thick, sharpened teeth, large, pink wings that seemed decorative, short, steel-grey spikes sticking out of the top, sides, and back of its head where humans had hair, and wore a red-and-green mask bearing a smiling face of its own. Under the mask, however, the Diemon bore six eyes, which would choose a random number of to determine how strong its magic attack would be, with one being the weakest and six the strongest. The Diemon swung a hand at Kane, and he leapt backward, avoiding the ice spikes that burst up from the ground where he'd been standing a moment before. Then, he launched himself forward at the same instant that Jessica's whip tore across the Diemon's back twice rapidly. It roared in pain, beginning to turn, only for Kane to slash off one of its arms, then turn, slashing it diagonally up and across the front, killing it.
"What is that?" Yangus asked, prodding the thing with his axe.
"It's a Diemon," Kane said. "A beast-type demon monster." He reached down, pulling the thing's mask up. "They choose a random number of eyes to determine how strong to make their spells. Less eyes are weaker."
"Should we expect a lot of them?" Marik asked.
"I'd wager there are a fair few," Kane nodded. "They're nothing we can't handle. And this will be a good chance for you to train with your new dagger, Jessica."
Jessica nodded, coiling up her whip and fastening it in its loop, then drew her new knife.
"Remember, speed and precision," Kane reminded her. "It doesn't have much range, so you need to be careful."
Jessica nodded again. "I remember. I'll be careful."
Kane nodded, and they headed deeper into the caves. More monsters attacked them, and after a few minutes, they reached a large, open chamber just as more than a dozen Mummy Boys lumbered into the chamber. Then, before anyone could react, they all suddenly, hissed, a sphere of darkness the size of their torsos forming in each of their hands before they hurled them inward. It was chaos instantly. Everyone raised their shields, but the orbs slammed into them from all sides, slamming them all into one another and sending them crashing to the ground. Jessica, Yangus, and Angelo all groaned, struggling to their knees as the cursed orbs took effect, robbing them of their ability to move. However, Kane and Marik pushed themselves to their feet, looking around as the Mummy Boys lumbered toward them quickly.
"What's wrong with them?" Marik asked.
"Cursed orbs," Kane said. "They can't move. We have to fight for them."
Marik nodded, turning toward one side of the circle of Mummy Boys as Kane turned to the other. Then, as one, they charged. Flames roared along their blades as they tore into the Mummy Boys. Kane flipped and spun, splitting a trio of Mummy Boys across the torso, then swiped a hand. A trail of flames roared across the line of Mummy Boys along the side of the room they'd entered from, and Kane spun in a circle, slashing two as they leapt at him before darting forward and decapitating another that had turned on their three helpless companions. As the line of Mummy Boys blocking their path forward staggered closer, Kane turned to them just as Marik finished off his side as well.
Together, they charged, their blades roaring with flames, and within a few seconds, they'd slaughtered them. As the last Mummy Boy fell, the curse on the other three faded, and they sighed, standing.
"Everyone okay?" Kane asked.
"Yeah," Jessica nodded.
"That was unpleasant," Angelo growled.
"'Ow come you weren't cursed?" Yangus asked, frowning.
"We must have gotten lucky," Kane shrugged. "Come on. We should keep going."
They nodded and followed the caves to a set of stairs leading up to a path winding around the outside of Wisher's Peak. Several monsters attacked them, including a few more Diemons, so they quickly slaughtered them. Thanks to Kane's instruction and training, Jessica was good with her dagger. His worry about her wasn't entirely unfounded, but even against the Diemons, she was fast enough to strike them without being hit, most of the time, and the few times she was hit, Marik or Angelo healed her, both having mastered healing magic, which Kane struggled with no matter what he tried. Finally, they reached the top of the mountain, only to stop, staring. A ruin sat atop the building. Most of the ruin had long-since crumbled, but there was a wall on the left that was partially intact, and directly across the ruin from it stood a tall window with a single piece running vertically through its center, then three horizontal bars evenly spaced along the window's height. However, sitting in the center of the mountain, staring up at the moon, was a pool of liquid metal with a several metal bubbles floating over it and a small mound in the center of it with a pair of wide eyes and a wide, dopey smile decorating the front of the mound.
"What is that?" Yangus asked.
"It's...a Liquid Metal Slime," Angelo realized. "They're incredibly durable and incredibly hard to hit because they're remarkably fast."
"Should we kill it?" Marik asked.
"No," Kane said, walking over and sitting beside the slime, which looked over at him, then returned its gaze to the moon. "He's just enjoying the night."
The others all glanced at one another, except for Jessica, who walked over to sit on the other side of the slime.
"Ooo," the smile cooed, smiling up at her.
"Hello," Jessica smiled. "You don't mind if we sit with you, do you?"
"Ooo!" the slime responded, just before a pair of earrings formed from earrings rolled out of the edge of its body toward her.
"Oh!" Jessica blinked, lifting them.
Both of the earrings bore a small Metal Slime as decoration that would dangle just below the hook.
"He gave me a present," Jessica smiled.
"Pretty," Kane smiled as Jessica swapped the teal jewel earrings she wore for the Metal Slime Earrings.
"Thank you," Jessica smiled.
The others all shook their heads, spreading out to wait. No monsters bothered them on the summit, Kai suspecting the magic permeating the area was responsible for that, and slowly, the moon trekked across the sky. Then, finally, in the early hours of morning, before dawn, the shadow of the window had reached up the wall opposite it, forming a silhouette the size of a doorway, and suddenly the shadow began to shimmer. Kane frowned, sensing magic condensing around it, and walked over to it, the others following. He glanced at the others, then reached out, pressing his fingertips to the shadow running down the center, where the door's seam would be. Suddenly, the shadow shone, and then the wall inside the shadow swung inward, parting down the middle into a set of double doors. Light shone from the other side, blinding for a moment before fading, leaving them somewhere else entirely.
The world around them was dark, though a full moon above them illuminated the area immediately surrounding them. They stood on a circular platform with an intricate, off-white design with gold around the outside, purple diamond interspersed along the gold. Below the platform, there was about twenty feet of water atop what looked like blue stone. And then, ahead of them, a trail of smaller platforms formed a trail to a short, round house with a short, conical roof. The top of the platforms was silver around the edges and in a circle in the center, then with an intricately designed, brown section covering the rest of the surface. The bottom of the platforms was shaped like a bowl, and the platforms stood atop a narrow pillar. They were connected, one platform to the next, by a pair of lines of shimmering light. Kane frowned, slowly reaching a foot out, lowering it between the lines, expecting to find nothing but air, only to find a smooth, solid, invisible surface.
"There's a solid path between the lights," Kane reported, looking to the building. "Shall we go and see who's home?"
The others nodded, and they walked along the path, following Kane.
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