"So Bert is saying Zoma is not from this world originally?" asked Suzanne.
"It makes sense to me," said Alice. "Bert says the world was not always trapped in perpetual darkness. It sounds like that is the work of Zoma. If there was a time when this world was not dark then it was probably because Zoma did not arrive here yet."
"I presume that you mean for us to explore this cave that we would learn more about our foe," stated Thomas.
"Yes," said Alice. "I may be the only sage in this world. And we can take what we find to Ramia too. We may be able to find critical information on Zoma, perhaps even a weakness!"
"I also presume the cave is filled with monsters," said Thomas. "And if the cave does have any ties to Zoma, might we also find some organized defense?"
"I don't know," admitted Alice. "There are definitely monsters. Bert didn't say anything about any sort of organization though, just typical monster activity."
Thomas took a deep breath. "So you want us to go into a dangerous cave in a strange world of darkness that will be filled with monsters, who may or may not be defending something within, on the chance we find something to help us fight Zoma, and all this based on the words of a local storyteller telling legends that not even the locals believe?"
"Yes," said Alice cheerfully.
Thomas scowled. "Well, we had a habit of going on poorly thought excursions in the upper world, why should we not do the same in this dark world?"
"Ha! Now that's what I'm talking about!" said Ron enthusiastically. "Even Tom's onboard! Let's go see what dangers this world can muster against us!"
"You're not putting up the same kind of fight that you usually do, Tom" observed Suzanne.
"I've come to realize that my resistance means very little," answered Thomas. "That, and I often happen to be wrong on these things. But I just want us all to know the kind of danger and unknowns surrounding this adventure."
"That's why we keep you around, man!" said Ron, clapping Thomas on the back.
"For the record, Tom, I agree that it makes me uneasy to go on this adventure," said Suzanne. "We'll hold off on the cave for a little while. I want us more acclimated to this world and I want to have a better idea of what awaits us."
"For now, we continue to gather more information," declared Suzanne. "I don't think any of us have visited the castle yet. At least some of us should go there tomorrow. Let's also delay holding an audience with the ruler. He or she may be a pawn or even a minion of Zoma. I know we're going to draw attention to ourselves but let's not stick out more than we already do."
"No! Go away! If any of you had any brains you would be doing what I'm doing now!"
As the four entered Tantegel Castle they found there was a commotion. A man was desperately running towards a fountain. He was bleeding from non-lethal wounds. A bloodied dagger could be seen but between the man and the dagger were some guards chasing after the man.
"Dammit! Don't you see!? Even Rubiss was no match for the Master! What's the point in going on living!?" yelled the man. As the guards closed in he flung himself into the fountain. The guards pulled him out and took him away. However, a crowd had formed to watch the scene.
"Who is Rubiss?" asked one of the bystanders.
"The Master sealed her away!" yelled the man, though he did not answer the question. "He sealed her away!" One of the guards put a hand over the man's mouth and he was dragged away. Nevertheless, the crowd grew even more restless, wondering who this Rubiss was. Other guards came forward and tried to disperse the crowd but the people stayed where they were.
"Who is Rubiss!?" many of the people cried.
The four could only watch the chaos happening around them. The people demanded to know the identity of Rubiss. It seemed as though a riot was about to break out. A middle-aged man dressed in long robes somehow managed to make himself heard in the crowd.
"I know who Rubiss is!" shouted the man. "She's the spirit that created Alefgard! I repeat, the spirit that created Alefgard! And Honst just found out that she was sealed away by the Master Archfiend!"
This upset the crowd even more. Some began to try to fight the guards. Others began to act like the man who was led away; shouting about how there was no point in living anymore.
"We have to do something!" said Suzanne. "We need sleeping spells!"
Suzanne, Thomas, and Alice all began casting their magic. A good deal of the mob began to fall asleep. The distraction thinned out the crowd so there were few trying to force themselves against the guards. However, those that remained awake were still panicked. Many began to run for the fountain as the man had. One woman picked up the blood-stained dagger and slit her throat with it on the spot.
Then a beautiful melody cut through the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. The song began slowly, with a hint of sadness and regret. Then the song slowly built up notes of hope and happiness. Ron was playing the Echoing Flute quite masterfully.
Seeing that the chaos was momentarily tamed, some of the guards disappeared up a flight of stairs. A few moments later some the guards came back with some musicians. After Ron finished his song, the musicians took over, keeping the crowd calm with their art. The guards started dragging bodies away from the scene; even in such a short time a few had died, most by their own hand.
"Good job, Ron," said Suzanne. "Things would've gotten out of hand without your help."
"Yeah, that was beautiful Ron," said Alice.
"Aw, stop it you guys," said Ron, blushing. "I just hoped it would help."
"You should listen to them, young man," said a voice from behind the four. An old woman had approached the heroes. She was dressed similarly to the man who had told the crowd about Rubiss. "Never refuse a compliment when it's given. Especially not in this land."
"Well, thanks, I guess," said Ron.
"The four of you look quite tan; you must be newcomers to Alefgard," noted the woman. "I must apologize for the actions of my subordinates, it is because of them that such mayhem occurred."
"Who are you?" asked Suzanne.
"Oh, dear me, I forgot to introduce myself," answered the woman. "My name is Tracy and I am one of the lead researchers around here. I actually was born in the upper world myself, though I've lived here so long that I imagine I am just as pale as a native Gardian."
"Actually, now that you point it out, you are a little less pale," said Alice.
"Where were you from?" asked Suzanne.
"Assaram," answered Tracy.
"We're from Aliahan," said Suzanne. The four introduced themselves.
"Who were your subordinates?" asked Suzanne.
"I don't know when you came in but it started when Honst tried to kill himself," answered Tracy. "Made a show of it too, taking a dagger to himself right in the courtyard here. The guards saw him and managed to get the dagger away from him and then he tried to drown himself in the fountain there. This is what started to draw the crowd. Finally, Ben riled the crowd up further by telling the people what had happened to Rubiss."
"Is it true, what they were saying?" asked Alice. "Is this Rubiss the being who created Alefgard?"
"I'm afraid I'll be having no more of this talk," answered Tracy sternly. "It's already caused enough trouble."
"You can trust us not to spread the word around," said Suzanne. "We're trying to gather information on Zoma."
Tracy sighed. "While I always appreciate the pursuit of knowledge, that is one subject that should be left alone. The more you learn of the Master Archfiend the more likely one is to fall into depression."
"Not us!" declared Ron confidently. "We defeated one Archfiend already! We can take another!"
"Ron! Quiet!" scolded Suzanne.
"Do you refer to Baramos?" asked Tracy.
Realizing there was no point in lying now, Suzanne answered, "He does."
"I've heard of this Baramos from some of those who came here in the past few years," said Tracy. "As powerful as I'm sure it was, the Master Archfiend is still strong
er. All Archfiends are mere pawns of the Master. After all, I bet Baramos did not shroud the upper world in darkness for centuries."
"So it's true?" asked Suzanne. "Zoma is the reason this world never sees day?"
"It is," answered Tracy. "Its power is incalculable. It is that realization that led to the madness that my underlings started today. I have to get back to work but before I go, do you mind if I see that flute you used?"
Ron handed the Echoing Flute to Tracy. Tracy studied the flute for a few minutes. "As I thought, there is magical power in this instrument. It reminds me of another magical flute I saw many years ago. If you have no pressing business, you may be interested in going to the village of Kol, to the northeast."
"There is another magical flute there, you say?" asked Ron.
"Well, there was," answered Tracy. "I lived there for a time. There was a skilled musician there who used a powerful flute. The Fairy Flute, he called it. I always wanted to study it. But before I could, he was struck down by the Master Archfiend. He was bringing too much joy to the people and the Master couldn't have that. I don't know what happened to the flute but perhaps you could find some information about it in Kol."
"Thank you for your time and advice," said Suzanne. Tracy smiled and walked away.
"Excuse me," said the voice of another woman approaching the group. Unlike Tracy, this woman was clearly a native Gardian. And she was dressed as a cleric. "Did I hear that you four came from Aliahan?"
"That is correct," answered Suzanne. "Why do you ask?"
"I tended to the injuries of a brave man who came from Aliahan," answered the woman. "He was terribly wounded when he arrived; he had suffered such horrible burns it was amazing he still lived. But his spirit was stronger than any I had ever seen. As soon as he could, he left my care to try to fight against Zoma. I'd never seen such courage. I was wondering if you knew him."
"What was his name?" asked Suzanne.
"Ortega."
Chapter 34: No Magic Allowed
"Could it really be your dad, Susie?" asked Ron.
"It was said that he fell into a volcano in the Necrogond," said Alice. "We don't know where all the portals to this world are. Your dad was a tough warrior, Susie. He could've survived the flames of the volcano and been saved by a portal."
"Or that woman could be lying," suggested Thomas.
"How could you say that, Tom?" asked Alice. "What possible reason could that woman have for lying to complete strangers like us? How would she even know that Susie is Ortega's daughter?"
"Zoma," answered Thomas simply. "Welcome told us that Zoma delights in tearing down the greatest. It attacked Aliahan Castle and I still believe that was targeted at us. And we've seen how desperate some of the people of this world are. So Zoma gets a nurse at the castle to come up to us and tell a story and it plants an idea in Susie's head. And then at some critical moment, it plants another story in her head and leads her into a trap. Maybe even conjures up some phantom Ortega."
"Tom, do you always have to be so negative!?" yelled Alice. "This is her father we're talking about! If there's any chance he's still alive, we have to find him!"
"Not if it gets her killed!" retorted Thomas. "Remember what happened in Samanao! An entire nation given to tyranny over a deception. And the deceiver was a mere underling of an underling of Zoma, if not even further down. He wasn't particularly smart, either. If a minion like that can cause such strife to an entire nation, how much more capable is Zoma?"
"That's enough, both of you!" cut in Suzanne. "I appreciate the concern but I'll be fine. I don't know whether or not to believe the woman we talked to. But right now, that's irrelevant. She didn't tell us where my father went anyway so I couldn't pursue if I wanted to. And we have more pressing work at hand."
The heroes spent another week around Brecconaly gathering information about Alefgard and their surroundings. During this time they also left the city limits and trained against the local monsters. Some of what they found was quite surprising.
"So, what do you guys make of this?" Ron asked one day.
The group had run into four liquid hand monsters. The monsters looked like disembodied hands rising out of small puddles of mud. The most curious thing about them was that the four encountered them in an open field with no other puddles around. As the hand monsters moved forward the puddles from which they seemed to originate moved forward as well.
Alice used her staff to burn the hand creatures. Despite being covered in mud and water, the hand creatures all suffered burns. The other three ran at the hand creatures. Instead of meeting the three, each hand creature made an odd motion; a motion like one would make when gesturing for another person to come forward. The three fell upon the monsters with their swords and each hero dispatched one monster. Then Alice used her staff again to finish off the last monster.
"Well, that wasn't too bad," said Alice.
"Alice! Behind you!" warned Thomas.
Alice whirled around and barely brought her shield up in time to block a punch thrown by a hand monster that had snuck up behind her. Although the hands had appeared to be the same size as human hands, this hand had grown to a large size when it punched Alice. Alice managed to squarely block the blow with her shield but the combination of force and surprise sent Alice to the ground. It was then she realized that there were three other hand monsters that had snuck up behind her.
The other three rushed to help Alice but fortunately only the hand that had hit her was pressing the attack. The other three monsters made the same hand motion that the first four monsters had made. Ron noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look and saw three more hand monsters had come out of seemingly nowhere and were converging on them.
"We have more company!" yelled Ron.
"Every time they do that hand motion more monsters come," said Suzanne, realizing the pattern. "We're going to have to try and take them all out at once! Ron, Alice! Make your explosions! We'll keep them off you!"
Suzanne ran towards Alice to protect her while she was still on the ground, beginning to cast her spell. Three hand monsters moved towards the two but Suzanne positioned herself so that they could not get through to Alice. She sliced open one hand with her sword and blocked a giant fist with her shield. She managed to stay on her feet and roll away from the other monster.
Thomas was met with four hand monsters. He managed to cut one of them but two others managed to punch him, both getting past his shield. Thomas was brought to the ground and another monster made it to Ron. The monster gave Ron a direct hit but Ron was strong enough to stay on his feet.
Ron raised the Thunder Sword into the air while Alice finished her spell. Two large explosions covered the area. When the spells dissipated all the hand monsters were laying on the ground dead. The four looked around to see if more monsters would appear. After a couple minutes no monsters had appeared.
"You must be right, Susie," said Alice. "Those monsters must have been summoning more."
"They weren't very tough on their own," said Ron. "But if they kept summoning their friends this could've gotten out of hand real quick."
"We'll have to remember to use large group tactics on them in the future," Suzanne said.
After a week of training the four decided to check out the cave they had heard about. The cave was about three days north of Tantegel Castle. The group encountered more hand monsters and slimes on the way but managed to defeat their opposition with little incident. As soon as the group descended into the cave Alice could tell something was wrong.
"Wait, everyone! Stop!" warned Alice.
"What is it?" asked Suzanne. Instead of answering, Alice cast a quick spell. However, her spell did not work.
"My magic is sealed," declared Alice. "Susie, Tom, try casting spells to see if it's affecting you too."
Suzanne and Thomas cast spells of their own but, like Alice's, the spells were stopped.
"So there's some sort of magic seal in this cave?" asked Ron. "Do
you think the magic in my sword will still work?"
"I doubt it," said Alice. "It wouldn't make any sense for –" Her statement was cut off by a large explosion conjured up from Ron's sword. Alice then tested her staff and found that it worked as well.
"Well, as I was saying," began Alice, "since the magic in our items comes from a different source it makes perfect sense –"
"Oh, no you don't!" cut in Ron. "You were wrong! Imagine that, the great sage Alice was mistaken! And I believe I was the one that corrected you!"
"Oh come on!" protested Alice. "Can't I be wrong once in my life without you throwing it in my face?"
"I believe you once gloated over me for something I said months ago," said Thomas. "Surely, Ron is entitled to some gloating over you in light of that?"
"No!" shouted Alice. "He most surely is not! And neither are you!"
"I think Tom's right Alice," said Suzanne with a smile on her face. "I believe, on this momentous occasion on which you were wrong, it is only right that we lesser mortals are allowed to have some fun with it." The other three chuckled as Alice pouted.
"Alright, everyone," said Suzanne at last. "Enough games for a while. Are we all ready?" She was met with confident nods from her companions. "Okay then, let's get to it."
The heroes descended into the cave. From the moment they entered the cave there was a split in direction. However, one direction quickly led to a dead end. As they walked through the cave they found it to be filled with small hallways and intersections that quickly ended in dead ends.
It was not long before the four found a descending staircase. As usual, they skipped the staircase at first and explored the entire floor they were on. Despite all the dead ends, the floor was so small that it took very little time at all.
"Anyone else notice something missing here?" asked Ron.
"Monsters?" suggested Suzanne. "We've seen no opposition since we came down here."
"Maybe Bert was wrong and there are no monsters here?" said Alice.
Dragon Quest Novel Page 52
