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Memories	By : Asirainis Category: +A through F > Dragon Quest/ Dragon Warrior Views: 1615 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Quest VIII, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
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- 18
Memories
Chapter Sixteen: Chasing Dhoulmagus
They grouped outside as Yangus yawned. Airlia looked downcast as she shivered. Draco winced. "What's wrong Airlia?"
She blinked as she pushed the nightmare away. "I had another nightmare. It had the same feeling as Master Rylus's dream did. Like I couldn't change it. I couldn't see who the Jester murdered. But he said something about destroying the sages. Something about seals. However, unlike Master Rylus's dream, it feels more recent, like I was actually witnessing it from the perspective of the victim as it was happening."
They nodded as Trode put a hand on her shoulder, "My dear, you tried to help us, please, take heart that at least I was able to see my daughter's face for once since this all began, especially since she tried to shield me from the blow of that scepter."
Airlia nodded as she responded both sadly and a bit angrily, "But I hate that I can't save everyone he's killed." Jessica nodded as she shivered in the cool predawn air. The dawn of the morning was quickly coming upon them – as they decided to leave swiftly, and quietly. Airlia knew Melampus would understand as they parted for the town that they were told of back at Princess Minnie's castle… Baccarat. They went back to the fork in the road as they went to the left, heading north. They hurried along the path as the sun began to rise in the sky above them.
Winding around a pair of mountains on either side, they came to yet another fork in the road. She looked at the sign on the corner.
South – Lake Argon
Sighing, Alistair pulled the map back out and pointed to the path going west. Jessica smiled as they began to walk down the path hoping it would lead them back on the path to that fiend, Dhoulmagus. They rounded the tall hill near them and continued to follow the path, along the road. Shortly, they came to a bridge leading to another isle that sloped back to the main land. They had just gone down the slope when they heard something swinging in the trees nearby. When they went to investigate it, they saw a gorerilla trying to help his family. They were trapped under a fallen tree as the piteous cries reached the group. She stared at the site, determined to help him, as she went to the tree. She spoke to the gorerilla soothingly, "I promise you, I won't hurt you or your family. Let me try to help you… please." He turned to her, a giant oaken club in his hand with blue skin and tan fur, and with tears in his eyes, he nodded.
The others joined her as Yangus grunted, "Leave this to me guv'ness."
She cocked her head to the side, "Guv'ness?"
He laughed, "Yeah, you remind me a lot of the guv. Now stand back. I will move it wiv the 'elp of the poor guy tryin' to save his family." She nodded as she stood back while the pair lifted the tree. Airlia saw the mother move from under the tree.
She looked at the group with a plea in her eyes as she pointed to her child. "Cannot reach…" She said as Airlia nodded. Looking at the child, she could see the small body was deathly still. She rushed to the child under the tree, and scooped him up tenderly and with one last glance to ensure no one else was trapped, she fled the fallen tree.
"They're all clear, let it down!" The pair gratefully let the tree fall as she examined the poor ape for injuries. His breathing was laboring as the female cried. Tears were in the male's eyes as he tried to comfort his wife and other child.
She waved her hand over the poor boy as she focused her magic. "Heal, alleviate the poor child of his injuries, and let him be able to live normally." She saw the glowing blue light flow from her hand to his body. Moments trickled by until he was breathing normally once more. His eyes opened slowly. The woman screamed happily as she ran to her baby and held him close before turning grateful eyes to the healer. The female gorerilla pointed to a giant club.
Nodding in understanding, she took it and handed it to Yangus. "Since I can't wield it, I want you to have it Yangus, for helping to save that family."
He blushed as he happily accepted it. She turned to the family of Gorerillas, "Have you heard of Morrie's Monster Haven?"
The male nodded, "I'm Klub, and this is my wife Kina. The son you saved is Kong and my other child is Klina. We were going to go there today, but the tree… It got knocked on my family intentionally. Stupid jester that we were running from because we refuse to hurt humans did this." Airlia nodded, knowing that it was Dhoulmagus who put the family at risk.
"Go to Morrie, He's waiting for you. Use this chimaera wing to take you there." He smiled gratefully to her as she said, "When you see Morrie, tell him Ragazzo helped your family to get there safely."
He nodded, "I will happily do so. Thank you all." The family vanished without a trace as they moved back to the main road.
Trode looked at them as he spoke. "What was that all about?"
She frowned, "Dhoulmagus put a family of Gorerillas in danger by lodging a tree over his family. Almost killed his youngest, but my simple healing magic that everyone at the Abbey learns at a young age was able to save him. They're on their way to Morrie."
He nodded as he growled, "That cursed devil! Let's end this for good!" Airlia nodded in agreement as she feared for the man that was murdered by Dhoulmagus.
As they continued around the giant hill, Airlia noticed a giant sabercat statue at the top of the hill… Well not a sabercat proper, but its face certainly. She ignored it as they went off the main path to the west as she saw the town on the coast. She looked up and saw the ship was already there though. Her eyebrows shot up. "Guys, that ship might truly be enchanted beyond just the oars. Remember we left it at Argonia?" They nodded. She pointed ahead as the others gasped.
"What the hell!?" Draco screamed as she shrugged. They shared a look as they shrugged. "Right now we shouldn't worry until we go and explore this town." Airlia nodded in agreement as they went inside the town. There were people crying everywhere, upset with something that had obviously happened. Airlia knew now where the murder had taken place; she wouldn't be able to help him now.
They looked around and saw a wandering minstrel as Airlia smiled. "Minstrels are usually a good source of information. Let's go talk to him."
They nodded as Jessica approached the man. "Hey there, what's going on? Why is everyone so upset?"
He shrugged. "The casino's closed, so many of the people here who are addicted to gambling can't gamble. Oddly enough though, I have a friend who works as one of the Golding family's bodyguards. He just dropped by to pay me a visit. He said he was leaving for some place called the Dark Ruins. But no matter how hard I pressed, he wouldn't tell me why."
Jessica cocked an eyebrow as she looked at him, "Oh? Where are these ruins?"
He shrugged, his orange cloak swaying with the motions. "I don't have a clue! Maybe if you should ask around in the pub in the hotel basement you might get an answer." Jessica smiled as she waved goodbye to him.
"The Dark Ruins certainly sound ominous, I wonder where they are. But for now, let's listen around town." The others nodded as they went into the inn. Draco, Alistair and Angelo went downstairs while Yangus, Airlia and Jessica stayed on the main floor. Airlia saw a woman in a gold dress with tassels hanging off of the hem walking around. She went to the woman as she said, "What's going on in town?"
She looked at the girl incredulously, "You mean you haven't heard?"
Airlia shook her head, "Heard what?"
The dark haired woman leaned in, whispering conspiratorially, "Seems someone broke into the Golding's Mansion. Rumor has it, Golding got hurt in the altercation with the burglar. However, being owner of the world's largest casino, I'm not surprised thieves are trying to break in to steal anything." Airlia nodded as she considered her dream. He was definitely dead. The Dark Ruins were where Dhoulmagus was heading. She only needed to figure out where they needed to go next.
Minutes later, the others came up the stairs as Draco spoke, "The barman wasn't downstairs, and if anyone is going to know where we need to go, it would be him."
Airlia nodded in agreement. "Let's check the next floor up; he has to be here somewhere. An active bar without a barman means he can't have gone too far." They nodded as they went up the spiral staircase to the next floor. They turned left to hear some voices. A thick accent was demanding to know what happened the other day… Airlia nodded to the others as they went up to the corner. Draco poked his head just around the corner to see two men speaking. Giving them a 'thumbs-up' sign meant that they had found their barman.
A deeper voice, without an accent spoke, "All right, all right, already! But you've got to keep this under your hat, okay? This is between you and me."
The accented spoke once more, "I swear I won't' say a word. We barmen know when to keep our mouths shut."
The deeper voice continued, "By the Goddess, lower your voice! I assume you've heard about Mr. Golding's house being burgled. Well, the fact is, Mr. Golding was murdered during the robbery."
The bartender's thick accent shouted through the seemingly empty hallway… "Murdered!? You mean Mr. Golding is dead!?"
The deeper voice spoke, angry with the barman. "I told you to keep it down! That's why nobody's seen hide nor hair of him recently. He isn't among the living anymore."
The bartender disputed the claim as he spoke, "But Mr. Golding was such a big man! You're trying to tell me he was killed by arandom burglar!?"
The deeper voice continued, "Well, the really weird thing about it was that the burglar was apparently dressed as a jester!" Airlia bit back her gasp, knowing now that she had seen Mr. Golding fighting with Dhoulmagus.
The deeper voice continued, "I didn't see him myself, mind you, but that's what they say." The bartender sounded strangely surprised, "A jester, huh?" The deeper voice continued to speak, "A strange one, this burglar. Seems he broke in, killed Mr. Golding, and left. He didn't take anything valuable."
Airlia spoke lowly to the others, "Except for Mr. Golding's life. That's the only thing valuable stolen from him. Another seal broken…" The others nodded to her as they continued to listen.
Apparently the deeper voice agreed with her, "From the looks of it, he was after Mr. Golding's life, not his gold. I also heard that Cash and Carrie have ordered some men to find the jester and avenge their father's death. Word has it that they've had him quietly buried in the private cemetery in the back of the house for the Golding clan. That's why it's closed down right now." Draco pushed the others away as he heard the conversation breaking. They went down the hall and started to seemingly approach there from the stairs.
Airlia looked at the others, "We have to find those Dark Ruins!" They went downstairs to the basement to find the bartender at the bar.
He looked at the group pale as Airlia said, "We overheard everything. Where is it that they sent that group to in order to avenge Mr. Golding's murder? Tell us that and we will go away, I promise."
He flushed as he nodded. "I hear that they headed straight for some island north of Baccarat. Word is that there are some ruins on the island. It'd make the perfect hideout." Airlia nodded as they bowed to the bartender to leave. Leaving the hotel, Airlia went to the mansion only to find the gates firmly sealed.
The guards said, "The siblings, Cash and Carrie Golding don't want any visitors at this time. My apologies." She nodded as she knew then if they weren't allowing any visitors, then her window to revive Mr. Golding had been officially closed to her.
Rejoining the others, they went outside of Baccarat and onto their boat just off shore to the east of Baccarat. Once they were on the boat, they looked ahead and saw dark clouds to the north, like Trodain… "There, set sail for that island Draco! Dhoulmagus is there!" He nodded as they proceeded north, reaching there in just under an hour. Nightfall was slowly coming as they landed on shore. Turning, they saw the group that the two must have sent after Dhoulmagus.
Airlia rolled her eyes as she heard the knight's conversation… "Surely it's too dangerous to carry on pursuing this fiend! I mean, look at what he did to Golding…"
He realized that the group was no longer alone as he turned to Alistair, "Huh!? Who are you!?" Airlia ignored their tiny boat as the swordsman, dressed in mesh underneath a blue tunic and red overshirt spoke to them, "Interesting… I thought there was no one on this island besides us and Golding's murderer. Let me give you a piece of advice. Steer clear of the old ruins in the middle of the island."
Airlia cocked an eyebrow as she asked, "Why? We're after him too."
He shrugged as he said, "Ignore me at your peril! You have been warned."
Airlia rolled her eyes, "Just stay out of our way. You could have come along with us and together, defeat that monster. Suit yourself." They walked away from them with a shrug as they proceeded north of their location, and following the map, they bared right and followed the curve along to the center of the island, the center of the dark clouds looming over it.
The land was barren, filled with the stench of poison from the ponds that were undrinkable as Airlia looked around uneasily. As they walked up, they saw a weakened Dhoulmagus limping into the ruins. Soon as he felt their presence, he turned to them, cackling softly, the eyes of the scepter glowing as the fog into the ruins deepened. Airlia felt a chill run over her form as she rubbed her arms to keep warm, even in the leather dress she had on. "I didn't like the way Dhoulmagus looked at us and laughed before he disappeared off inside the ruins. If we're going in. We should be wary. You never know what he might have up his sleeve." Angelo said as Airlia nodded.
Alistair looked at Airlia, concerned for her safety, "I don't want you going in there Airlia. Please. If we somehow were to lose, you would be at his mercy. Pick somewhere, anywhere, to stay – just not with us as we take him on."
Airlia nodded. "I want to go to Savella, to see if my father's still there. After that I'll end up going to a well-run kingdom, like Ascantha or Argonia."
Jessica nodded, "I'm wary because it feels like he let himself get cornered. There must be some sort of trap in there waiting for us."
Alistair nodded as he said, "He was limping, and however that is likely from Mr. Golding's attack. I have a feeling, though, that he is more hurt than he's letting on."
They proceeded to go inside, only to find themselves submerged in such darkness that they couldn't see. Forced to go back, they looked around the area to see the trio of warriors sent by the Golding children, they turned to them. The soldier bowed to them. "When we saw you all set off so bravely, we decided it was time for us to do the same. Perhaps you could fill us in?"
Airlia nodded as she explained, "He was limping badly when he went into the ruins. However, he turned and cackled when he saw us, the eyes on the scepter glowing brightly as the fog deepened. You can't see anything in there, which forced us to turn back."
He nodded, "Hm… The dark aura coming out of the ruins is some kind of barrier set up by, Dhoulmagus, is it?" Draco nodded.
Closing his eyes he pondered, "So we have to break through that before we can fight him, then. How…? How do you break through darkness…?"
Airlia looked up, "With light! We have to find a way to harness light. The mage and priest with you, have either of you heard of something that can harness light, or the power of the sun perhaps?"
The priest smiled as the mage nodded, supplying, "Ah, wait a minute! How about the magic mirror of Argonia? People say that can dispel the dark. You never know, it might do the trick."
Airlia nodded, "We know where Argonia is. We passed it on our way to visit Baccarat." The priest nodded as the group smiled.
Airlia looked at the others. "Let's find an inn to stay at for the night before we go to Argonia. We need to be well rested for this, as I don't know what conditions the king will set on us for getting the mirror." Angelo nodded in agreement. They went back to the boat, lost in thought about how to get the mirror, and what they would have to do in order to obtain it.
Once on the boat, the group set out towards the shore of the main content to their south and Angelo spoke, while looking at the map. "There's a church nearby with a view of the sea. Perhaps we can go there?" Alistair nodded as they went south until they found the shore, then followed it back around to just into the side of the land's side, where it was almost like a half-moon.
Airlia saw the church and nodded, "Angelo, it's perfect. Let's go rest." They came to shore, and extended the ramp to get off the ship and approached the church. Going inside the church, they saw a gold and red carpet that led to the pastor of the church, with a small branch going off immediately to the side. They saw a burly man sitting at the table, likely a protector of the church, with another doorway deeper into the church.
Going inside, they saw several beds as they turned to the lovely nun dressed in blue with a white wimple and dark hat to cover her hair. She smiled as she spoke to the group, "Why not stay the night if you're exhausted children?"
Airlia smiled as she nodded, "Thank you sister." She smiled as they went to lie down. Night passed all too swiftly for everyone as Airlia dreamed of the death of the man in green with the woman dying soon after of heartbreak and exhaustion after giving birth to two children… It was more than she had seen previously, but yet it still pained her as she whimpered in her sleep. Draco awoke, hearing the whimpering and turned to Airlia. He frowned as he got up and went to her side, taking hold of her hand gently as he stared at her. "What are you dreaming of now Airlia?" He whispered to no one in particular as Munchie got out to look at her. He walked over to her and nuzzled into her other hand as Draco frowned. Munchie wasn't particularly attached to anyone except for him, what could it mean?
He broke contact when he saw her waking as she blushed. "I'm sorry, was I dreaming again?"
Draco grimaced as Munchie hurried back into his pouch to munch on some cheese. "Yeah, but if you're not up to talking about it, I understand. Considering your tears and whimpers, it wasn't a good dream."
She nodded, "Yeah, it was another nightmare. I'm just not ready to talk about it yet. Soon perhaps, but not yet."
He nodded as they obtained some more bread and cheese to take with them as well as more fruit for Medea and water for the group. They had set up the wagon when a boy came riding up to the church on a sabercat's back in worry. "Have you seen an older sabercat around here? We fear he's in trouble. If you can, please follow me to Chateau Felix! I have a favor to ask of you!"
Everyone looked at one another as Airlia shrugged, "If we hurry, it shouldn't take much time."
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Memories