It's amusing how one moment, life seems quite content, almost perfect.
And the next moment, it can all go straight to hell.
Daniel wondered what could compare to today in recent memory, as his two companions began to speak.
"...I don't know what to say, really..." said one of them, a look of guilt on her face while she glanced at the grime covered floor.
"Good luck I suppose would be a good start, given where he's about to go. I dare say he'll need a big helping of it." said the other man casually, as he brushed a small piece of debris off his cloak. The woman turned in his direction, giving him a glare though the barely lit room.
"Oh honestly! You're making this seem much worse than it is!" she fumed, before her expression changed to one of slight nervousness.
"...I'm pretty sure..." she added, rather unconvincingly.
Daniel let out a soft sigh, leaning against the stone wall behind him. The torches above him and on the wall opposite flickered silently, casting several distorted shadows off the three.
One looks to be a dragon or half-dragon of some kind from her appearance, and somewhat shorter than the two men standing by her. Her long red hair, appearing more auburn in the shadows, is brushed back and held together with a gold clip, gold fin-like dragon ears barely visible from within the locks. Next to her stands a man with long blue hair, hanging loosely behind his shoulders. A wide-rimmed red hat rests on his head, casting a shadow over most of his face. A single feather lay in the middle of said hat, held in place by the white band in the middle.
Both are wearing rather formal attire, especially the woman, compared to the battered and dented armor on Daniel. It is hardly what one would expect to see in a dark, dreary room such as this one. The woman wears an elegant dress of dark green, fitting loosely and hanging from just the right places to accentuate her graceful frame, though well-built compared to most. A belt around her waist is decorated with 5 gemstones of different colors, similar to ones in the woman's famous weapon, the Dragon King Sword. On her forehead rests an elegant tiara, upon which the seal of the Doman Kingdom can be seen. Said tiara signifying this is in fact Doma's Queen, Aya Du Mythril Domanada.
The other gentleman wears a cloak of black with intricately woven red trimmings, resting over the man's somewhat lean body. Beneath the cloak he wears long white pants and a form fitting shirt of dark blue, upon which another seal of the kingdom is displayed. The seal shows this man to be one of Doma's Generals. Specifically, he is the head of the kingdom's magical forces, Hakaril Silvar. Doman General. Graduate of Gunnir Academy. Improvisational Lawyer. And several more titles that no one, other than Hakaril, had a chance in all of Gaera to remember.
It was odd to see them both formally dressed at times for the Pseudo-Paladin. Daniel was much more accustomed to their casual adventuring garments, from the days before their current ties to Doma. There was Aya, always travelling in her form fitting green shirt and equally fitting blue pants. She usually had an eager smile most of the time, green eyes wide and excited at the prospect of finding more 'shinies' somewhere in Gaera. Apparently it was a trait common to most of her species, a race of Holy Dragons known as Ryuuzoku. Her face was usually somewhat dirtied from her adventuring, her hair much more wild and jutting out in every direction. It is a stark contrast to the woman with neatly prepared hair and makeup before him, now a Queen instead of a travelling adventurer. Even so, Daniel knows the same adventurous spirit is still within her, something that has been both a blessing and a curse for those serving the royal family.
In Hakaril's case, however, his current attire differed little from his garments for traveling. Instead of the cloak, he tended to wear a coat of red and black, similar to his current garment. The wide-brimmed hat, plain shirt and pants were all far from being formal wear, as the mage made no attempt to hide his dislike of many royal protocols. The cloak was a compromised worked out by Aya and the General, though it seemed obvious to some that their ruler, King Charles Robert Franklyn Galzern Domanada, still disliked it. Whether or not Hakaril acknowledged this, or cared for that matter, is a matter open for debate.
To a casual observer, the sight of the three must seems rather strange. The Queen of Doma in her elegant dress, a General in his somewhat formal cloak, and a Knight in a worn jacket and light plate mail all standing next to a door in the castle depths. One might wonder what they are doing dressed up in the castle's dark depths. Truth be told, moments before they had very good reason.
The King and Queen, as well as their Advisors and Generals, were entertaining an ambassador from Inustan. Said nation lay to the southeast of Doma, known largely for its inhabitant's canine ancestry, among other things. The Royal Entourage greeted the ambassador in the main hall of the castle, with bright light from the morning sun shining down from the windows. Banners bearing the royal seal and colors hung from the ceiling, portraits of past King's and Queen's lining one side of the hall. The ambassador, rather short in height even compared to the Queen, had started to walk down the hall to greet the royal couple. He had a head of black fur, the end of his long snout covered in fur of white. Some tan fur ran along the bottom of his mouth and near the ends of his eyebrows, the rest of his body covered in fur of dotted black, white and tan. The Inustani wore an intricately crafted robe of navy and teal, bearing the mark of Fideleo, the God known to those outside of Inustan as Inugami. His thin ears flapped lightly as he walked, something Aya remarked to one of her guards as 'cute'. All seemed to be going well, as the King and Queen went over to greet him.
Well, that is... until Daniel Hyral's life went straight to hell.
It was difficult for those present to work out what happened, given how fast it occured. One moment, the ambassador and the royal couple were heading toward each other, down the carpet. The next, there was a loud bang as something barged through the main doors, into the hall. Whether it was his momentum entering the room, a snag in the hall's carpet, or just his inherent knack for being a klutz to blame, no one is sure. Whatever caused it, there was now a blue and tan blur tumbling and rolling down the carpet.
He first smacked right into the Inustani ambassador, the blur now containing streaks of navy and teal as it barreled right toward the royal couple. Aya let out a loud shriek in surprise, pushed out of the way by her husband before she could react. Unfortunately by doing so, Charles had no time to react himself, as the tumbling blur went sailing right into him. The three continued to tumble down the carpet, until they collided with the doors at the end of the hall with a loud thud. The royal entourage hurried after them, Aya leading with a look of fear and concern. They eventually caught up to the three, the group gathering around to see if anyone had been hurt. On top lay Daniel, the end of his coat flipped over his head and covering his face. He pushed it aside with a slight groan, rolling over and trying to get himself back up. As he turned to look at what he collided with, his eyes went wide, a look of total horror on his face. Some of the onlookers gasped, Aya placing a hand to her mouth as she did the same.
The Inustani ambassador was completely unconcious, his canine toung hanging from the side of his muzzle as he lay sprawled out on the floor. On top of him lay Charles, his formerly pristine robes of purple and white now marred with several splotches of dirt and tears in the fabric. But that was not what caused the look on Daniel's face, or the onlookers. Charles sat there with no hat on his head, short locks of unruly black hair laying over his chesnut skinned face in every direction. His dark brown eyes stared at his hand, the same direction Daniel and the rest were currently looking.
For in his hand lay two halves of the Royal Turban, the crown of the Doman Kings.
He looked up at Daniel, the glare in his eyes so intense, the Pseudo-Paladin thought for sure a hole was being drilled into his skull. The King stood up, dusting himself off as best he could before taking a deep breath.
"...Smartz, Purvis, take the ambassador to the white mages." he said, glancing over at the nation's Chancellor and the General of Doma's Navy, "Do what you can to keep him calm once he's concious, and let me know as soon as possible, so I may speak with him."
The pair nodded, each holding the canine man from one end as they carried him off. Charles then walked over to Aya, taking her hands in his.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, the Queen blushing slighty as she gave him a nod. He smiled back to her, pulling her forward for a brief hug before they parted. He turned toward the door, pushing it open before turning to look at Daniel once more, the smile quickly gone from his lips.
"Hyral, we need to speak, NOW." he told the Pseudo-Paladin, a slight growl in his voice despite his efforts to remain calm, before disappearing through the door. Daniel glanced over at the rest of his colleagues, some with shocked looks still on their faces, and one or two attempts not to burst out laughing. His glance ended on the Queen, her face a mixture of sympathy and remorse as she looked back. With an audible gulp, Daniel turned and entered the door, dreading the fate in store for him.
And that is how the trio came to be in the dungeon. For his actions, Charles ordered Daniel stationed in the dungeon blocks, on guard duty, for two weeks. The King asked Hakaril to take him down to one dungeon in paticular, and make certain he arrived and stayed. Aya chose to come along with them, once they were clear of the throneroom. She felt bad for Daniel, and wanted to try and cheer him up somehow.
"You know, I'm sure we'll all laugh about this day someday." Aya told Daniel, forcing a cheerful smile in hopes of raising his spirits. From the frown still on his face, she figured it wasn't helping.
"Actually, I find this entire incident rather interesting..." Hakaril remarked casually, rubbing the knuckles of his hand against his shirt, "It's leading me to believe your family may be under the effect of some kind of jinx or curse, since I seriously doubt any normal person could have as many spectacular mishaps."
"Hakaril?!" Aya fumed, giving him a slight punch to the shoulder, the multi-titled general wincing and rubbing the now sore spot with his hand.
"Well, it's true." Hakaril retorted, "Why just last week he had that incident with the Chocobo's in the city streets, and the week before that there was that problem with the exploding chairs, and the week before that..."
"I get the idea Hakaril, thanks..." Daniel sighed, the mage shrugging and turning to look at the two torches.
"With all the money Charles has, you'd think he could afford to get something a little less dirty and more efficient for lighting down here." Hakaril remarked to himself outloud, holding his chin in thought, "Why, back at Gunnir, we had a weekly rotation of mages who had to restock the lighting with..."
Aya sighed once again and walked over to Daniel, placing a hand on his shoulder as Hakaril continued to rant and reminisce.
"I'll try to talk to Charles, OK? He's just, really angry right now." She told Daniel, as he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.
"I don't blame him, really. I mean, I'd be bloody pissed too in his position." he remarked, rubbing at his temples with his two hands, the stress of his current situation starting to wear on him.
"Well.. sure, he's upset NOW, but give him time, and he'll be less angry." Aya said, "I mean, it's just a turban, it's not like you took someone's head off."
Daniel opened his eyes, serious doubt in her words evident by the look he gave her.
"I see... and if someone like, say Smartz, 'accidentally' chipped off part of the Dragon King Sword?" he asked her. Her face froze a moment, as the possible scenario played through in her mind.
"I'd... be pretty pissed off... I suppose... good point." she answered, pulling at a small strand of unruly hair touching her ear. As far as Charles was concerned, they both knew it was far from just an old piece of headgear. It symbolized the entire Doman line of Kings, their struggles, their sacrifices, everything they gave to make Doma what it is today. Something that would be damn near impossible to just simply replace.
"...so how's the ambassador doing?" Daniel asked her, trying to change the subject somewhat.
"Fine mostly, but uh, he's still unconcious." Aya told him, getting another sigh in response, the Queen frowning soon after.
"He's really doing better though!" she suddenly piped up, trying to force a wide grin on her face again, "Really! Kyra and the others white mages did a great job for him. He's even mumbling things now li...
..."
She suddenly stopped short, the grin falling as she remembered something.
The subject of said ambassador's mumblings.
Mostly about a person's large 'pechos'.
While she was certain Daniel didn't understand Inustani, she decided against mentioning it, or risk him figuring out what it really meant. Daniel gave her a puzzled look at the abrupt silence, but she quickly smiled and grinned back. Daniel raised an eyebrow at the odd behavior, but shrugged it off and leaning his head back again, sighing once more.
"...does Kyra know yet?" Daniel asked, wondering how worried she'd be once she found out. He didn't know who she'd be more upset with, Charles or himself. Either way, the thought of her worrying over him for the next two weeks was driving him mad.
"I don't THINK so, we just told her the ambassador fell and hit his head. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time until she hears it from someone." Aya explained, knowing full well how fast the castle's 'gossip network' tended to spread information.
"Could you, maybe let her know, before she hears it from someone else?" Daniel asked, getting a nod back from Aya.
"I'll try to track her down when I can." she told him, Dan nodding back and smiling in thanks.
"...but if he really has to cut corners over something as trivial and more effective as magical lighting, then it makes me question what else he could be holding back for the sake of the allmight gil." Hakaril continued, apparently oblivious to Daniel and Aya's discussion, "But anyways. You agree with me, don't you Aya?"
"...huh? Oh um... yeah, sure Hak. I'll mention something to Charles about it or, something." Aya responded, having no clue at all what Hakaril was talking about. He glanced back at her, an eyebrow over one of his red-amber eyes raised. Apparently he suspected she heard nothing, but the mage simply ignored it and turned to Daniel.
"What about you, Dan? Surely you can appreciate what I'm saying. Baron's a somewhat magical land, if I recall. You must be somewhat familiar with the benefits of enchantments there?"
"Uh... maybe?" Daniel answered, shrugging. The Pseudo-Paladin refused to debate over the land of his birth and Doma. While Baron may have a slightly larger presence of magic, it could not compare to the large diversity of races and people in Doma. Both had their strengths, and he was proud to call both home. Hakaril simply shrugged back, gazing up at the torches again.
"Well, at least Charles has the sense to maintain a robust contingent of magic users in his army." Hakaril states, more to himself than anyone in paticulr, "Though, he should seriously consider my proposals for an increase to our budget, given the...?"
Hakaril suddenly glanced over at the Queen, Daniel following his gaze to find Aya giggling.
"...and what suddenly has you so amused?" Hakaril asked, as Aya coughed and tried to compose herself.
"N..nothing really, just the thought of you trying to advise Charles on how to use money responsibly." Aya answered, still trying hard not to smirk. The Doman General raised an eyebrow, noting that Daniel now had a smirk on his face as well. He stood there puzzled for a moment, before it dawned on him what they were thinking of, letting out another sigh.
"I still fail to see how that was a 'Gross Misuse of National Funds' as Charles put it." Hakaril stated, Aya giving him a look of disbelief.
"Hakaril, we've talked about this before... how can you POSSIBLY justify giving an Inn-Keeper a #### GIL TIP?" Aya shouted, the General casually standing there, glancing back as if the answer was obvious.
Daniel still remembered hearing about it from Kyra, as it happened in her hometown of Varrock. The Pseudo-Paladin always meant to ask if the man really got the money, and how the town was doing with it. But something always seemed to come up before he remembered.
...such as being stuck in a dungeon for two weeks.
Daniel sighed and leaned his head back again, as Aya and Hakaril continued talking.
Why this dungeon? Out of all the bloody dungeons in the castle, why THIS one Charles... he thought to himself.
This was not the first time the Pseudo-Paladin had been to this paticular dungeon block. He suspected it was why Charles sent him to this one specifically. During his early days as a Knight for Doma, Chancellor Smartz had asked Daniel for a favor. He asked him to retrieve a lost document from the castle dungeon, specifically from the H block. At the time, Daniel had no idea what the various dungeon block letters stood for, and he casually walked down and attempted to enter the area. He quickly found out however, running through the castle screaming. It took nearly an hour before he stopped raving about creatures and demons with long tentacles, trying to get him before he managed to escape. It was a dungeon known throughout the Capital for its unusual creatures, and a punishment for the most hardened of criminals.
And now Daniel had two weeks of babysitting in it to look forward to. Despite Aya's earlier attempts at reassurance, he doubted he would be leaving here any time soon, or that Charles would simply calm down over this. The fact he was assigned here to begin with, of all places, seemed to confirm this for the Pseudo-Paladin. He only hoped he could think of some way to make up for this. But for now...
"...but if you insist on SOME other 'valid' reason, I'm more than happy to think of a few for you." Hakaril continued, as Dan thought to himself, "There is the influx of large monetary value into their community, which will help to increase their standard of living rather significantly. Given that their ancestral traditions focus on the healing arts, this also has the added benefit of solidifying relations with Doma, not to mention..."
"Alright Hakaril, alright..." Aya interrupted, throwing her hands up to stop him from talking. She turned to Daniel, poking him on the shoulder.
"Still there?" she asked, Daniel blushing slightly at his lack of attention.
"Y...yeah, just thinking about things." he told her, glancing back at the stairs, "Much as I hate to say it, you both should probably get going."
Aya nodded, about to give him a small hug when Hakaril walked in front of her, facing Daniel.
"Before we go Dan, I do feel it's only fair to warn you that much of this dungeon is a mystery, even to myself." Hakaril started to tell him, "However, based on what information I've gathered from the people who didn't go completely insane..."
Daniel gulped loudly, Aya sighing again as Hakaril continued.
"...I can tell you what we definitely know. For your own safety, naturally, I doubt Kyra would like to see you again as a gibbering lunatic, or anyone else for that matter."
He reached into his cloak, pulling out several sheets of parchment. On them were various notes in Hakaril's hurried handwriting, not to mention several small sketches.
"Now then, so far I've managed to categorize at least 30 creatures of varying types in here. There may be less, as you know that some people tend to exagerrate certain details afer a stressful situation, and several of these descriptions do seem to be very simliar. I would have to either venture in there myself or have someone else go in to verify firsthand whether..."
"...I hate to interrupt this Hakaril, but I really just need to know how to stay safe, if you don't mind." Daniel asked, the General shrugging and skipping ahead through his documents.
"...well in that case, I'll get to the really dangerous ones. For example, there are at least eight known creatures in this block with appendages long and narrow enough to penetrate the a..."
Hakaril suddenly found himself interrupted by a smack to the back of the head, letting out a loud "OW!" as the angry Ryuuzoku fumed once more.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TELLING HIM ABOUT THAT?!" she yelled at him, "DO YOU WANT HIM TO... oh crap."
Daniel's eyes were already glazing over, Aya catching him just in time as he started to fall over in a faint.
"Well, he DID ask me, you know. What should I have told him? That Fluffigami and her fluffy white bunnies and kitties sit waiting to greet him behind the door?" Hakaril retorted, removing his hat and rubbing the back of his head. He replaced it and glanced down at the unconcious Pseudo-Paladin.
"Well.. we certainly can't put him in there like that, or he probably WILL wake up with several things in him." Hakaril remarked, Aya glaring daggers at him in response.
"How can you say something like that?! By Ceipheid..." Aya told him, as she tried to fan Daniel awake, "Sometimes you can really be an insensitive jerk, Hakaril..."
Hakaril's eyes narrowed a bit, as the blue haired mage looked at Aya, a slight glare on his own face.
"I'm a jerk for pointing out the obvious? You're acting like I WANT him to go in and have horrible things happen." he remarked, trying to help by slapping Daniel lightly on the cheek.
"Well it sure sounded that way..." Aya told him, shaking the Pseudo-Paladin slightly.
"Of COURSE not. I'm not like some of the cousins Sirvy has..." Hakaril told her, referring to his wife of the succubus persuasion, "In fact, now that I think about it, I'm surprised none of them have found out about this place from her. Though I guess she wouldn't want them trying to get into the castle after that incident with the..."
"Ok Ok, sorry Hakaril..." She apologied, trying to help Daniel stand back up on his feet, "But, seriously, you definitely need to pick up some tact."
"...really now? You know, Sirvy says too sometimes..." Hakaril said, helping Aya with the job of lifting Dan, "...but I always figured it was her time of the month talking."
Aya sighed again, tempted to try and explain it once more to the mage. She was interrupted, however, by Daniel's moaning.
"One of these days I should do a case study on this... or suggest it to a colleague." Hakaril remarked, turning around and holding his chin in thought again, "I'm sure they'd be interested to see what different conditions lead to these fainting spells of his all the time. One has to wonder if its physiological, or psychological, or possibly both. There's also the possibility..."
"Dan? You ok?" Aya asked as Hakaril went off again, getting a nod from the Pseudo-Paladin as he steadied himself.
"Yeah, just... sorry... I started thinking about last time and..." Daniel started to say, gulping and trying hard not to think about it.
"Like I said before, I'll do what I can Dan. You're not staying in this place for two weeks, turban and unconcious diplomat or not." Aya told him, Daniel managing a slight smile back.
"Thanks, your highness." he answered, Aya giving him a slight smirk.
"You know, I've told ya before wou can just call me Aya, I don't mind..." she said to him, as Daniel raised an eyebrow back.
"This coming from the person who proclaims 'CALL ME QUEEN!' after four rounds of dragonale?" he smirked back, Aya blushing slightly.
"Well... it IS nice to hear, hehe." she chuckled.
"...though I doubt I should mention Stephan to them, even in the name of research I'm not sure they'd wanna put up with him. And then there's his mother of course, they'd have to travel to Baron..." Hakaril continued, the pair looking over in slight disbelief at the mage's lack of awareness while he spoke.
"I... guess we should go then..." she told Daniel, giving him a brief hug, "Be careful down here, Ok? I don't wanna have to tell Kyra you got hurt."
"I will, and thanks again, Aya." Dan smiled, giving her a wave as the pair left up the stairs.
"Oh! Dan!" Hakaril suddenly shouted from up the stairs, "If you DO see something, try to remember as much detail as you can. Colors, approximate measurements, whatever you can. I strongly suspect that several crossbreeds have..."
"LET'S GO HAKARIL!" Aya shouted, the sound of dragging feet echoing down as the two disappeared up the stairs, leaving Daniel alone at the dungeon block door.
He stared at it for a minute or two, fully aware of what may lay on the other side. He so wanted to run up the stairs, and out of the castle, and out of Doma, anywhere but here. But he knew that wasn't an option. He couldn't bare to leave Kyra, and taking her away would be selfish. She was finally settling into life in Doma, much as he had years ago, and he had no right to take that away from her. And there was no way in hell he'd dare be anywhere without her...
With one final, loud gulp, Daniel approached the door, pushing it open and finally entering Dungeon Block H, the door closing behind him with a loud clank.
Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=fffanatic80>FF] at: 9/23/04 10:17 am