(no subject)
Title: OVERHAULED: Beauty and the Beast
Author: SilverCats
Status: Incomplete, but outlined
Length: 4 chapters up
Category: Dragon Knights
Genre: General/humor/romance
Summary: Yes, the classic faery tale, completely rebooted and reinstalled with the slightly insane cast of Dragon Knights... Involves characters turning into forks and other cutlery. Insanity ensues. Enough said.
Chapter Four: In which we finally get to Rath, Rune, and Thatz; in which many are inebriated at Nadil’s party, and in which the girls get somewhat emo until they meet Raseleane…omg is that a beer mug?
A/n- sorry for the wait ya’ll; here it is, more rambling at the end. READ!
Warning: Slight out of characterness might ensue…but come on, if you found yourself to be a fork, you too may be a little bit disturbed and abnormal…
o.O
“There’s a stranger here.” One voice growled softly, and in the poor light of the dungeon, Tintlett, Cesia, and Kitchel could make out three shapes in the doorway. “Who are you and why are you here?” The forms were tall, and did not look human.
“Please, they meant no harm, they-”
A growl cut off Nohiro and the forms moved closer, though still avoiding the weak light that fell from a single lantern suspended in the middle of the room.
“Who are you?” Kitchel asked cautiously, and another voice rumbled a response. “We are the masters of this castle. Why are you here, invading our property?” The rude tone was harshened, and Cesia gathered up her courage enough to say, “We came to find Nohiro-please, let him go! Can’t you see he’s sick?”
The last figure spoke then, sullenly. “He trespassed here. He is our prisoner.” “Please, you have to let him out, he could die!” The choked off coughing that followed this accentuated this.
“No.”
Tintlett felt her eyes begin to water as Kitchel pleaded, “Please, we’ll do anything!” A less harsh reply came, full of distrust.
“Anything?”
“Take me instead.”
Tintlett stood, and Nohiro cried out. “No!”
More mistrust, and something that might, long ago, have been amazement shaded the next words; “You would take his place?”
“Tintlett, no!” Nohiro couldn’t let her do this for him. “Take us as well,” Cesia spoke for herself and Kitchel at this, but Tintlett hushed them.
“Come into the light.”
The shapes hesitated, but then slowly stepped into the single beam of light. They became creatures, once human, now misshapen and animal-like, and Kitchel gasped sharply.
“If I did,” Tintlett said, her voice wavering slightly as she tried to hide her fear, “Would you let them go?” Kitchel protested this- “We won’t let you do this alone. We’re staying with you!”
“Yes, but you must stay here forever.”
“Then you have my word.” Her eyes dropped to the floor.
“Done.”
One of the beasts came forward and pulled the dungeon door from the doorway, and then pulled Nohiro from it. Two suits of armor from the door took the order, “Take him to the crossroads.” They grabbed Nohiro and left, leaving Kitchel and Cesia thrown aside, and Tintlett collapsed on the ground. A small pressure on one of the beast’s legs caused them to notice Ruwalk standing there.
“Umm, perhaps you should offer them a room, with a more comfortable bed, as they’re going to be staying here for a while…” The candlestick got a sense of being glared at and squeaked, “Then again, maybe not,” before hurrying off.
One turned back, and noticed the three girls. “What is it?”
“You didn’t even let us say goodbye. We’ll never see him again.”
“We’ll show you to your room.”
The finality in the voice brooked no argument, and Cesia looked up a little. “But, I thought…” The shape closest to the door growled out, “Do you want to stay in the tower?” The girls flinched at the tone.
“No…”
The shape between the last two voices muttered, “Then come with us.” Hesitantly, the girls stood and followed, heads bowed and shoulders slumped.
“The castle is your home now…” The creature on the right spoke. “You are free to go anywhere you wish, except for the West Wing.” Kitchel looked up. “What’s in the West-” “It is forbidden!” The one on the left snapped, and Tintlett shrank back.
The procession went on, and a door loomed up in front of them. “This is your room. If you need anything, our people will attend you.” The door opened, and the girls were shown inside. The room was dark, and silent, and the only light was that of the faint hall lights coming in the doorway. The door began to close, but the second voice, the harsh one, was heard clearly. “You’ll join us for dinner; that’s not a request!” came into the room before the door slammed.
o.O
Nohiro was abandoned at the crossroads, where he had missed a turn and lost his way earlier. Somehow, the dark, stormy weather that surrounded the lair of the beasts he had stumbled onto had melted away, and the sun was shining happily through the leafy green foliage. Now he could clearly see the signpost pointing him in the direction of the town again, and he set off at as quick a pace as he could, being sick and all, towards home. Strangely, as quickly as they had dumped him there, the suits if armor disappeared. Surely that was not natural behavior…
o.O
The room they found themselves inside was dark, but with no little amount of stumbling around a window was found. The pale moonlight pouring through the window was hardly enough to light the room, but now they could see the bed, and the chair beside it.
Kitchel flopped on the bed, facedown in what, admittedly, was a soft, thick, dark blue quilt. Tintlett curled up in the easy chair next to it, knees under her chin, and arms around her knees. Cesia meant to sit on the edge of the bed, but her knees gave out beneath her as she walked over to her sisters. . (A/n: ahh, the dramatics…but then, Cesia’s always been that way. More humor if you can get through this scene, I promise!) Tintlett looked out the window, but there was no chance of seeing Nohiro before he disappeared, having been long gone before the temper tantrums of the beasts.
“Yes, I made the choice,” she murmured softly, breath ghosting on the window, and this drew her sister’s attentions. “Nohiro, I will stay…”
Kitchel, her face buried into the pillow, yelled her anger. “But I don't deserve to lose my freedom in this way, you monsters!” Cesia looked up at Tintlett as her sister continued, “If you think that what you've done is right, well then, you're a fool!” Kitchel glared off into the darkness towards the door. “Think again!”
Behind the door, one of the beasts still remained, listening to the girls talking inside.
“Is this home? Is this where I should learn to be happy?” One voice trembled softly, as if to keep from crying, and another replied, “Never dreamed that a home could be dark and cold…” A new voice joined them, and the beast turned away. It was the voice of the girl he had snapped at. “I was told every day in my childhood: even when you grow old…” He was striding down the hallway as the other voices chimed in with the well known saying Nohiro always used to tell them, “Home should be where the heart is…”
“Never where words so true!”
“My heart's far, far away; home is too.”
He couldn’t stand it anymore. Why had they trespassed on his property? They must have known there would be consequences. His head was spinning with all sorts of new thoughts and ideas, and he couldn’t contain it anymore. Damn the three of them to hell.
…Is this home
Is this what I must learn to believe in?
Try to find
Something good in this tragic place
Just in case
I should stay here forever
Held in this empty place
Oh, that won't be easy
I know the reason why
My heart's far, far away
Home's a lie…
Cesia smile weakly at Tintlett as she admitted, “What I'd give to return to the life that I knew lately,” and Kitchel sat up and declared, “And to think, I’d complained of that poor provincial town!” They all had to smile at that. “Is this home? Are we here for a day or forever? Shut away, from the world until who knows when?”
The question could only be answered by fate, it seems, for certainly none of the three of them knew the answer, but Tintlett quietly continued, “Oh, but then as our lives has been altered once they can change again.”
Kitchel was positively uninhibited now, and she spoke like a true thief, “Build higher walls around me, change every lock and key; nothing lasts, nothing holds all of me…”
“My heart's far, far away…Home and free!”
o.O
The sound of voices inside the room the knights had given the three girls died away, and Raseleane turned to Lykouleon. “Should we talk to them now?”
Tetheus chose this moment to point out in a dignified manner (this manner was all that was left to him now that he was the butt of many jokes behind his back due to his demoted stature) “If you don’t talk to them now, they’re liable to fall asleep.” This decided the queen, and she knocked smartly on the door.
“Who is it?” a voice asked softly from inside the room, and Raseleane called out, “Raseleane, dear, would you like some tea?”
“Oh, yes, please,” came the affirmative and Lykouleon pushed the door open.
Three sets of eyes were looking at what should have been eye level, but sadly, as diminished as the castle inhabitants had become, the three guests looked right over the Dragon Lord and Lady.
“Ahem…” Tetheus cleared his throat, and the girls’ eyes shifted down.
“Oh, but you’re a-” the girl in the chair cried softly, and the girl on the bed leapt up.
“Raseleane, dear,” the Dragon Queen smiled kindly, and added for good taste, “Pleased to make your acquaintances.”
Kitchel, who had leapt up, slowly backed away from the collection of kitchenware that had apparently taken it upon themselves to take a trip up to their room, and bumped into a wardrobe. Unfortunately for her, the wardrobe, who turned out to be Cernozura, protested being bumped, and nearly frightened Kitchel out of her skin by chiding her gently, “Careful, dear.”
In the dim light of the room, the girls’ wide eyes were the only parts of them that the objects could clearly make out. Introductions followed this, and the kindly tone that the inhabitants of the castle used, in Raseleane’s view anyway, calmed the girls down a bit, as they seemed more open once they knew who (or rather, what) they were talking to.
After a nice cup of tea, provided by Zoma and Ringleys, Raseleane finished her welcoming speech, hopping over to Tintlett, who, like her normal quiet self, was staring out the window.
“Cheer up child. It will turn out alright in the end, you'll see.”
Cesia, who immediately made friends with Zoma, held the little cup in her hands as the lady sang softly, “I hope that we'll be friends, though I don't know you well, if anyone can make the most of living here then girls it's you! And who knows? You may find home here, too!”
After this, on their way out of the room, Raseleane mentioned quietly to Cernozura, “I can’t wait to dress them up in some of our old dresses!”
o.O
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Nadil was taking Cesia’s rejection very badly. It seems that not every girl in the village was completely enraptured by his *ahem* manliness. (At least in his mind.)
Currently he was sitting by the fire bemoaning the sad turn of events that had recently occurred. “Who does she think she is? That girl has tangled with the wrong man!” He had been ranting like this for the better part of the evening, after he got out of the pit of depression he had sunk into directly following his dismissal. (“Is it my hair? Was my hair un-combed? Did the gel dry the wrong way?”)
However, right now this self pity was really starting to grate on Shydeman’s nerves. He decided to just agree with Nadil and see if he could change the direction of the demon’s thinking.
“Darn right.”
Nadil, a little more enthusiastically, added, “No one says "no" to Nadil!”
‘That didn’t work the way I thought it would…’ Shydeman sighed. Nadil was now off on a tirade against the offenses done to him that day. He was also, in Shydeman’s mind, exaggerating just a tiny bit. But the bimbo-girls- that flocked around him were drinking it right up.
“Dismissed! Rejected! Publicly humiliated! Why, it's more than I can bear.”
‘How can I shut him up?’
A waiter with a tray of beer was intercepted and Shydeman shoved the contents at Nadil.
“More beer?”
Nadil looked at the tray like it was something he had scraped off of the bottom of his boot. “What for? Nothing helps. I'm disgraced.”
‘Oh no, he’s sinking back into his ‘pity me’ mode!’ Shydeman said the first thing that came to his mind. “Who, you? Never! Nadil, you've got to pull yourself together.”
It earned him a glare, but at least he wasn’t bemoaning himself anymore like a bad actor. Shydeman decided to continue, hoping that the night wouldn’t end in tragedy. “Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Nadil, looking so down in the dumps. Every guy here'd love to be you, Nadil, even when taking your lumps.”
The other people frequenting the bar agreed to this statement with a resounding cheer. (although who knows how intoxicated they were already…) “There's no man in town as admired as you, you're everyone's favorite guy…Everyone's awed and inspired by you, and it's not very hard to see why…”
Shydeman noticed more than a few guys watching jealously as Shyrendora, Medicinea, and Jilge draped themselves adoringly over Nadil, who, hearing such praise being given to him, now straightened up. (Humble he is not.)
“No one's slick as Nadil, no one's quick as Nadil, no one's neck's as incredibly thick as Nadil’s, for there's no man in town half as manly, perfect, a pure paragon!” Shydeman wasn’t really great at rhyming anyway, and he began to sweat a little, wondering how long he could keep it up. Luckily, the other bar-goers decided to help him out.
“You can ask any Saabel, Fedelta or Kirukulus, and they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on…” Kharl attempted to say (quickly) the names of the village guys who were currently involved in a heated game of poker, leaving him out of breath and subject to their glares. Nevertheless, Shydeman and Kharl continue to exalt the exemplar of perfect manhood (demonhood?) that is Nadil.
“No one's been like Nadil!”
“A king pin like Nadil!”
One of the drunker patrons of the pub toasted his mug in Nadil’s general direction and shouted, “No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Nadil!”
Shydeman was a little bit disturbed by this but Nadil took it in stride, announcing to the world at large, “As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating!” earning the reply, “My what a guy, that Nadil!”
Watching the scene unfolding before him, the barkeep sighed and shrugged; it wasn’t his job to keep them cone sold stober….
Meanwhile, the party raged on.
“Give five "hurrahs!”
“Give twelve "hip-hips!”
Shydeman slurped another mouthful of his fourth-or was it fifth- beer and shouted, “Nadil is the best and the rest is all drips!” flinging his arms around and sloshing beer all down Nadil’s front. Nadil landed a neat punch right on Shydeman’s chin, and this started a riot, as the people Shydy crashed into took it personally and retaliated.
“No one fights like Nadil
Douses lights like Nadil
In a wrestling match nobody bites like Nadil!”
Shyrendora, Jilge, and Medicinea were enthralled at this example of demonish-ness on Nadil’s part and screeched, “For there's no one as burly and brawny!” before fainting. Nadil caught them all and hoisted them into the air above his head; “As you see I've got biceps to spare.” Jilge recovered and latched onto Nadil’s arm, admiring the demon lord.
“Not a bit of him's scraggly or scrawny,” “That's right! And every last inch of me's covered with hair!” Shydeman winced and turned away…he did not have to see that.
The other regulars at the bar continued off on their rants about the almighty Nadil, although they were running out of things to rhyme so it ended up sounding like this: “No one shoots like Nadil, makes those beauts like Nadil, then goes tromping around wearing boots like Nadil!”
The fact that many of them would have a hard time finding their houses and walking in something resembling a straight line didn’t help at all. Nadil crowed over the ruckus, “I use antlers in all of my decorating!”
“My what a guy,
Nadil!”
o.O
The ode to Nadil’s demonishness ended with a resounding crash (quite literally) as the drunken inhabitants of the bar crashed mugs together, and some missed and crashed heads instead.
Running over the prone figures of those unlucky enough to crash heads, Nohiro dashed into the bar and began screeching about a ginormous beast taking all three of his sisters and basically flipping out. “Will you help me out?!” he pleaded to Nadil, after Shydeman, Kirikulus, and Fedelta made fun of him, and Nadil smirked.
“Of course, Nohiro, we’ll help you OUT.” While Nohiro was stammering out his thanks, Fedelta and Shydeman picked him up under his arms and bodily threw him out of the pub.
o.O
“Crazy Nohiro, hmmm? Crazy Nohiro...” Nadil mused as the night wore on, many people leaving the bar for home (or the snowdrift three yards down the road, depending on how smashed they were).
“Shydeman, I'm afraid I've been thinking,”
“A dangerous pastime-”
“I know.”
Nadil glared at his cohort, and Shydeman hid behind his Steiner. “But that whacky weird coot is Cesia’s brother and his sanity's only "so-so"…” He demonstrated, leaving this author to wonder how much of the motion was an act…
“Now the wheels in my head have been turning since I looked at that loony, odd man; see, I've promised myself I'd be married to Cesia, and right now I'm evolving a plan…”
Nadil leaned forward and whispered, “If I…”
Shydeman: “Yes?”
Nadil: “Then we …”
Shydeman: “No! Would she?!”
Nadil: “Guess!”
Shydeman: “Now I get it!”
“Let's go!”
Pleased with the planning of his dastardly deed, Nadil began again with the song/chant/poem he was considering calling ‘An Ode to Me’:
“No one plots like Nadil, takes cheap shots like Nadil,” letting Shydeman eagerly insert, “Plans to persecute harmless crackpots like Nadil,”
The barkeep sighed as the list went on….and on……and on…….until he decided he’d rather go visit his sweetheart, and locked the two in as they cavorted in glee. They didn’t even notice that he had shut off the electricity. They were too intoxicated with the taste of the spotlight that had appeared as the pirouetted.
“Yes, I'm endlessly, wildly resourceful,”
“As down to the depths you descend,”
“I won't even be mildly remorseful,”
“Just as long as you get what you want in the end!”
“Who has brains like Nadil?”
“Entertains like Nadil?”
Authoress: Who can make up these endless refrains like Nadil?”
*Pause*
Nadil and Shydeman: *look at authoress, look at each other*
Authoress Cat: *conducting last few measures*
Nadil and Shydeman: “And his marriage we soon will be celebrating………”
“My what a guy-Nadil!”
The spotlight turns off as soon as they say “Nadil”, the authoress Cat vanishes with mutterings of “…pocky…” and the set and sound crew go find a place that’s still open where they can party.
Shydeman: “Hey, at least they locked us in with the beer!”
Beer: *empty*
o.O
~Meanwhile, back at the ranch~
Rune sat on the ledge of a window which had once been his favorite meditation spot- now it was one of his only sanctuaries left. His thoughts left the moon, which he had been gazing at, and fell back to the mysterious girls that they had imprisoned.
Ruwalk had mentioned, with Alfeegi by his side, that these may be “the girls we have been waiting for.” Thatz had summed up their feelings succinctly: “No duh.” Rath had simply glared and withdrawn further into himself.
A piece of paper fluttered by, picked up from the table across the room by the breeze drifting through. It made Rune feel sickening; dirty.
“How long must this go on?
This cruel trick of fate?
I simply made one careless wrong decision….”
It reminded Rune of Rath’s handwriting…but twisted. Why Rath was writing this down, he couldn’t fathom, but then, none of them were doing anything “normal” anyway.
Rune could almost add another line to the questions:
“And then the witch was gone
And left me in this state
An object of revulsion and derision…”
Thatz was in the hallway, passing outside that room which had been given to those girls…and the hope he almost felt strengthened.
But then the memory of what he used to be, what he was now, choked that fragile hope. He strode off, not looking back.
Hated...
Is there no one
Who can show me
How to win the world's forgiveness?
o.O
A/n- wow, 6 pages without the formatting! Just over 10 with! And all that while dealing with massive writer’s block! I personally found this section of the story line long and laborious, but I promise that I have a surprise in store for you as soon as I update again. It involves most of the cast of the Dragon Castle in one of the most spectacular parts of the show- I’m sure you can all guess.
Think music, dance and dinner.
haHA YES Ruwalk shall be starring in the next chapter, which may only have one “Song/theme” in it, but you all should be able to predict what it is and why it would be long…haha Alfeegi goodness.
Wow I’m quite rambling on, aren’t I? I think, instead of continuing to ramble, I shall…begin typing the next chapter for whom-ever is left reading this fic!
Till next time!
Oh, one technical note that perhaps you don’t care about….
As you may have noticed, my *o.O* indicates a change in setting, but I took the liberty of adding it in at a few other scene breaks this chapter-since I first started off using it because my expression was o.O after most scene breaks, I decided to slide it in as a comment as to what had just happened. (see Nadil’s party scene…o.O if I’ve ever seen it.)
But I Just thought that you’d want to know.
If not, skedaddle.
But before you do, REVIEW! I know you’re out there! 273 hits, at time of post! Why don’t you just review and say, “I read it”. Cut, paste, there ya go. Comment anonymously, I don’t care!
But you all want to see Ruwalk dance, don’t you?
…Alfeegi might just dance if you ask him nicely.
R&R!
Author: SilverCats
Status: Incomplete, but outlined
Length: 4 chapters up
Category: Dragon Knights
Genre: General/humor/romance
Summary: Yes, the classic faery tale, completely rebooted and reinstalled with the slightly insane cast of Dragon Knights... Involves characters turning into forks and other cutlery. Insanity ensues. Enough said.
Chapter Four: In which we finally get to Rath, Rune, and Thatz; in which many are inebriated at Nadil’s party, and in which the girls get somewhat emo until they meet Raseleane…omg is that a beer mug?
A/n- sorry for the wait ya’ll; here it is, more rambling at the end. READ!
Warning: Slight out of characterness might ensue…but come on, if you found yourself to be a fork, you too may be a little bit disturbed and abnormal…
o.O
“There’s a stranger here.” One voice growled softly, and in the poor light of the dungeon, Tintlett, Cesia, and Kitchel could make out three shapes in the doorway. “Who are you and why are you here?” The forms were tall, and did not look human.
“Please, they meant no harm, they-”
A growl cut off Nohiro and the forms moved closer, though still avoiding the weak light that fell from a single lantern suspended in the middle of the room.
“Who are you?” Kitchel asked cautiously, and another voice rumbled a response. “We are the masters of this castle. Why are you here, invading our property?” The rude tone was harshened, and Cesia gathered up her courage enough to say, “We came to find Nohiro-please, let him go! Can’t you see he’s sick?”
The last figure spoke then, sullenly. “He trespassed here. He is our prisoner.” “Please, you have to let him out, he could die!” The choked off coughing that followed this accentuated this.
“No.”
Tintlett felt her eyes begin to water as Kitchel pleaded, “Please, we’ll do anything!” A less harsh reply came, full of distrust.
“Anything?”
“Take me instead.”
Tintlett stood, and Nohiro cried out. “No!”
More mistrust, and something that might, long ago, have been amazement shaded the next words; “You would take his place?”
“Tintlett, no!” Nohiro couldn’t let her do this for him. “Take us as well,” Cesia spoke for herself and Kitchel at this, but Tintlett hushed them.
“Come into the light.”
The shapes hesitated, but then slowly stepped into the single beam of light. They became creatures, once human, now misshapen and animal-like, and Kitchel gasped sharply.
“If I did,” Tintlett said, her voice wavering slightly as she tried to hide her fear, “Would you let them go?” Kitchel protested this- “We won’t let you do this alone. We’re staying with you!”
“Yes, but you must stay here forever.”
“Then you have my word.” Her eyes dropped to the floor.
“Done.”
One of the beasts came forward and pulled the dungeon door from the doorway, and then pulled Nohiro from it. Two suits of armor from the door took the order, “Take him to the crossroads.” They grabbed Nohiro and left, leaving Kitchel and Cesia thrown aside, and Tintlett collapsed on the ground. A small pressure on one of the beast’s legs caused them to notice Ruwalk standing there.
“Umm, perhaps you should offer them a room, with a more comfortable bed, as they’re going to be staying here for a while…” The candlestick got a sense of being glared at and squeaked, “Then again, maybe not,” before hurrying off.
One turned back, and noticed the three girls. “What is it?”
“You didn’t even let us say goodbye. We’ll never see him again.”
“We’ll show you to your room.”
The finality in the voice brooked no argument, and Cesia looked up a little. “But, I thought…” The shape closest to the door growled out, “Do you want to stay in the tower?” The girls flinched at the tone.
“No…”
The shape between the last two voices muttered, “Then come with us.” Hesitantly, the girls stood and followed, heads bowed and shoulders slumped.
“The castle is your home now…” The creature on the right spoke. “You are free to go anywhere you wish, except for the West Wing.” Kitchel looked up. “What’s in the West-” “It is forbidden!” The one on the left snapped, and Tintlett shrank back.
The procession went on, and a door loomed up in front of them. “This is your room. If you need anything, our people will attend you.” The door opened, and the girls were shown inside. The room was dark, and silent, and the only light was that of the faint hall lights coming in the doorway. The door began to close, but the second voice, the harsh one, was heard clearly. “You’ll join us for dinner; that’s not a request!” came into the room before the door slammed.
o.O
Nohiro was abandoned at the crossroads, where he had missed a turn and lost his way earlier. Somehow, the dark, stormy weather that surrounded the lair of the beasts he had stumbled onto had melted away, and the sun was shining happily through the leafy green foliage. Now he could clearly see the signpost pointing him in the direction of the town again, and he set off at as quick a pace as he could, being sick and all, towards home. Strangely, as quickly as they had dumped him there, the suits if armor disappeared. Surely that was not natural behavior…
o.O
The room they found themselves inside was dark, but with no little amount of stumbling around a window was found. The pale moonlight pouring through the window was hardly enough to light the room, but now they could see the bed, and the chair beside it.
Kitchel flopped on the bed, facedown in what, admittedly, was a soft, thick, dark blue quilt. Tintlett curled up in the easy chair next to it, knees under her chin, and arms around her knees. Cesia meant to sit on the edge of the bed, but her knees gave out beneath her as she walked over to her sisters. . (A/n: ahh, the dramatics…but then, Cesia’s always been that way. More humor if you can get through this scene, I promise!) Tintlett looked out the window, but there was no chance of seeing Nohiro before he disappeared, having been long gone before the temper tantrums of the beasts.
“Yes, I made the choice,” she murmured softly, breath ghosting on the window, and this drew her sister’s attentions. “Nohiro, I will stay…”
Kitchel, her face buried into the pillow, yelled her anger. “But I don't deserve to lose my freedom in this way, you monsters!” Cesia looked up at Tintlett as her sister continued, “If you think that what you've done is right, well then, you're a fool!” Kitchel glared off into the darkness towards the door. “Think again!”
Behind the door, one of the beasts still remained, listening to the girls talking inside.
“Is this home? Is this where I should learn to be happy?” One voice trembled softly, as if to keep from crying, and another replied, “Never dreamed that a home could be dark and cold…” A new voice joined them, and the beast turned away. It was the voice of the girl he had snapped at. “I was told every day in my childhood: even when you grow old…” He was striding down the hallway as the other voices chimed in with the well known saying Nohiro always used to tell them, “Home should be where the heart is…”
“Never where words so true!”
“My heart's far, far away; home is too.”
He couldn’t stand it anymore. Why had they trespassed on his property? They must have known there would be consequences. His head was spinning with all sorts of new thoughts and ideas, and he couldn’t contain it anymore. Damn the three of them to hell.
…Is this home
Is this what I must learn to believe in?
Try to find
Something good in this tragic place
Just in case
I should stay here forever
Held in this empty place
Oh, that won't be easy
I know the reason why
My heart's far, far away
Home's a lie…
Cesia smile weakly at Tintlett as she admitted, “What I'd give to return to the life that I knew lately,” and Kitchel sat up and declared, “And to think, I’d complained of that poor provincial town!” They all had to smile at that. “Is this home? Are we here for a day or forever? Shut away, from the world until who knows when?”
The question could only be answered by fate, it seems, for certainly none of the three of them knew the answer, but Tintlett quietly continued, “Oh, but then as our lives has been altered once they can change again.”
Kitchel was positively uninhibited now, and she spoke like a true thief, “Build higher walls around me, change every lock and key; nothing lasts, nothing holds all of me…”
“My heart's far, far away…Home and free!”
o.O
The sound of voices inside the room the knights had given the three girls died away, and Raseleane turned to Lykouleon. “Should we talk to them now?”
Tetheus chose this moment to point out in a dignified manner (this manner was all that was left to him now that he was the butt of many jokes behind his back due to his demoted stature) “If you don’t talk to them now, they’re liable to fall asleep.” This decided the queen, and she knocked smartly on the door.
“Who is it?” a voice asked softly from inside the room, and Raseleane called out, “Raseleane, dear, would you like some tea?”
“Oh, yes, please,” came the affirmative and Lykouleon pushed the door open.
Three sets of eyes were looking at what should have been eye level, but sadly, as diminished as the castle inhabitants had become, the three guests looked right over the Dragon Lord and Lady.
“Ahem…” Tetheus cleared his throat, and the girls’ eyes shifted down.
“Oh, but you’re a-” the girl in the chair cried softly, and the girl on the bed leapt up.
“Raseleane, dear,” the Dragon Queen smiled kindly, and added for good taste, “Pleased to make your acquaintances.”
Kitchel, who had leapt up, slowly backed away from the collection of kitchenware that had apparently taken it upon themselves to take a trip up to their room, and bumped into a wardrobe. Unfortunately for her, the wardrobe, who turned out to be Cernozura, protested being bumped, and nearly frightened Kitchel out of her skin by chiding her gently, “Careful, dear.”
In the dim light of the room, the girls’ wide eyes were the only parts of them that the objects could clearly make out. Introductions followed this, and the kindly tone that the inhabitants of the castle used, in Raseleane’s view anyway, calmed the girls down a bit, as they seemed more open once they knew who (or rather, what) they were talking to.
After a nice cup of tea, provided by Zoma and Ringleys, Raseleane finished her welcoming speech, hopping over to Tintlett, who, like her normal quiet self, was staring out the window.
“Cheer up child. It will turn out alright in the end, you'll see.”
Cesia, who immediately made friends with Zoma, held the little cup in her hands as the lady sang softly, “I hope that we'll be friends, though I don't know you well, if anyone can make the most of living here then girls it's you! And who knows? You may find home here, too!”
After this, on their way out of the room, Raseleane mentioned quietly to Cernozura, “I can’t wait to dress them up in some of our old dresses!”
o.O
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Nadil was taking Cesia’s rejection very badly. It seems that not every girl in the village was completely enraptured by his *ahem* manliness. (At least in his mind.)
Currently he was sitting by the fire bemoaning the sad turn of events that had recently occurred. “Who does she think she is? That girl has tangled with the wrong man!” He had been ranting like this for the better part of the evening, after he got out of the pit of depression he had sunk into directly following his dismissal. (“Is it my hair? Was my hair un-combed? Did the gel dry the wrong way?”)
However, right now this self pity was really starting to grate on Shydeman’s nerves. He decided to just agree with Nadil and see if he could change the direction of the demon’s thinking.
“Darn right.”
Nadil, a little more enthusiastically, added, “No one says "no" to Nadil!”
‘That didn’t work the way I thought it would…’ Shydeman sighed. Nadil was now off on a tirade against the offenses done to him that day. He was also, in Shydeman’s mind, exaggerating just a tiny bit. But the bimbo-girls- that flocked around him were drinking it right up.
“Dismissed! Rejected! Publicly humiliated! Why, it's more than I can bear.”
‘How can I shut him up?’
A waiter with a tray of beer was intercepted and Shydeman shoved the contents at Nadil.
“More beer?”
Nadil looked at the tray like it was something he had scraped off of the bottom of his boot. “What for? Nothing helps. I'm disgraced.”
‘Oh no, he’s sinking back into his ‘pity me’ mode!’ Shydeman said the first thing that came to his mind. “Who, you? Never! Nadil, you've got to pull yourself together.”
It earned him a glare, but at least he wasn’t bemoaning himself anymore like a bad actor. Shydeman decided to continue, hoping that the night wouldn’t end in tragedy. “Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Nadil, looking so down in the dumps. Every guy here'd love to be you, Nadil, even when taking your lumps.”
The other people frequenting the bar agreed to this statement with a resounding cheer. (although who knows how intoxicated they were already…) “There's no man in town as admired as you, you're everyone's favorite guy…Everyone's awed and inspired by you, and it's not very hard to see why…”
Shydeman noticed more than a few guys watching jealously as Shyrendora, Medicinea, and Jilge draped themselves adoringly over Nadil, who, hearing such praise being given to him, now straightened up. (Humble he is not.)
“No one's slick as Nadil, no one's quick as Nadil, no one's neck's as incredibly thick as Nadil’s, for there's no man in town half as manly, perfect, a pure paragon!” Shydeman wasn’t really great at rhyming anyway, and he began to sweat a little, wondering how long he could keep it up. Luckily, the other bar-goers decided to help him out.
“You can ask any Saabel, Fedelta or Kirukulus, and they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on…” Kharl attempted to say (quickly) the names of the village guys who were currently involved in a heated game of poker, leaving him out of breath and subject to their glares. Nevertheless, Shydeman and Kharl continue to exalt the exemplar of perfect manhood (demonhood?) that is Nadil.
“No one's been like Nadil!”
“A king pin like Nadil!”
One of the drunker patrons of the pub toasted his mug in Nadil’s general direction and shouted, “No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Nadil!”
Shydeman was a little bit disturbed by this but Nadil took it in stride, announcing to the world at large, “As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating!” earning the reply, “My what a guy, that Nadil!”
Watching the scene unfolding before him, the barkeep sighed and shrugged; it wasn’t his job to keep them cone sold stober….
Meanwhile, the party raged on.
“Give five "hurrahs!”
“Give twelve "hip-hips!”
Shydeman slurped another mouthful of his fourth-or was it fifth- beer and shouted, “Nadil is the best and the rest is all drips!” flinging his arms around and sloshing beer all down Nadil’s front. Nadil landed a neat punch right on Shydeman’s chin, and this started a riot, as the people Shydy crashed into took it personally and retaliated.
“No one fights like Nadil
Douses lights like Nadil
In a wrestling match nobody bites like Nadil!”
Shyrendora, Jilge, and Medicinea were enthralled at this example of demonish-ness on Nadil’s part and screeched, “For there's no one as burly and brawny!” before fainting. Nadil caught them all and hoisted them into the air above his head; “As you see I've got biceps to spare.” Jilge recovered and latched onto Nadil’s arm, admiring the demon lord.
“Not a bit of him's scraggly or scrawny,” “That's right! And every last inch of me's covered with hair!” Shydeman winced and turned away…he did not have to see that.
The other regulars at the bar continued off on their rants about the almighty Nadil, although they were running out of things to rhyme so it ended up sounding like this: “No one shoots like Nadil, makes those beauts like Nadil, then goes tromping around wearing boots like Nadil!”
The fact that many of them would have a hard time finding their houses and walking in something resembling a straight line didn’t help at all. Nadil crowed over the ruckus, “I use antlers in all of my decorating!”
“My what a guy,
Nadil!”
o.O
The ode to Nadil’s demonishness ended with a resounding crash (quite literally) as the drunken inhabitants of the bar crashed mugs together, and some missed and crashed heads instead.
Running over the prone figures of those unlucky enough to crash heads, Nohiro dashed into the bar and began screeching about a ginormous beast taking all three of his sisters and basically flipping out. “Will you help me out?!” he pleaded to Nadil, after Shydeman, Kirikulus, and Fedelta made fun of him, and Nadil smirked.
“Of course, Nohiro, we’ll help you OUT.” While Nohiro was stammering out his thanks, Fedelta and Shydeman picked him up under his arms and bodily threw him out of the pub.
o.O
“Crazy Nohiro, hmmm? Crazy Nohiro...” Nadil mused as the night wore on, many people leaving the bar for home (or the snowdrift three yards down the road, depending on how smashed they were).
“Shydeman, I'm afraid I've been thinking,”
“A dangerous pastime-”
“I know.”
Nadil glared at his cohort, and Shydeman hid behind his Steiner. “But that whacky weird coot is Cesia’s brother and his sanity's only "so-so"…” He demonstrated, leaving this author to wonder how much of the motion was an act…
“Now the wheels in my head have been turning since I looked at that loony, odd man; see, I've promised myself I'd be married to Cesia, and right now I'm evolving a plan…”
Nadil leaned forward and whispered, “If I…”
Shydeman: “Yes?”
Nadil: “Then we …”
Shydeman: “No! Would she?!”
Nadil: “Guess!”
Shydeman: “Now I get it!”
“Let's go!”
Pleased with the planning of his dastardly deed, Nadil began again with the song/chant/poem he was considering calling ‘An Ode to Me’:
“No one plots like Nadil, takes cheap shots like Nadil,” letting Shydeman eagerly insert, “Plans to persecute harmless crackpots like Nadil,”
The barkeep sighed as the list went on….and on……and on…….until he decided he’d rather go visit his sweetheart, and locked the two in as they cavorted in glee. They didn’t even notice that he had shut off the electricity. They were too intoxicated with the taste of the spotlight that had appeared as the pirouetted.
“Yes, I'm endlessly, wildly resourceful,”
“As down to the depths you descend,”
“I won't even be mildly remorseful,”
“Just as long as you get what you want in the end!”
“Who has brains like Nadil?”
“Entertains like Nadil?”
Authoress: Who can make up these endless refrains like Nadil?”
*Pause*
Nadil and Shydeman: *look at authoress, look at each other*
Authoress Cat: *conducting last few measures*
Nadil and Shydeman: “And his marriage we soon will be celebrating………”
“My what a guy-Nadil!”
The spotlight turns off as soon as they say “Nadil”, the authoress Cat vanishes with mutterings of “…pocky…” and the set and sound crew go find a place that’s still open where they can party.
Shydeman: “Hey, at least they locked us in with the beer!”
Beer: *empty*
o.O
~Meanwhile, back at the ranch~
Rune sat on the ledge of a window which had once been his favorite meditation spot- now it was one of his only sanctuaries left. His thoughts left the moon, which he had been gazing at, and fell back to the mysterious girls that they had imprisoned.
Ruwalk had mentioned, with Alfeegi by his side, that these may be “the girls we have been waiting for.” Thatz had summed up their feelings succinctly: “No duh.” Rath had simply glared and withdrawn further into himself.
A piece of paper fluttered by, picked up from the table across the room by the breeze drifting through. It made Rune feel sickening; dirty.
“How long must this go on?
This cruel trick of fate?
I simply made one careless wrong decision….”
It reminded Rune of Rath’s handwriting…but twisted. Why Rath was writing this down, he couldn’t fathom, but then, none of them were doing anything “normal” anyway.
Rune could almost add another line to the questions:
“And then the witch was gone
And left me in this state
An object of revulsion and derision…”
Thatz was in the hallway, passing outside that room which had been given to those girls…and the hope he almost felt strengthened.
But then the memory of what he used to be, what he was now, choked that fragile hope. He strode off, not looking back.
Hated...
Is there no one
Who can show me
How to win the world's forgiveness?
o.O
A/n- wow, 6 pages without the formatting! Just over 10 with! And all that while dealing with massive writer’s block! I personally found this section of the story line long and laborious, but I promise that I have a surprise in store for you as soon as I update again. It involves most of the cast of the Dragon Castle in one of the most spectacular parts of the show- I’m sure you can all guess.
Think music, dance and dinner.
haHA YES Ruwalk shall be starring in the next chapter, which may only have one “Song/theme” in it, but you all should be able to predict what it is and why it would be long…haha Alfeegi goodness.
Wow I’m quite rambling on, aren’t I? I think, instead of continuing to ramble, I shall…begin typing the next chapter for whom-ever is left reading this fic!
Till next time!
Oh, one technical note that perhaps you don’t care about….
As you may have noticed, my *o.O* indicates a change in setting, but I took the liberty of adding it in at a few other scene breaks this chapter-since I first started off using it because my expression was o.O after most scene breaks, I decided to slide it in as a comment as to what had just happened. (see Nadil’s party scene…o.O if I’ve ever seen it.)
But I Just thought that you’d want to know.
If not, skedaddle.
But before you do, REVIEW! I know you’re out there! 273 hits, at time of post! Why don’t you just review and say, “I read it”. Cut, paste, there ya go. Comment anonymously, I don’t care!
But you all want to see Ruwalk dance, don’t you?
…Alfeegi might just dance if you ask him nicely.
R&R!