Tales of Alidaire: The Tragedy

"YOU. MOTHERFUCKING. BITCH!"

Cage was able to spring to his feet, rage fueling him. He rushed to get the photograph, knowing he couldn't let her have it. But his wounds were far to great. He fell to the ground, just able to grab the photo. But he wouldn't try to rip it from under. He instead grabbed for her ankles, hoping to pull her out from under her.

"YOU'LL GIVE ME THA TPHOTO RIGHT THIS INSTANT! I SWEAR IF IT ISN'T FINE I'LL MAKE SURE YOUR HEAD HITS THE GROUND BEFORE THESE MOTHER FUCKIN IDIOTS CAN TRY AND STOP ME!!!"

Nara's eyes flared with rage. "IGNORANT FOOL!" With a furious snap of her fingers, Nara set Cage's entire arm on fire. "I'll teach you to touch me, you insolent bastard!" A green aura the same color as her force field appeared on her skin before shooting outwards causing Cage to slide across the cobblestone path, his arm still blazing. The force was so great that it was enough to cause everyone to cringe, and the still unconscious Roger sailed through the air a little ways and landed hard on the ground. She stooped back down and picked up the crumpled picture. Roar rushed to her side. "Hold on to this for me," she ordered before whistling sharply. About a dozen more paladins surged out of the castle and stood at the ready behind the queen. "I want them locked up! Death is not fitting for treason! I see only a lifetime of torture for these idiots."

"That has got to hurt," Duke winced. He sighed when the paladins surged out. Torture? Sounded like fun. He briefly wondered about the scope of the torture techniques they had. But he smiled. As long as it wasn't death, their was a change to break out. To cover up his smile he quickly came up with another insult. Maybe even set up the conditions for a break out.

"I wonder if these guys can perform a decent torture procedure," he smirked. "Ryu-chan could probably do worse..."

Cage blacked out, the same icy sheen dulling the pain. He felt the fire burning his arm and cloaks, but didn't move. A ray of light rained down on him for a second, and the flame disappeared. He however didn't wake up. Unable to hear the almost inaudible whispers.

"Don't worry Cage..."

"We're fine. You need to survive."

With everyone pretty much at the mercy of Queen Nara's guards, they could only hope that a lifetime of torture was not as bad as it sounded. Each of the rebels were seized forcefully and dragged down into the dungeons, but all of them were dizzy from all the action and blood loss and conks to the head so there was no way to remember the path taken from the outside to the dungeons. They all ended up in the same cell. It was large, dark, and damp. A pretty cliche dungeon cell. They had been stripped of their weapons, armor, and accessories and given rags to wear instead.

In the corner of the cell, Roger had finally gained consciousness. He was sitting, rocking back and forth while muttering something inaudible over and over again. A sob escaped his mouth every once in a while. So much had gone wrong and he never expected to find himself in the dungeons right below what had been his very home this morning.

Duke sighed. "You think the reason we got these rags is because the queen's still mad about that clothes crack?" He sighed again and leapt lightly around the cell. "This place isn't much to look at, but it sure is nice to run around without those shoes. They weight around 50 pounds each you know."

He stopped beside the crying Roger. "Please Roger, don't start again. The good news is that we might be rescued by our group. The bad news is... we might be rescued by our group." He shuddered. "Ok, anyone up for trying to break out before our Precious red stone finds out about this?"

Cage's eyes slowly opened, the burn mark on his arm completely healed. He didn't care how or why, only what was goin on. And then it hit him, the queen still had his photo. And while she may have destroyed it, it was all he had left of them. Instantly finding the strength to move, he was at the bars of the cell. Banging and screaming, he yelled the same words over and over.

"YOU MOTHER FUCKING BITCH! GIVE ME BACK MY PHOTO! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!!"

Ryu sat down, unsure of what to do. She was too weak to care for anything else, even Cage's mental outbreak. But upon hearing Duke mention Ruby, Ryu shuddered. Ruby was frightening, even to her, but of course Duke still had the heart to think about wat would happen if Ruby were to find out and make pointless comments at the same time. She wanted to strangle that little idiot, but she didn't have the strength.

Roger looked up, fear in his eyes along with salty tears. "T-they'll n-never take m-me back for failing," he replied solemnly. "B-but I w-won't let the Queen g-get away with all she h-has done. She s-saved me, but n-now she's w-willing to let me r-rot..." His voice was full of a strange mix despair and determination.

Suddenly, a stone block started wiggling in the floor. It continued to jiggle and jiggle until it finally was raised up and slid over revealing a hole in the cell floor. At that moment, the air became thick, almost as if time itself were slowing down. Outside the cell and all over the dungeons, time was stopped. Everything was fine within the party's cell. From out of the hole climbed a man. He was fairly short, but he was wearing a ripped top hat with a checkered band around it. His hair was a light bluish-gray color and seemed to match up well with his hazel eyes. The clothes he was wearing were not much better than his poor hat: a decent dress shirt with outrageously flared cuffs, a nice dark brown overcoat with a few rips and tears in it, and dress pants to complete the look. A pocketwatch was at his waist. As he stood there in the middle of the cell, smiling at the party, the pocketwatch ticked loudly. He then looked at Duke. "I'm sorry there, Duke, but Ruby already knows of your failure. That's why I am here to bust you out." He bowed deeply. "Quartz, the Lord of Time, at your service."

Cage had stopped his screaming for awhile, sulking for the time until Quartz showed up. He stood, tear stains covering his cheeks. He didn't like the fact that the queen had his photo, but he was overjoyed to see Quartz.

"Thanks for coming. You wouldn't possibly have our weapons and other equipment?"

"Thanks Quartz," Duke sighed. "It was a short life, and I feel like I have left so much unfulfilled." He stretch and yawned lazily. Idly, he wondered if Quartz was going to arrange to pick up their equipment as well.

Pushing that idea aside, he turned to more morbid thoughts. Like explaining the failure to Ruby. Especially the part about him being taken out first without making an attack. She would probably berate him about wasting energy to come up with insults and cracking jokes.

He solemnly lay a hand on Quartz's shoulder. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he thought of Ruby's Naginata swinging at him, possibly with Ryu-chan's spear beside it. "Old friend, will you say some nice things about me at my funeral? I would appreciate it." He smiled suddenly.

"Hey, maybe I can still work as a phantom! Yah! my love of Ryu-chan, Red-gem and Miss Eva should be enough to bind my soul to this realm! ~Possibilities~" he added with a tune.

Ryu saw Quartz and then began to wonder how long they've been in the cell. They couldn't have been locked up for long, for there had been no one sent to torture her. Although, Cage's emotional outburst, Evan's rage, and Duke's...idiocy was torture enough for her. She just wanted to get her weapon and armor then get the hell out of this place.

"Took you long enough considering you're 'The Lord of Time'." Ryu said shooting a glare at Duke due to his comment, "Do you know how long I had to stand these three people? Roger's okay though, he's cool. Anyways, let's just get our stuff and get the fuck out of here."

Quartz laughed at Duke's comment. "You will very much indeed need a funeral with comments like those, Duke," Quartz replied, still laughing heartily. "As for your equipment, I'll handle it." He made to check for his pocketwatch, but was suddenly gone. It was as if he had never been there. However, in mere seconds, he returned in a flash along with a bundle of weapons and other equipment. He gently lowered the pile onto the floor and allowed for everyone to pick up their respective belongings and get changed. "There you have it, folks," he said. "I'm moving on to tell Ruby that the rescue was a success--yay me. You guys just hop in the hole and follow the tunnel. You'll wind up in the plains east of Narastola. That's where the camp is. Make sure you cover this hole up." He walked up to the hole. "See ya there!" With that, he jumped down. He probably was already back at the camp. Time remained altered in the dungeon, but the party wouldn't have long.

Roger rushed over to the pile and quickly changed. However, he put his old clothes on over his rags; he had just met these people, after all. He rustled out his greatsword and barely managed to get it on his back. "I-I'm glad y-you guys have p-people who c-care about you," he said uneasily.

Having returned to his usual appearance, he flipped his hood up, cards in their case. He lastly picked up the crumbled picture. More tears overflowed in his eyes as he opened it to find Nina and Sonia's faces completely taken out by the heel. Putting the sorry excuse for a photo in his pocket, he was ready to leave.

Ryu grabbed her dragonscale plating and put them on, the rags were a nice addition to her armor since she wouldn't have to feel the sharp edges of the plates scratching against her body anymore. Shegrabbed her lance and twirled it around a bit before walking toward the hole, crawling in and not looking back to see if they were following or not. She was worried about how they would deal with Ruby but decided to leave that for later, when she does yell at them.

"Jump in the hole and face Red-gem, or stay here and enjoy endure torture," Duke sighed, moving his hands as if weighing the two options on a scale. He donned his equipment with a resigned expression, but left out the shoes. "In case I need to run," he murmured to no one in particular. he glimpsed Cage's ruined picture and made a suggestion. "You do realize that Quartz may be able to fix that, being Lord of time and all."

"Anyway Roger, let's go face death proudly," he said, grabbing the boys hand and dragging him into the hole.

Cage nodded at Duke ever so slightly before entering the hole. He wasn't going to let the Photo out of his sight again, and he would definitely ask Quartz to fix it. He stopped for a second and through the rags back up the hole, having them land on the ground near the Bars. He then proceeded to crawl after Ryu, anticipating the revival of his prized possession.

In the tunnel, the sound of running water rushed to greet the party. It was apparent that the tunnel used to be some sort of ancient waterway. Stone paths with carvings in them could be seen everywhere in what seemed to be more of a cavern than a tunnel. Glowing mana crystals shed greena and blue light against the walls of the place made of solid earth. Water trickled over some of the paths still, and even more dripped from the ceiling. A large pool had formed at the bottom of the cavern. There was no telling how long it had taken to form. Regardless, the party had landed on the main duct of the system and if Quartz was correct, following it straight on would get them away from Narastola. However, from the trickling waters emerged a few crabs. Joining them were some earthworms that tunneled out of the walls. A tinkling sound became evident and a glowing, blue fairy appeared at the back of the motley crew of tunnel creatures. Apparently, they were not happy with the intrusion of their home. If the party stalled in killing the creatures, Ruby would be even angrier with their tardiness. It was time to fight.

Chapter 00-B: Daring Escape

Location: Archaeic Waterway - Dungeon Sector

Objective: Defeat all enemies!

Background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oVIBRBN324&feature=related

{B} { } { } {W} { } {~} {~} A
{ } { } { } { } {~} {~} {~} B
{~} { } { } { } { } { } { } C
{~} {~} { } { } { } {F} { } D
{B} {~} { } { } {~} {~} { } E
{ } { } { } { } { } {~} {~} F
{ } { } { } { } {S} { } {A} G
{~} {~} {~} { } { } { } { } H
{~} {~} {~} { } { } { } { } I
{ } { } { } { } { } {R} { } J
-1---2---3---4---5---6---7

Roger (Exile)
HP: 25/25
MP: 20/20
Atk: 7
Def: 4
Int: 5
Spr: 4
Move: 3 cells

Squiggly (Earthworm)
HP: 15/15
MP: 25/25
Atk: 6
Def: 4
Int: 0
Spr: 2
Move: 3 cells

Anela (Earthworm)
HP: 15/15
MP: 25/25
Atk: 6
Def: 4
Int: 0
Spr: 2
Move: 3 cells

Bubbles (Waterway Crab)
HP: 25/25
MP: 20/20
Atk: 7
Def: 6
Int: 0
Spr: 3
Move: 3 cells

Foamy (Waterway Crab)
HP: 25/25
MP: 20/20
Atk: 7
Def: 6
Int: 0
Spr: 3
Move: 3 cells

Waver (Aqueduct Fairy)
HP: 20/20
MP: 45/45
Atk: 2
Def: 3
Int: 6
Spr: 5
Move: 4 cells

{B} - Bag (cannot be occupied)

{~} - Water (cannot be occupied)(cannot be passed)

Characters may start in rows I-J!

Duke starts at I7

Duke smiled at the tunnel creatures. They looked quite promising, for battle experience that is. Aside from that, they were rather... He left it at that. He quickly tugged on his shoes, ready to fight. "I wonder what happens when you squish this worm," he mused.