Miletus Roleplay

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Darast rode his horse northward across the Great Plain. The area was barren; just dirt and rocks as far as the eye could see. There was a story that a battle among dragons was the reason why the plain looked as it did, but no one knew for sure anymore. However, it was still told that the plain was bad luck, and that people should stay away. He had Bahamut to protect him, though, so he wasn’t afraid of some bad luck.

Thus, Darast was, for all intents and purposes, completely alone. He almost wished Carlon was with him; at least he’d have someone to talk to instead of being stuck with his own thoughts. Heading to Malar brought back so many memories, and he wasn’t even sure if he was mentally ready to come back. But it was Bahamut’s will, so he had to go.

All he knew about the Malar-Arachen War was that it had ended in a draw. He didn’t know how any of his friends and comrades had made out. Were any of them still alive? Would he see them as he got closer to Malar? He kind of hoped he wouldn’t; they were a part of his old life, and that belonged in the past.

As he rode, he thought he saw movement up ahead. He slowed his horse and got closer, until he could tell that there were two figures. One seemed to be a young boy, and the other was a goblin. The boy had a stick that he was using to protect himself, but it was no match for the goblin’s morningstar. The stick was easily snapped, and the weapon made contact with the boy’s arm, knocking him down.

Darast dismounted and drew his sword and shield; the goblin heard him and turned around. Darast took the first move, running at the goblin and swinging at it, but the goblin hopped out of the way. Darast was now positioned in front of the boy and saw his arm was bleeding.

“I’ll take care of this pest and then I’ll fix you up, okay?” he said. The boy nodded and stayed where he was.

The goblin then lunged at Darast and swung its morningstar, but he easily blocked it with his shield. He quickly struck at it as it tried to get back in position and his sword ripped through what little armour it was wearing, giving it a good gash across its midsection. The creature howled in fury and struck back, hitting Darast on the thigh with a great swing of its weapon. Darast stumbled backward, clenching his teeth at the pain.

He recollected himself and went after the goblin, but it blocked his sword with its morningstar. The battle went back and forth with each able to block and dodge the other’s attack. Darast took another hit, but used that moment to impale the goblin while it was open.

He pulled his sword out of the goblin’s throat and the creature collapsed. He wiped its blood from his weapon with the hem of his shirt and sheathed it. He then turned to the boy, who had stayed put through the whole thing. Darast figured he couldn’t be more than ten years old.

“Th-that was awesome!” the boy exclaimed.

Darast bent down next to the boy and said, “Only doin’ my duty.” He checked out the arm; it didn’t look too bad. “So why’re you out here by yourself?”

“I was travellin’ with my mom, and she wouldn’t let me see the Great Plain, so I ran away,” the boy replied, sounding almost triumphant.

“Ya shouldn’t be doing stuff like that. Ya could’ve been hurt way worse.” Darast stood. “Tell you what. I’ll take ya back to your mom if ya promise not to do somethin’ like this again.”

The boy stood as well and rubbed his arm. “Okay…”

Darast led the boy back to his horse, which was still standing where he’d left it. Although this wasn’t his Paladin mount, he wasn’t strong enough to get one of those yet, this horse listened to him pretty well. He helped the boy up and climbed on behind him, then started the horse forward and tended to the boy’s arm.

"Aww, thanks." Makari accepted the bottle and took a sip of the whiskey to humour Chazz. He didn't want to be drunk while travelling. "Okay, my mood is sufficiently light! So, we'll stop in the next town to get some food. That asparagus was all I had."

The next town was fairly close to the one they'd just left. It was a peaceful seeming place and surprisingly busy for its size. Makari supposed that made sense; travellers would probably prefer to stop there than in the one he and Chazz had just left.

A young boy approached the pair as Makari led his drunken friend toward the market. "Excuse me?" he asked. "I'm kind of lost. Do you know where the market is?"

Casimir felt like he was going to be sick. He couldn't catch his breath, which was only making him feel even more panicked. He heard Raphael swear at him and gave the elf a glare, though he was too distressed to really make himself look angry. "St-stop... d-doing that--" he managed to pant. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin and automatically sent a ray of ice magic at the wall. When he heard Darast's voice, he relaxed a bit and hid his face into the paladin's shoulder. He didn't want to look at this place or hear any of Raphael's attempts at making himself look all helpful.

Elyse looked a bit startled when Casimir suddenly cast a spell. She grabbed Raphael just in case the uncontrolled magic went to him. Then she turned to the elf. His tics were quite intense, she'd noticed. He was obviously nervous. "It's going to be okay," she assured him. "We'll get to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as we talk to the owner of the mansion."

Chazz grinned when Makari accepted the drink. "Yes, food! Food is good!" He walked along with Makari to the town, stumbling a little every once in a while when his attention drifted. The town was nice and Chazz seemed very mellow, but that changed when the child spoke to them. His expression became a mix of distress and anger. "Why won't you just leave me the hell alone?" he snapped. "I have no idea where your damn house is, okay?! Go find it yourself!"

Raphael stepped away from Casimir, feeling horrible for only making the boy more upset. "Y-y-y... yes, you are right." He nodded at Elyse, managing a weak smile. "It's... it's all just a misunderstanding." Raphael's eyes began to blink rapidly and he looked down at the floor. He wished he could control himself, but it just didn't seem possible.

When Darast put his hand on Casimir's shoulder, he wasn't expecting the kid's reaction. If he had been a better shot it might have hit Darast in the head, but instead the ice went right into the wall. It was even able to leave a dent. Casimir then put his head on Darast's shoulder, which couldn't have been too comfortable considering he was wearing his armour.

The guard then appeared in front of the bars. "What the hell is going on in here?! Settle down and don't be casting magic."

"Sorry 'bout that," Darast replied. "Uh, so what are ya plannin' on doin' with us? Are we gonna get to see the owner of this place?"

"You'll see her eventually, whenever she decides to see you trespassers."

Just as the guard finished saying that, they could hear footsteps approaching. The guard looked in their direction and then immediately stepped out of the way. Soon, a woman who could only be the owner of the mansion came into view. She looked very much the part of a very rich woman.

"Are these the trespassers?" she asked with clear disdain in her voice.

"Yes, m'lady," the guard replied.

The woman looked over each member of the group. She was genuinely pissed off, you could see it in her eyes. Darast met her gaze, but looked away quickly.

"What were you people doing on my land?" she asked sternly.

"We were just spendin' the night there, ma'am. We didn't know it was yours," Darast said.

The poor kid looked completely stunned by what Chazz said to him, as did Makari. "Uh... it's okay, kid. Come on, I'll... show you the market; don't mind him." With that, he led the kid to the market before returning to Chazz with an extremely puzzled look on his face. "What the hell was that all of a sudden? Are you okay?" He didn't even know where to start addressing that outburst. "The poor kid wasn't even looking for his house..."

Elyse was relieved when the woman finally showed up. Casimir's breathing sped up again and he stepped closer to Darast, refusing to look at her. He honestly believed that she was likely to burn them alive or something; she sounded angry enough.

"Yes, he's right," Elyse said. "We were attacked by monsters and needed to rest. We had no idea the land belonged to someone; we're not familiar with the area at all. I'm sorry we weren't more careful."

Chazz took a couple more drinks from his whiskey as Makari took the kid to the market. "Damn brat... that damn brat..." he muttered as his friend returned. "That brat... that brat couldn't find his house. That dumbass Casimir." He took another drink. "He couldn't jus' find his own damn house! None of it woulda happened..."

Raphael listened to the woman, but didn't dare to speak. If his tics took over, they would probably only get in more trouble. She seemed angry enough as it was, so he just nodded after Elyse's explanation.

The woman listened to their explanation, then looked them over again. Darast wasn't sure if she believed them or not. She then opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. She was looking at Darast, but her expression had changed.

"You, with the silver hair. Let me see the pendant on that necklace you are wearing," she said.

Darast hesitated. He didn't want to give it to her, since he didn't know if he'd get it back. He stepped closer to the bars so she could see it better, but stayed out of her reach. She leaned in so close that her head was almost against the bars.

"The engraving... Where did you get it?" she asked.

"It... it belonged to my parents." Something had changed in the woman, and it made Darast feel like he should answer her.

"Flip it over. Let me see the back," the woman demanded. Darast had looked at the back before; all it had on it were a few marks that he couldn't make any sense of. He did as she asked and was surprised by what she said next.

"There is no doubt. This is the work of my ex-husband. He made only one pendant like this and it went as a present to my sister and her husband."

She seemed to be getting emotional over it. But if what she was saying was true...

"W-was my mom... your sister...?" Darast asked quietly. The thought of having living relatives had never crossed his mind before.

"He was from a distant village, where they all had hair like yours. He held a strange dragon deity, and that pendant represents it." When Darast nodded at what she was saying, she almost broke down. "I... I have not heard from them in at least twenty years. I was not aware they had a son! Please, boy, tell me how they are!"

Darast looked at her sadly. He didn't want to say it; it was hard enough on its own, but with her not knowing anything at all it made it even worse.

"They... they were killed."

When the words registered in her mind, the woman immediately began to cry. The guard had no idea what to do, so he ended up just standing there, staring. She was leaning against the bars so Darast went over, reached out, and put his arms around her. Between finding out he had an aunt and her reaction to the news, he couldn't hold back his own tears.

"Oh, that's how you ended up with that silly--" His eyes suddenly went very wide as Chazz said the kid's name. Darast had said that he'd met the pair in Orios and he'd had a nagging feeling that the kid had looked familiar. "Wait... the kid's name is Casimir?" His nephew would have been a teenager by now, he supposed. "Jeez... you've gotta be kidding me..." He shook his head, taking a moment to regain himself. "That's my sister's kid's name... they're from Orios-- I... wow." He frowned. "I wish I would have figured it out sooner, we could have taken him back. She must be worried sick..." Makari wondered how far away Casimir and the others were; he knew his sister would be frantic if her son was missing and he'd love to finally see her again even if it was just to let her know he was still alive.

Casimir stumbled backwards as the woman drew closer. Concerned by his jumpy behaviour, Elyse slowly and cautiously put an arm around him in an attempt to calm him down before he gave himself an ulcer or something. She couldn't believe the exchange that was going on between Darast and the woman. This was definitely a strange turn of events. Judging by both of their reactions, it was at least a welcome one.

Casimir looked surprised as well. Who would have thought that Darast would find a family member all the way out here? He started to calm down a bit when he saw the woman's hostility melt away.

What Makari was realizing didn't quite sink into Chazz's drunken mind at first. "Wait a minute... what..." He paused for a moment. "So the kid's mom... she was your sister? Weird... I guess you've got that... that purple hair." Chazz suddenly looked concerned. "Your sister... was his mom... dude..." He went silent and took a bottle of whiskey out of his bag. "It's no good if he goes back. Here, you gotta have this," he said, offering the bottle to Makari. "She died... your sister died..."

Raphael was confused by the turn of events at first, but smiled when it turned out to be a family reunion. He had to feel bad for the woman though; she was just learning that a close family member had passed away. Raphael couldn't imagine losing his little brother.

After a few minutes, the woman pulled away. She wiped at her eyes and tried to regain her composure and Darast did the same.

"You have my deepest apologies. Had I known who you were you would not have been locked up here," she said.

"It's okay. There's no way you coulda known," Darast replied. "By the way, I'm Darast, and my friends here are Casimir, Elyse, and Raphael."

"Oh, yes, I am Manya, Lady of Chemeris mansion. Now, let me get you out of here and into proper guest rooms."

She nodded to the guard and he stepped over to the side of the bars. After a moment, he had the door open. Lady Manya waited for them all to exit the cell, then led them through the mansion to the east wing. There, she gestured to four doors.

"Please, make yourselves at home. I will send some servants up for you in a little while. And Darast, I would like to talk with you later."

"Of course," Darast said. With that, Manya left, leaving the four of them standing there. Darast was in shock of the whole thing and could only manage to say, "Wow."

Makari accepted the bottle as Chazz spoke. His heart seemed to stop beating as Chazz told him his sister was dead. His body felt numb with shock. He took a long swig from the bottle. "Wh-what...? No... that can't be. How do you know that?" He didn't wait for Chazz to answer before downing more whiskey. He couldn't accept this; not after he'd finally found a chance to see his sister again after all this time. He drank more, desperate to ease the blow of the answer to his next question. "...what happened? To her...?" he tentatively managed to slur after a while.

Elyse looked at Darast. "Who would have seen that coming? She seems happy to have met you." She kept her arm around Casimir.

The boy was finally breathing normally, but he was still shivering a bit. He managed to offer Darast a shaky smile; assuming that the woman was being honest, he was happy for the guy. However, he still couldn't trust her completely, not after she had thrown them in her dungeon like that.

Chazz drank along with Makari and hiccuped before speaking. "I read the kid's... his... uh... diary thing. In it... hehe..." He suddenly began giggling and couldn't control it. "Hehehe... haha! In it was asparagus! And then... and then his mom offed herself! Hahaha! She was like, hanging in the... in the closet. Hehehe... hanging in the closet..."

Raphael became very relieved when it seemed that the woman had forgiven their mistake. She was even offering them rooms. "Th-th-this is great, Darast." He smiled at the paladin. "This is a... a... a remarkable coincidence that w-w-worked out v-very well for you."

Makari's heart sank when Chazz said that he'd read the information in the kid's diary. It wasn't like Casimir would write something like that in his diary for giggles. However, Chazz seemed to think it was something to giggle over; the guy suddenly started laughing about asparagus. Makari could understand that; most people didn't write about asparagus in their diaries. Chazz was also in stitches about his sister's death, which had apparently been a suicide. Makari stared at the bottle in his hand in despair and disbelief. He could still hear Chazz laughing which was infuriating. He turned around and wordlessly punched Chazz in the jaw as hard as he could.

Chazz's good mood instantly disappeared when he received a punch to the face. He dropped his mostly empty bottle and lunged at Makari, driving his fist into his friend's stomach as hard as he could.

Makari staggered backwards from the impact of Chazz's fist. Once he caught his balance he doubled over in pain, taking a moment to catch his breath. He narrowed his eyes and returned the favour by punching Chazz square in the stomach, though he didn't manage to do it quite as hard.

Chazz recoiled from the blow and staggered forward, swinging at Makari's head. However, he completely misjudged and missed his target. The force caused him stumble, and he struggled to stay upright.

Though he missed, it was obvious that Chazz had been aiming to hit him in the head. Makari couldn't let that slide so he struck Chazz again, hitting his bicep this time.

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