By the time we made it out, it was already nighttime. The moon was high in the sky, and owls could be heard in the distance. I had led Medea onto the soft grass right next to a tree, while Yangus dropped Trode off onto the dirt path.
"Well! That was a fine reception!" Trode scoffed before he started stomping his foot on the grass. "Don't they realize who I am!? Hmph! Judging a book by its cover! Don't they know it's what's inside that counts!?"
"Yeah! You can say that again!" Yangus agreed huskily, nodding his head.
"If only convincing them was that easy…" Alice sighed. As much as I don't want to admit it, she really does have a point.
Trode was able to calm down afterwards, and addressed me. "So then, Haru, did you manage to find Master Rylus?"
I fidgeted for a second, since I knew he was not going to like the news. "Well, about that…" I slowly began. "He's… dead."
Trode was immediately left shocked. "What!? He's dead!? Oh, no, no, no…"
The girls also had the same reaction. "Is that true?!" Aya asked.
"Afraid so." I lamented. "That burnt down house we passed by before? That was Rylus's all along. He had died in the fire."
"Oh…" Aya frowned.
We all went silent as Trode began to pace and walk a little down the dirt path, clearly looking distraught about the news, until he turned around and spoke to us, "Well…I suppose there's no point crying over spilt milk…" Huh… he certainly changes gears really fast. "It's Dhoulmagus we're after! He's the one who cursed the Princess and I, after all. He's the one who made us look so ridiculous!"
"We know that." Reimu said.
"I had hoped Rylus might be able to help us locate him. But it seems we'll just have to track Dhoulmagus down by ourselves. With Rylus gone, we have nothing further to gain from staying here. Let's be on our way!"
He began to walk over to the carriage as we followed suit, but then…
"Wait!" a voice called out to us from behind as we turned around, and we saw that this voice belonged to a girl with soft brown hair, watery deep blue eyes, and wore a plain orange and white dress. Wait… where did she come from? Has she been following us? "Please… wait…" she spoke again, with her hands held in prayer and her eyes melancholic. "I'm sorry to come running after you like this. It's just that… I wanted to ask you a favour."
We all exchanged surprised glances. "Are you not afraid of me, young lady?" Trode asked her. Oh, that's right… She didn't even seem frightened one little bit by Trode's appearance, unlike the rest of the town's citizens. How odd…
"I dreamt about you…" Uh… what? "I dreamt that some people came to town with a strange creature. It was…sort of halfway between a human and a monster… And I dreamt that they could make wishes come true…" O… kay? I don't really see myself as a wish granter. I was looking at her in complete confusion, with even the girls having the same reaction as they glanced at me with an expression of "what's her deal?", and I only gave a shrug in response.
"A strange creature!?" Trode questioned in cold shock, causing Yangus to laugh at him like a lunatic. "Are you referring to me?"
The girl quickly realized her mistake. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to be rude!" Meanwhile, Trode recovered from the insult to his pride and glared at Yangus, which made him stop laughing as he looked away… and then he proceeded to pick his nose. Ew…
"Heh, not to worry. I've had worse things said to me today!" Trode chuckled like it was no big deal. "You know, you remind me of my Medea. You're about the same age. Anyway, you said you had a dream about me? Most peculiar…"
"I'm sorry…" the girl apologized with a small smile. "I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Valentina, daughter of the great fortune-teller, Kalderasha." Wait, she's Kalderasha's daughter? Ah, now those prophetic dreams make sense since she could have inherited some of her father's powers. Although… they don't really look much alike… but that's just me. "If you could just come to my house, I'll explain everything there. It's by the well, at the far end of town. I'll be waiting for you!" she then runs back to the town.
"Wot was she rabbitin' on about?" Yangus questioned. "Come round my 'ouse, she says…" You know, not even I could make much of this situation either…
"Magnificent!" Trode suddenly blurted out in extreme excitement, as we all shifted our gaze to him. "She wasn't afraid to look at me at all! Not one bit! Ah, she reminds me of my Medea! We must give this young girl a helping hand!" he then turned to look at me. "Right then, Haru, my boy! Go and find the house by the well and see what it is she wants."
I guess we didn't have much of a choice. "Okay, but what about you?" I asked.
"Hm? Me? I'll wait here with the Princess. We don't want to cause any more of a stir." Fair enough. I mean, considering what has happened just before…
"Right. Come on, Yangus, girls." I said and we walked back into the town again. I just hope we won't get kicked out again since… you know, we were very calm towards Trode unlike the citizens and they might suspect that we were with the "monster".
Luckily for me, nobody that was still wandering around the town seemed to bat a suspicious eye at us, and it also helped that the streets were mostly empty due to being so late.
"Ah, I'm glad that it's finally night." Remilia spoke up in a relaxed manner, doing a stretch.
"Oh, is it because vampires like you are more comfortable in the night?" I guessed. Well, that's what I've heard about when reading about vampires.
"Yes, indeed. That, and the fact that I'm much more powerful in the night."
"Huh, I see."
"Uh…Cirno, what are you doing?! You're going to draw people's attention!" I suddenly heard Reisen exclaiming to Cirno with anxiety and so I turned over… to see that the ice fairy was flying in the air next to us. Oh, boy…
"Oh, it'll be fine! This place is mostly empty, anyways!" Cirno replied dismissively.
"So? You just said 'mostly empty'!" Reimu pointed out. "Therefore, that doesn't mean it's entirely empty!"
"Eh, I doubt anyone will notice me when we're here in the alleys!" And sure enough, we were already at the upper level walking around the alleys in between houses right now. "Just you wait! By being up here, I will locate the well in no time!" she proclaimed confidently… "Ooof!" right before she would slam into the wooden portion of… a well.
"Idiot…" Marisa facepalmed. "We would've been able to find it by walking anyway!"
"Well… at least we found our destination." I said while looking at the house next to the well.
"'ey, guv…" before I could twist the door's handle to enter, Yangus tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. "I think I'm gonna wait fer you and the girls right 'ere." he said, leaning against the well.
"Huh? Why?" I asked, confused.
"Well, if that Kalderasha bloke comes back, it's likely that 'e would be freaked out by me bein' in there… if ya catch me drift." Ah, now I understand. Any father would be beyond the edge of the netherworld finding a guy like Yangus talking to their daughter at night, and that might almost certainly lead to another mob fiasco. "B'sides, these girls weren't allowed to enter the pub wit ya, right? So consider this as me payin' the debt to 'em."
"You didn't really have to… but we appreciate it, nonetheless." Youmu replied.
"Alright, then I'll be back soon." I said with a nod, reaching out for the doorknob again. "Let's head in, girls." and with that, we went inside.
The interior of this house was quite something; it had curtains, draperies and rugs everywhere, and several magical items and strange masks hung along the wall. "Wow, so many magical items…" Alice awed in fascination as she took notice of said stuff. "I would actually kill to have all of these back in my house."
"Are you very fond of magic, Alice?" I asked her.
"Very much." she nodded with a smile. "Ever since I became a magician, I've been highly attached to magic in general. As a result, I happen to have a large collection of magic items in my house."
"Ah…" If that's the case, then she's really going to enjoy what our world offers. Magic is incredibly common here, after all! Anyways, we would then focus on the circular table in the middle of the room, where a large crystal ball stood… and Valentina was right behind it, sleeping with her head on the table.
" Oh, that poor girl… She must be really tired. " I thought pitifully, as I walked over to her silently and gently shook her.
Slowly, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. "Ah! You came!" she exclaimed upon taking notice of us, and stood up from her chair to straighten her clothes. "I'm so sorry! I, I must have drifted off. How rude of me!"
"It's okay." I replied with a smile. "It's getting late, after all."
"So, what do you want from us?" Reimu asked.
"I wanted to ask you a favour about this crystal ball." Valentina replied, directing to the crystal ball at the table.
We looked at it, but then we would look back at her with blank looks. "Um, what about it?" Aya asked. "Looks pretty normal to me…"
"… Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Perhaps I should start from the beginning?"
"Yeah, maybe you should." I said.
"Of course. Let me explain. My father, Kalderasha, was once a really famous fortune-teller. Lost treasure, missing people… There was nothing the Great Kalderasha couldn't help people with. But then one day, he lost his powers. All of a sudden, nothing he foretold turned out to be true any more." she directs to the crystal ball again. "It's probably because he stopped using a real crystal ball. This glass ball isn't—"
But all of a sudden, the door burst open right at that moment, making Valentina gasp as we all turned to see Kalderasha, still looking a bit drunk, standing on the doorway. Uh-oh… this could spell out trouble.
"Valentina! What is going on here!?" Kalderasha questioned as he strode in. "How many times have I told you not to touch my crystal ball?" it was then that he saw me. "What? Aren't you that boy from the pub!? What brings you here?" I was about to reply… but he cut me off, "…Gah! Never mind! I do not know what my daughter has asked you and these girls, but you can forget it! I do not need your help! I am fine as I am." he then addresses Valentina again. "I am going to bed. Valentina! Say your farewells and show our young visitors to the door." and with that, he trod up the stairs.
"Yeesh, how rude of him…" Remilia muttered with a pout, folding her arms across her chest.
Valentina sighed sadly. "I'm sorry about my father. But whatever he says, he's the one who's really suffering since he lost his powers. That's why I wanted to ask you this favour. Can you find him a crystal ball? One that's big enough to bring back his powers?"
I stood quiet for a bit as I thought about my answer. Perhaps if we do help Kalderasha get his powers back, he could track Dhoulmagus for us. That would definitely solve our problems instead of having us wander around this immense world like lost lambs for days. Plus, I didn't really know what it was about Valentina; maybe it was her (admittedly) pretty face, or the fact that she was like Medea. Either way, I just couldn't refuse her. "Sure, we'll do it." I smiled. "Right, girls?" I looked down at them.
They exchanged odd glances, before Reimu replied for them with a shrug, "Yeah, I guess."
"Really? You will!? Oh, this is exactly how it all happened in my dream! So far everything's come true!" Valentina beamed. "I also dreamt that there's a crystal ball hidden deep inside the cave under the big waterfall to the south of town." …Wow, she even dreamt about the crystal ball's location? But good thing she did, though; that will make our search for it far easier now. "I suppose only the daughter of the Great Kalderasha could know a thing like that!" Heh, so true.
With things done in there, I and the girls exited Kalderasha and Valentina's house and we immediately met up with Yangus. "So? 'ow did it went?" he asked. We then told him about everything Valentina said to us. "Ah, gotcha. Well, I guess we better report back to the old codger, eh? Mind you…" he gave out a long yawn. I couldn't blame him, though; I was feeling very tired as well, and the same might be for the girls too. "I'm pretty knackered. I thought givin' up the old bandithood would mean I could keep up more silverised hours!" Oh right, Yangus used to be a bandit before we met. "But life on the straight road don't seem no better in that area. Still, you know best, guv!"
I smiled. "That I do."
Soon, we all exited the town and found Trode sitting in the carriage. "Hmmm, I see…" Trode mused, taking in the information we had told him. "Magnificent!" he blurted out in excitement again, making me flinch in startle at that outburst. Honestly, I don't know what's up with him sometimes; he tends to get excited very easily. "Such devotion to her father! I'm impressed! Just how a daughter should be! And if this Kalderasha gets his powers back, there's nothing he can't find, am I right? Then we'll kill two birds with one stone! If everything goes according to plan, we'll find out where that hateful Dhoulmagus is. But time's getting on."
"No kidding." Marisa said, and yawned. "I could sure go for a nice rest now…" You said it, Marisa. I could barely stand anymore.
"Medea and I will stay outside." Trode said. "That's the last time we set foot in a barbaric town like this. But you all should spend the night at the inn and rest well so that you're ready to take on the world tomorrow! In the morning, we leave for the waterfall cave!"
"Understood." I nodded. "Well, see you tomorrow, Your Majesty." and with that, I turned around along with Yangus and the girls back to the town once again, ready to get a good night's sleep at the inn and officially set off on our journey tomorrow morning.