“So what do you think of the King?” Loid tried, as they walked down the mountain.
“He’s scary!” Phil said.
“I thought he would have killed us,” Rocko admitted.
“You’re lucky he’s been quite merciful to your thievery. I still can’t believe you both have been lying to me all this time,” Loid said, starting to realize the scope of what these two idiots had been doing.
“Yeah, but we ain’t lying any more! I don’t want to die!” Phil declared.
“You’re going to be bringing the King back all his stuff, then?” Loid asked.
“It will take us several trips but we have to.” Rocko pulled on his beard, a bit annoyed.
Serves you right! You’re lucky he hasn’t ended you both, Loid thought to himself. Hell, we’re lucky he didn’t end all of us. He could’ve easily destroyed or enslaved our entire village, with him being a wizard. Thank God he’s not evil.
The sun was going down. The sky glowed pink from a sunset, the snow on the ground turned a golden color.
“Do you think we’re going to join him?” Rocko asked Loid. He looked to the innkeeper for answers.
“I don’t know yet. I don’t think Sherry will like it. And I won’t leave without her.”
The question was so sudden. Marin was asking all three of them to quit their current lifestyles and follow him. They had all just met the robed figure yesterday. Loid knew that Phil and Rocko could join him much easier than he could, seeing as they didn’t have ties to anything. Loid however ran an inn in the village with his wife, and they were quite established there.
Loid tended to believe everything that Marin had told him, especially since his claim to being a wizard was proven. So he trusted that the King had funds, somehow, somewhere. The issue was just his ties at the village. He knew his wife wouldn’t like the idea too, and she would need a ton of convincing. It was going to be an uphill battle to bring this offer to fruition.
By the time they got back to the village, it was nightfall. They had spent nearly the whole day visiting the castle.
“Get some sleep, you two. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Loid told Phil and Rocko, before they headed down the main street in the opposite direction.
Loid didn’t intend to be away from home for so long. He knew his wife Sherry would not be happy.
Indeed she wasn’t.
“You’ve been gone the whole day!” She declared as Loid took his hat and coat off at the door. Sherry looked tired in her stained white apron.
Loid felt the warmth and coziness of the inn, but his wife had a line of sweat across the top of her forehead.
“I’ve been working the whole day without you! I’m exhausted!” She cried.
“I understand honey, I’m sorry. But there’s some stuff we need to talk about,” he tried explaining.
“What we NEED is for you to take over, and let me sit down alone in my room for a while!” She untied her apron from behind, and handed it to Loid.
Sherry took off towards a room, closing the door behind her. Loid sighed while running his hand over his silver hair. The talk was going to have to wait. Customers were sitting at the bar, and he was reminded he had an inn to run.
He got behind the bar and started talking to the patrons.
Meanwhile, Phil and Rocko had returned back to their house.
“So we gotta be honest people again, Rocko?” Phil asked.
“We should have always been honest,” Rocko admitted.
He looked at all the fancy furniture in their ran down shack of a house. Phil had been sleeping on a dusty torn up couch that used to be royal and plush. Beautiful vases that had the color faded away sat in each corner of the room. By Rocko’s bed was a lavish dresser with tarnished handles, half of them missing.
“This isn’t our stuff!” Rocko declared after looking at it all. “We gotta return all of it!”
“But it was really hard getting it here,” Phil said back.
“Do you want to DIE?” Rocko said sarcastically.
“No, I want to keep living,” Phil stated, not even realizing the sarcasm.
“Then you know what we must do.” Rocko opened a bag of salted meat while sitting on his bed.
“Hey give me some of that!” Phil said.
“You already ate all yours!” Rocko grabbed some and shoved it into his mouth.
Phil huffed and puffed, but then grabbed some stale bread off a shelf and started eating that instead.
“We’re gonna run out of food again soon,” Phil stated with bread in his mouth.
“That means its time for us to find some work again,” Rocko said.
“But nobody needs us anymore!” Phil yelled.
Rocko didn’t respond, he silently ate his salted meat. Phil thought as much as his brain would allow him to think as he munched on bread.
“Didn’t the scary king say he would pay us generously if he worked for him? That sounds like a good deal to me,” Phil mentioned.
“And leave Loid? I don’t know about that.” Rocko laid down in his bed after wrapping his remaining meat back up. He placed it on his bed close to him, almost as if he knew Phil would try taking it later.
The night was coming to a close, and Loid finished serving the last of his regular alcoholics. The fireplace contained dying embers from a long day. When he was done, he tidied the inn up some, and went to his bedroom.
Sherry saw him open the door. She was propped up in bed, reading a book. An oil lit flame in a lamp was on a dresser beside her.
“How was the rest of the night?” She asked while laying the book in her lap. The glasses over her eyes magnified them.
“It was fine.”
“Harrel was back. He’s still demanding the property tax.”
“We don’t have the money yet,” Loid mentioned as he sat on the other side of the bed, taking his shoes off.
“And what have you done about that today? Go up to that castle you forbid yourself from going to with some stranger? How’s that going to make any money?” She declared.
“Don’t start judging me on what I do everyday! I haven’t taken any time for myself in a while! If I want to spend a whole day journeying up to a castle, I damn well have the right to.” It wasn’t like Loid to raise his voice like that. He was however under a lot of stress.
Sherry rubbed her forehead. “Look Loid, I’m sorry. I’m not going to judge you. We have always figured out our finances in tough situations like this before. We’ll figure it out again.”
Loid sighed as he turned over to face her. “I actually want to talk to you about all of that.”
“What?”
“It’s about that stranger you met with the mask. The one I went to the castle with. He’s, uh…” Loid rubbed the back of his head. “He’s the… king… of Nocturne Castle. The rightful ruler.”
Loid was very careful to not mentioned he’s been the king for over 200 years.
“The king of Nocturne? From the king that mysteriously vanished after that kingdom was destroyed? Are you saying he had an heir to the throne?” She asked in disbelief, taking off her glasses.
“Well… he is an heir. To the throne.”
“I don’t believe this,” she quickly said, closing the book on her lap.
“Look, Sherry, that is the king! And you need to believe me! I need to tell you something else. He wants us to join him. Live in his castle and be a part of his kingdom. And share in some of his wealth.”
“What?!”
“I went with him to the castle. I saw photos, I saw papers. He is serious, it’s legit. The castle is big and beautiful. It’s in disrepair, but it can be fixed. He has the finances. I believe if we live with him we can be rid of this inn and say goodbye to our own financial troubles.”
“Leave the inn?!”
“Imagine working in a large kitchen with huge stoves. Preparing big meals, and using the finest ingredients. I saw the kitchen Sherry! It’s incredible what it once was. And don’t even get me started on the dining room!”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you Loid,” Sherry said frantically. “We don’t know this man! You just met him yesterday! You’re having all these delusions of grandeur. I know when you left Neo, running this inn wasn’t your first choice, but it was our choice! You want to gamble what we’ve built at some strangers word?”
“If you saw the castle for yourself, you would want to take a chance. This could be something great, Sherry. We could start a new life. One of higher class.”
“We’re too old to start a new life!” Sherry rolled over in bed, turning her back towards him. She laid down completely, pulling the covers over her body.
It was silent for a bit, both of them in quite disarray. Loid had a feeling it would turn out this way. She was right though, after he retired from being a captain at Neo, he had felt unfulfilled running the inn at some far away village in the snowy mountains.
“Loid, my answer is NO.” She blew out the flame on her side of the bed.
He sighed. Maybe she was right. As unfulfilled as he sometimes felt, the thing he yearned for the most was making his wife happy. It was his choice to start the inn at Heroca. She loved the idea of giving people a place to sleep, as well as cooking, and he didn’t mind having conversation with the patrons who came in. He did indeed choose this life, and it wasn’t right for him to try to change it and rip her away from it.
“Alright Sherry, we won’t do it then. I want you to be happy,” he finally said.
“I love you, Loid. I understand how nice that would sound, but let’s be realistic. Even if it we’re true, we’re too old to upgrade to that standard of living. I like my life in this humble inn, don’t you?”
“...Yes, yes I do. And you make all of it worth it. It’s best not to take the chance.” Loid answered as he got into bed.
Both of them soon fell asleep.
***************
Loid and Sherry woke up with the light that entered through their windows. They rolled around in bed a bit. He grabbed his watch and looked at the time.
“Good morning, honey,” his wife said.
“Morning, Sher. I’m going to take off early. I need to help the boys take some stuff to the castle, as well as let the king know that I am declining his offer,” he said as he got out of bed.
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“Phil and Rocko? Can’t they tell him for you? I’d really like you to stay,” she stated.
“It’s best if I go and address him myself. I promise I will be back at half day, I am only having a conversation with him about it and I will immediately leave. Then this evening, I’d like to draw you a hot bubble bath.”
She wasn’t happy to hear he had to leave for that castle again, but she became more willing when she heard that second part.
“Are you going to light all the candles for me?” She asked.
“Every one of them, and I will take over for the whole rest of the day,” he offered.
She smiled at him. “Alright Loid, be careful.” She leaned in for a kiss.
After a quick smooch, he got dressed and left the room. He grabbed a quick bite to eat, and by the time he finished eating breakfast, Sherry was up and starting the day. She had the fire going and hot food cooking for the patrons by the time he was grabbing his coat and leaving.
“Have a good morning honey. I’ll be back soon!” Loid hollered.
“You better!” She said, as he left the inn.
Outside, the morning at Heroca had begun. It was just an ordinary day, but Loid spared no time walking to Phil and Rocko’s house. He didn’t want to be long, as he had felt bad for being gone all day yesterday. He felt bad having to tell the king no, but he figured Marin could get along without him. If he truly had all the gold he needed, the king would have no issue recruiting people to restore the castle, and the kingdom.
Perhaps he would receive regular updates about the kingdom and how it was growing. Perhaps he would visit it sometimes and check on his friend.
“Phil?! Rocko?! Time to get up!” Loid pounded on the door. It was the same thing everyday. They always overslept.
Not today though. As soon as he knocked on the door, Rocko opened it, coat and hat on already, wide awake.
“There you are Loid.” Rocko said. “Go to the side of the house.”
Rocko lead Loid over, and they were met with Phil loading up furniture onto a sleigh.
“It’s going to take us a couple trips,” Rocko stated, “but we can get it all back within a week on this sleigh.”
Loid was impressed. “That’s very good of you two,” he said. He saw the once great furniture being piled on, Phil was trying to be gentle not to break anything.
“You’re going to need to tie it down so none of it falls off,” Loid mentioned. He looked back into the house from the back door. “Do you have any rope in there?”
“Yeah, we have some.”
Loid took care of tying the furniture to the sleigh while Phil was going on about not dying any time soon.
“That outta do it,” Loid declared while patting the tied down furniture.
“Well, what’s the answer? Are we joining King Marin?” Rocko asked excitedly.
“I’m not.”
Rocko’s expression fell. “What?”
“I’m not joining Marin’s kingdom. I have a life here, and I’ve elected to keep it as it is.”
“I can respect that,” Phil mentioned from behind. He grabbed the reigns of the sleigh and started dragging it. “He’s pretty scary.”
They all started walking together up the mountain. Rocko and Phil would trade pulling the sleigh, with Loid sometimes taking it as well.
“What will he say?” Rocko asked.
“I hope he won’t be too disappointed. He will have to do the restoration on his own. That is, unless, you two join him.” Loid said.
“Not without you we won’t be,” Rocko said back.
Loid smiled. “I hope I’m not holding you two back.”
“You kidding? You’ve helped us both so much. If anything you’ve pushed us forward!”
Loid let out a rare laugh. “Alright.”
The three continued their trek up the mountain to Nocturne Castle.
Meanwhile, Marin was outside the castle gates at the crack of dawn. The fresh rays of sun met his eyes once again, and he still was not entirely happy with the feeling.
I could not sleep again tonight. My brain refuses to let it happen. Yet, I feel… as if it’s unnecessary. Perhaps this has to do with my current undead state. Perhaps…
Marin wandered the castle in thought the entire night. He did try laying down a few times in beds that really weren’t in a condition to lay in, but he never fell asleep. He wondered about his offer to the three men. Perhaps he was too hasty to ask.
His mind replayed him freezing Rocko and Phil when he first met them. That was the first time he used his elemental strength since he had awoken. He had not tried using it again since.
Marin felt a bit concerned that maybe his skills have deteriorated since he had been asleep. It was easy enough to cast a skill as simple as ice form, but if he were to be pushed to a greater move, he wondered if he would be able to pull it off.
After all, he was currently the only line of defense to the castle. If some unsavory characters found out that someone lived there again, they might try something bad.
He looked at his fingers and wiggled them a bit. Icy mist started to flow around them. He expanded his hand and an ice bolt shot away from his palm at a rapid speed, hitting a distant stone incline.
Ice bolt. Check.
He thought for a bit. Then he spread his legs, and assumed a form. He waved his arms around in a particular movement, icy mist trailing away from his hands.
Marin felt his body struggle to move in a tight, controlled form. When he was done, he shoved his hands away from his chest in a fast motion. Instantly, colossal icicles started erupting from the ground around him in a large circle.
He held his arms out, away from him. Palms open. He waited a bit, and when he closed them, the icicles that had trapped him in a circle all shattered away.
He felt a bit light headed, dazed even.
Not used to feeling such head pain from a simple move as that.
He rubbed his head over his hood a bit.
Frozen fence. Check.
I’m not going to push it. We will work our way up over time.
Marin walked up a small mountain peak to the left of the castle. From up there he could see all the way down to Heroca Town. If he squinted hard enough, he could see even further down, down all the way to green trees at the bottom of the mountain.
What a view. This is incredible. I had no idea this spot was here. In all the time I’ve been living at the castle, I can’t believe I never noticed this peak. I wonder if the farmers used to come up here all the time.
When he looked up some, he could see the horizon stretch far into the distance. He was looking south over the entire continent. If someone had a strong telescope, they could most likely see cities far into the distance.
Marin made a mental note to get a telescope and try it out sometime. He made his way off the small peak and back onto the main mountain the castle sat on.
After a while, he saw a few figures approach him coming up the mountain. One was dragging something large. He stood still as they got closer. Marin was sure it was the three from yesterday, but he waited before waving.
They waved to him. It was them. He waved back.
“Greetings,” he shouted out as they got closer. “I’m happy to see you all again.” He walked towards them to meet up.
“Hello Marin,” Loid greeted with less enthusiasm.
Marin looked over at Rocko. Behind him was a sleigh full of his castle belongings.
“Ah, my stuff. Glad to see you’ve safely returned some of it.” He turned his attention towards Loid, who was a bit sullen.
“How are you doing, Loid?” The king asked.
“I’m good. I tell you, that trip doesn’t feel any shorter even after doing it a few times.” Loid smiled a bit. “The boys here will have to do it a few more times to get all your stuff back.”
Rocko nodded at the statement. Phil didn’t look too happy about it.
“Have you thought about what I asked?” Marin finally said.
“I have, and Marin, I must decline. The missus is not okay with it, and I must consider her in all of this. I hope you can understand.” Loid looked to the ground.
Marin took a bit of a disappointed sigh. He knew this was most likely the outcome. With Loid declining, he knew not even to ask Rocko or Phil, as they had made it known that Loid was a condition. He couldn’t blame them. He was asking a lot.
“Yes, it’s understandable. Don’t worry about it. I will recruit other people looking for an opportunity such as this one. It was worth asking you all. You’ve all been understanding to me, especially with my situation.”
“What will you do?” Loid asked.
“Most likely I will head out to a major city to hire workers to clean the castle. After that, I will start recruiting and getting the word out that the king of Nocturne has returned.”
Loid nodded. “If you’re ever back in Heroca again,” he mentioned, “feel free to stop at the inn to visit me. I’ll always be there.”
Marin put his hand on Loid’s shoulder. “Seeing how its the closest village to my kingdom, I think I will be there regularly enough. In fact, Heroca may be seeing a lot more work, as it will become the import center for me.” He took his hand off and looked at the castle behind him.
“I’ll be running the inn for anyone who comes through. Look, I have to leave soon. My wife is expecting me home at half day and I have a bit of a walk ahead of me going back,” Loid said.
“Yes of course,” he turned to look at the two other men. “Phil, Rocko, thank you. We can quickly unload my stuff from your sleigh and you can be back on your way.”
They all walked up to the castle. It took no time unloading the furniture as there was four people working on it. They left all of it along the side of the entrance. He waved them farewell as they took off, back down the mountain.
Marin was alone once again. Now that he knew they would not be joining him, he had to make new plans. He looked over at his furniture that was returned. He couldn’t tell if it had become so worn from age or from Phil and Rocko abusing it. It was in awful condition.
I will get this stuff restored.
He could easily buy new furniture to replace his own, but Marin was quite sentimental, and his old items were one of the few things he held onto from his past. He felt anchored to what was left from when he was truly alive.
Seeing his furniture get restored would make him feel as if he was too.
He paced back and forth, in thought.
I will need to grab a large pouch of money. Scan the castle to see if I should take anything else, and be on my way. I need to travel and recruit some powerful allies.
Meanwhile, the other three were walking back down the mountain. The sleigh was hardly an inconvenience to pull anymore, seeing as it was empty and they were walking down hill.
“That’s the last time I’m going up that mountain,” Loid said thankfully. “You’re on your own for the rest of the trips.”
“Loid, we’re running out of food again,” Rocko told him.
“You’ll have to find more work,” Loid said back.
“Last we checked, no one needed our help!” Phil yelled.
“Plus, it won’t be easy with us having to make these trips back to the castle. Not sure what we will do,” Rocko added.
The innkeeper sighed. He was always looking out for them. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you have food. But when you’re done with bringing all the furniture back, you need to make some coin. I’ll talk to the mayor about finding you some work. It seems like most of Heroca is struggling these days making money. Hardly anyone comes out here anymore.”
They continued down the mountain. A light snowfall began. Loid took notice immediately.
“You know, King Marin mentioned that it used to not be so snowy around here. He said snow only fell during winter, and it was never too bad.” His sight floated out into the distance in thought. “Could you imagine what this place would look like without snow?”
Rocko shook his head no.
“Are we almost back?” Phil complained.
“Almost.”
They were half a mile away at this point. Loid wanted to guess the sun was mid sky at this point, but couldn’t tell with the overcast. He pulled out his watch. It was roughly noon. Not too bad, he thought to himself.
“Hey, you hear something?” Phil asked.
Loid looked back up. He heard a very faint screaming.
“It sounds like people yelling!” Rocko said.
Loid heard women screaming and men’s voices giving commands. It sounded like chaos coming from the village.
“Quick, something’s wrong, lets hurry!” All three of them started running.
As they got closer, the screaming became much more apparent. Something was definitely wrong. It sounded like an attack.
Phil was somehow the quickest. He was getting ahead of the other two. Rocko was huffing while pulling the sleigh.
“Leave the sleigh behind!” Loid ordered. Rocko dropped it and continued running.
As the reality of what could be happening crept into Loid’s mind, he knew running couldn’t get him there quick enough. His wife could be in real danger. He couldn’t lose her.
Loid instantly dispersed into shadowy smoke.
The smoke bolted ahead at a speed much faster than any normal person could run.
“HUH?” Rocko yelled out in utter disbelief. He had never ever seen Loid use elemental power before. Rocko nearly stopped in shock, but quickly reminded himself that he had to keep running.
“What was that?” Phil yelled as he saw the dark smoke wisp past him.
“I think that was Loid!” Rocko responded.
“What?!”
Back at the castle, Marin finished wandering the castle a bit more, gathering a pack of supplies he thought would be useful. He had visited his vault, and grabbed a large sack of gold coins.
More where that came from, he envisioned himself saying to some potential servants.
Once he believed he had everything he needed, he left the castle. Backpack on his shoulders, he was ready to venture out into a world that to him had seemingly teleported 200 years into the future.
Marin walked up the small peak beside his castle to get a glimpse of the world again. He needed to decide where he would travel to first.
When he got to the top, he peered out onto the continent once again. After studying it for a while, he thought the east would be a good place to start. Before he left, he looked down on Heroca Town one more time.
It was on fire, most of the houses burning. Black smoke rose from the village.
Well, that can’t be good, he thought.