Chapter XIII: Beginning of the Beginning

The sun rose and set, and then did so again, and continued traveling its destined path in the sky, even if those skies were now muted by the pall of Dynamis. The next few days were spent healing broken bodies and exhausted spirits, and becoming familiar with the new residence of Castle Oztroja. With the help of the Yagudo, the members of Those Guys were back on their feet much faster than they would have been following their battle with Tzee Xicu the Manifest. They were not quick to trust the Yagudo, however, and encounters between them, especially when concerning Darutaru and Vile, made it clear that the Yagudo were not exactly welcoming either. However, as their beliefs held that Rykoshet and his group had rightfully won the castle, their holiest of grounds, they served faithfully.

The Yagudo were, as Tzee Xicu had said, still a multitude. Rykoshet had been shocked to discover just how far into the mountain Castle Oztroja delved. He had won from the battle what amounted to a small city of Yagudo, and a fighting force that still numbered in the hundreds, perhaps more. Though still insignificant when compared to the demons forces, it was a start. With this as their foundation, Rykoshet would keep the promise Tzee Xicu had asked of him. Castle Oztroja was his now, and if the Yagudo were willing to help him, he would do all he could to protect them.

As for Tzee Xicu herself, she had barely eaten since she had awoken in the catacomb-like dungeons of the castle, and not spoken at all. Whenever Rykoshet or anyone else went down to see her, she only regarded them through those liquid, avian eyes, peering down her beak with an indiscernible expression. Whether she had resigned herself to her fate or had expected to be killed and now did not know what to do, Rykoshet had no idea. What really still bothered him was the other discovery they had made while in Oztroja’s gaol.

“You’ll be reinstated to the same status you had before,” he told Mee Deggi the Punisher and Quu Domi the Gallant as he released them from their chains, “with the exception that you’ll be under the command of one of mine, now. I’ve been charged with the defense of the Yagudo people, and that means our goals are the same. Will you accept my terms, or do you go back in the cell?”

“This would be . . . most dishonorable . . . in other circumstances.” Mee Deggi had complained. “Given the state of things, though, I see no other choice if the Yagudo are to be safe.”

“What about him?” Quu Domi asked, pointing back at the block of cells Rykoshet had just opened towards the still-imprisoned Moo Ouzi the Swiftblade.

“Eh.” Rykoshet said, shrugging, “I’ll come back for him. Eventually.”

“Hey,” Atin, who had gone off to explore the area, called out, “there’s a person in here!”

“What?” Rykoshet’s confused response came even as he heard the sound of a cell door opening.

“Hang in there, fella,” Atin said to the prisoner in the Yagudo’s prison, “I’ll let you out.”

Rykoshet rounded the corner, eyes falling on the man in the cell with Atin. Giving a strangled cry, he leaped forward and grabbed Atin by the collar, yanking him backwards moments before he would have opened the lock on the shackles the man wore, the same kind of enchanted bounds which had drained Rykoshet’s strength days before. Rykoshet dragged the Samurai out of the cell and firmly closed the door, never taking his eyes off of the prisoner.

“What is it!?” Atin said with great confusion. “What’s the matter, Rykoshet?”

“Don’t you know who this is?” he asked incredulously, turning back to Atin for only a moment before returning his gaze to the man in the cell. “He would’ve killed you as soon as look at you if you took those shackles off.”

“Huh?” the Samurai replied, not understanding. “I don’t get it, who is this?”

“A legendary outlaw, guilty of everything they say he is, and probably more.” Rykoshet said ominously. “How he ended up here, I have no idea. The San d’Orian government announced that they had killed him years ago.”

The man in the cell gave no response, save for a grimly amused smile. The sight of it chilled Rykoshet to the bone, and from that day on he refused to visit the cell again.

At Rykoshet’s behest, an additional guard was placed at the cell of the outlaw, though he never seemed to do anything, and the Yagudo wardens assured the Elvaan that he had never given them any worry since being put in jail. Still, Rykoshet felt it was better to err on the side of caution. That aside, the dungeons had held no further surprises for them, something which Rykoshet, considering the first shock it revealed to them, was grateful for.

“The food stores in this dreary place are actually rather impressive,” Baeladar had assessed after being given a few days to take survey. “Their diet is not too terribly dissimilar from our own, and if worse comes to worse I’m sure these splendid fellows wouldn’t mind trying a new recipe or two. We should be quite alright in feeding and watering ourselves far into the foreseeable future.”

“And their weapons are very well-cared for.” Danienne added, rubbing a whetstone down the edge of her scythe. “These Yagudo know how to make war, you can’t question that. That one you assigned to work with me, Huu Xalmo, took me to see the workshops where they arm their soldiers. They’ve got smiths of all kind in here, and a few of them even know how to work with crystals. We get them the materials, Ryko, we could be back on our feet as a unit in no time.”

“Let us not get ahead of ourselves,” Baeladar said unctuously, raising a scroll of parchment and looking it over before scribbling a note upon it in black ink. “there is still much to do, and Altana only knows how much time to do it in.”

“That’s why you two have the jobs you do,” Rykoshet said to Castle Oztroja’s newest quartermaster and drill sergeant, “just make sure you do them well.”

The re-organization of the Yagudo army and inventory of exactly what they had at their disposal was only the first step in the long road ahead of them. Earning the trust of the beastmen was by far the most difficult task Rykoshet had conceived, and he knew that if they were to survive an assault by the demons, he would need to be able to command troops that would follow their leader without pause. He had to get the Yagudo to trust him, and, even more importantly, he had to learn to trust the Yagudo.

“Just tell us what to do, Daa Bola,” Rykoshet said to the Yagudo he had discovered was in charge of defending their nesting grounds, “and we’ll do it.”

“This is too much,” the Yagudo prophet had responded. “Long has the Seer ensured our future, guarded our hatchlings. He has no need for help such as this befouling our rookery.”

“Oh, you think I’m thrilled by this, jack-off?” Vile shot back acidly. “You give me one chance, bird, just one, and I’m going to make myself the best omelet I ever forced down your miserable throat.”

“Enough!” Rykoshet shouted, staring daggers at his Tarutaru companion. “Daa Bola, we want to make sure that if the demons attack, the eggs are safe no matter what. Just tell us what you do, and we’ll be glad to help.”

Daa Bola the Seer regarded the two of them for a moment, and then nodded once. “The crawlers we raise here spin a very fine silk which we use to warm our brood. The castle does suffer from some number of parasites, known to leech off of the crawlers, or even attack our eggs. This must never be allowed to happen.”

“I understand,” Rykoshet said. “Everyone wants to protect their children.”

Vile gave grumbling retort, but said nothing. Over the next few days, he came to spend much of his time in the nesting grounds.

Hiraiko and Betrayil had, to the objection of no one, not been assigned any specific task. Given special quarters deep within the fortress, the two had been removed from active duty while Betrayil recuperated, and Hiraiko contemplated what she held.

“I’m not even doing anything,” she had tried to explain, “not channeling even a tiny bit, and I can feel it; this message from the other world. Tzee Xicu must have felt it, too. The avatars are whispering, and I can hear bits and pieces of what they’re saying.”

“And?” Rykoshet had asked her. The more Hiraiko became accustomed to the Signa, he knew, the greater an asset she would be in battle.

Hiraiko, however, only looked up at him with a look bordering on distress. She clutched the Signa tightly, eyes searching the floor. “They’re saying,” she whispered, “that Diabolos is dreaming.”

Hiraiko’s worrying words in his head, along with a thousand other things, Rykoshet continued to construct the beginning of his framework for Oztroja. Everyone had a job to do; those not directly involved in preparing the castle for combat were sent to integrate themselves with the Yagudo and dissolve the barriers of mistrust that surrounded them. Icon was placed in charge of forming hunting parties, which, though they served no real purpose as Baeladar continued to send in list after list of the stocks lying about for their convenience, formed bonds between the Yagudo and their new housemates. Eig had already somehow actually become friends with a Yagudo bard named Kee Taw the Nightingale, and the two were found comparing Mithra melodies to the somber dirges and hymns of the Yagudo with much delight.

Some problems were easy, some even solved themselves. Others, Rykoshet had no idea how to even approach.

“We started sensing it as soon as we felt better,” Konstantine had told Rykoshet after he descended into the undeveloped, mountainous area hidden underneath the altar room. “Anyone in tune with magic would be able to sense its presence, its practically screaming at us. They probably keep it underground like this just so they can sleep at night.”

“It’s too dangerous to keep here,” Decay insisted. “If the demons weren’t after this in the first place, they definitely know it’s here after they invaded. They’ll come for it sooner rather than later.”

Rykoshet stared at the shards of magicite before him. On the one hand, Decay was right; the demons certainly would be interested in this bounty. On the other, if they could harness its power, it put an immeasurably powerful resource in their hands.

“We have nowhere to send it that would be safe,” Rykoshet concluded, turning back to Decay, “and as far as I know, there’s no way to destroy magicite. If it’s here, it’s here for a reason. Have Esane and Celeres and two of the stronger Yagudo come down and stand guard on it. When I figure something out, we’ll come back to it.”

“I’ll stay, too.’ Decay offered. “I know what you’re thinking, Rykoshet. It’s better we have someone study it at least. If there’s a way to use it to our advantage, I’ll find it.”

The Elvaan nodded, and sent Konstantine off to find the Dark Knight and the Monk. This castle was just full of surprises.

It was nearly a week after they had settled in that Rykoshet found Fated alone atop the battlements of Castle Oztroja, the young Hume staring out into the distance. The Yagudo had repaired his armor and shield, and they shone in the midday sun as his brown eyes looked across the horizon. The sky was still the same depressing gray, even though there was not a cloud to be seen, and the normally glorious view of the wind-swept Meriphataud range suffered because of it. The mood of the world around them seemed somber and withdrawn, feelings Fated very obviously shared.

“What are you doing up here?” Rykoshet asked as he stepped up into the open air. Fated snapped around in surprise, then breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head back out to the view.

“Just thinking.” He replied. “This is a very peaceful spot, Middlesky found it. I’ve been . . . I started coming up here just to get away.”

“Well we need you right now,” Rykoshet responded, coming to stand besides Fated, sharing his view of the horizon. “Baeladar’s burying himself in his own paper trail documenting these storehouses, and Danienne could use some help forming up the Yagudo into new units.”

“Do you really?” Fated said somberly. “Need me, I mean?”

“Fated.” Rykoshet replied plainly.

“I mean it.” He said, looking out across the dusty plateaus and rocky peaks. “Tzee Xicu said I didn’t belong here, that she could see it around me. I think . . . I think she’s right, Rykoshet.”

The Elvaan regarded the Paladin for a moment, then turned his eyes back to the stretch of land before the castle. “Fated,” Rykoshet said finally, “when Tzee Xicu said that you, you had just leaped in her way and put your shield up in defense of your friends. You did more than that, Fated. You held your ground until we could counterattack her, and if you hadn’t . . . if you hadn’t, we’d be sharing this conversation in the presence of Altana now.”

Fated said nothing at first, but his eyes seemed to lighten a bit as he considered Rykoshet’s words. Finally, he spoke. “It’s just, with all that’s happened, if someone else had made it out instead of me . . . and I don’t . . . I’m just not sure how to deal with it all . . . “

“Fated,” Rykoshet said, turning his back on the Paladin and heading back down the stairs he had come from, “none of us are sure how to deal with it, but we will. We have to. We have friends out there who are counting on us. You haven’t let us down yet, Fated. Don’t start now.”

The famous fighter disappeared down the stairwell, leaving Fated to contemplate his words. Gripping the hilt of his sword, Fated took one more good look at the world around him. Taking a deep breath, he turned, and went back inside the castle. There were people waiting on him, and in this new beginning, the first step in this challenge to wrestle back control of their world, he would not leave his friends wanting. Fated strode back into the castle towards the future which awaited them all, the few who remained to carry the burden of reclaiming Vana’diel, and proudly remain a member of the family known to the world as Those Guys.