Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Devil May Cry - Series Fan Fiction ❯ Knights of the Realms ❯ Ch 18 - Welcome Home ( Chapter 18 )

KNIGHTS OF THE REALMS

 

Welcome Home

 

 

 

 

The water was cold; freezing, actually. But it had been a long winter and the fountain had finally thawed. Emi-run had missed dipping her feet into the water, and she was damned if she was going to miss it another day. The frigid water swirled around her feet and over her feet, in between her toes and numbing everything below her ankles. She smiled and enjoyed it.

 

Even at ninety years, she had found nothing that stood up to the simple pleasures that children so often find.

 

She pulled her feet out of the fountain as someone approached from behind. “My Queen.” She turned and acknowledged the page, nodding for him to continue. “Your brother has returned.” Her eyes lit up at this.

 

“Has he now? Wonderful!” She stood, only to find her feet still stiff from the cold. She smiled at the page, a guilty grin creeping on to her face. “Would you mind helping me to the throne room? I'm afraid the cold gets to my bones easier these days.”

 

“Of course, My Queen.” She leaned on him for support as they made their way, hobbling slowly, to the throne room.

 

 

Drizzt took in the décor of the throne room, and he had to admit, he was impressed. Opulent wasn't the word, nor was lavish. Grand was better suited, but still missed the mark. It was a throne room that spoke of the country: We are here, and here we stay. It spoke of tradition and goodly deeds, without making an attempt at covering the bad ones.

 

Honest was the word, thought Drizzt. This is an honest room, seemingly grand because of the rarity of such honesty.

 

The door which the group had been led through not long before swung open again, a page announcing the arrival of the Queen. “Her Royal Majesty, Queen of Alajra and the last of her line, Her Grace the Queen Em—“ He was cut off as the Queen stepped behind him and boxed his ear.

 

“I've told you, time and time again, a simple `Queen Emi-run' will do. Short and sweet, losing none of the meaning.” She turned to the assembled group before her. “Welcome all. I offer hearth and home to those that seek it, and whatever I can for others. It is good to see you again, dear brother. Welcome home.” She walked forward and stumbled. The Drifter caught her, waving away the pages that had rushed forward.

 

“The fountain, I presume?” he asked.

 

“Of course, silly. The winter is over and the ice thawed. Did you expect anything else?”

 

“I would be a fool to,” answered the Drifter, keeping his arm out for support as she stood. “A matter, before we begin. Have you the necklace I requested before I left? We have need of it now, should we hope to get anywhere in the deliberations.”

 

“Yes,” said the Queen, motioning to an awaiting page that had been holding a box. He presented the box to be opened, which revealed a slightly tarnished bronze necklace, a small disc hanging from the bottom like a charm. “I must say, Ambassador Feld was less than happy to hand this over.”

 

The Drifter took the necklace. “I expect he was. Let this be an opportunity for him to give employ to interpreters again.” He turned to the Prince, who had been trying to discern the meaning of the conversation, to no success. He offered the necklace to the Prince, who gave it a wary look. “Qabu genii annu,” the Drifter reassured him. Still wary, the Prince took the necklace and looped it over his head. “This should make things much easier.”

 

“How so?” asked Cloud. The Prince started at that, surprise plain on his face.

 

“What's with Twitch here?” asked Dante.

 

The Prince started again, though much less than before, and hesitantly said, “I understood you, and I wasn't expecting it.”

 

This time, everyone else started, save for the Drifter and the Queen.

“Wonderful,” she said, clasping her hands together. “It works.”

 

“If I may ask…?” intoned Drizzt, his lavender eyes fixed on the necklace.

 

“It's a necklace, made of bronze, nothing truly special in that regard,” said Emi-run, “but it is the last remaining such translation device this country has. Wear it and you can understand as well as be understood. Makes diplomacy so much easier, let me be the first to tell you.”

 

The Prince, growing more confident with the situation now, gave a slight bow to Emi-run. “I thank you.” Emi-run just smiled at him.

 

“Not to be rude, Your Majesty,” said Cloud, “but now that that is taken care of, might we discuss what we came here for?”

 

“Indeed we may,” said the Drifter. “Before I left to gather you five, I had hoped to have an idea of which demons, if any, were orchestrating the movements of the others. Unfortunately, this eluded me, save for the name of Errtu.” Drizzt's eyes grew hard at this. “Even with that name, I know not if he is a ringleader. Both this and from where the demons were primarily located escaped my grasp. My sources were close to pinning down a location, but I could waste no more time. Hopefully, we will have a destination now.” He turned to his sister. “Has Kaze returned?”

 

“Ye—“ began Emi-run, as Drizzt heard footsteps and turned toward the door behind them.

 

“Aye, I'm back Drifter,” said a voice from the doorway, causing them all to turn.

 

Old wasn't the right word to describe the man, for that implies frailty. Aged was a better word. His face was tanned, with hard lines. He wore a knee-length cloak, the collar a spread of black and blue feathers, with simple traveler's leathers underneath. A sword was strapped diagonally across his back, the handle pointing down on his right side, the tip peeking above his left shoulder. “And I got yer information,” he said, his voice edged with timbre.

 

He gave the others in the group a once over, his eyes resting longer on two of them. “And I c'n tell ye right now, ye ain't gonna like it.”

 

 

“We've managed to find where the bastards'd been, ah…headquartered, I guess. Not the best word, seein' as how demons respond to authority, but they have been pourin' out from one spot in particular. World called…well, it's called nuthin', by way of no one livin' there.” Kaze took a pull from his mug before putting sharply down again, spilling some of the drink. He had recommended a different setting, preferably something with seats, and the group had been relocated to a council room, not too far from the throne room. He had also requested drink for the assembled. “The grease that lets the wheels turn smooth,” he had said.

 

“What do you mean, nobody lives there?” asked the Prince. “Surely, even if the region is remote—“

 

“I bloody well mean that nobody lives there,” interrupted Kaze. “Not a soul. On the entire damn world. Just yer flora and fauna, but nothin' intelligent. From what I've seen, they've had quite some time settin' the place up, too. Bastards got smart. No one lives there—“

 

“—no one to warn us,” finished Drizzt, the cold realization creeping over him. “Just how well prepared are they?” he asked.

 

Kaze took another swig. “Prepared enough that you might want te rethink this little coup ye got goin', Drifter.”

 

The Drifter shook his head. “No. If we can quell this before it gets too far gone, then the worlds will be that much better off. You know as well as I do that we don't want to get too many people involved.”

 

“Thing is,” interjected Kaze, pointing a finger at the Drifter, “it already is too far gone.”

 

Dante, who had been trying to bring to attention that his mug was empty (to no avail), gave up and asked, “So at what point in all this do we get to fight something?” Cloud cast him a sidelong glance. “Don't gimme that look, Spike Head, I know you're thinking the same damn thing.”

 

The Drifter seemed to have lost some of his starch with the news. “I fear, Dante, that you shall get your chance sooner than I had hoped.”

 

“Kick ass.”

 

Link sat across from him, eyes going from person to person, his face hard but not grim. The fairies hovered close.

 

“If you have the location, then I would assume it would be a simple thing to find out just who—what—is at the top of this,” said Cloud, yet again ignoring Dante.

 

Kaze smiled, but it held no warmth. “Aye, that I did. This be the part that some o' ye ain't gonna be likin'.” He took a deep breath, as if to steady himself, only adding to the tension. “I'm sure that one o' ye's be knowin' the balor Errtu?”

 

Drizzt sat a bit straighter in his chair. “I'm knowing it too well, Kaze.”

 

Kaze nodded sagely. “I thought ye might. It's been confirmed that he's one o' the baddies at the bottom of this whole mess.”

 

“I have no doubt that Errtu poses a threat, but he has been beaten before. Twice by me and my companions. What concerns me more is how he has managed to escape from the nether planes.”

 

Again, Kaze nodded. “Ye've got a good head on those shoulders, lad. Indeed Errtu was banished after ye bested him, fer a hundred years from the material plane.” He leaned in closer. “Unless summoned again.”

 

Drizzt acceded the point. “True, but how could he possibly have been summoned from a world where he doesn't exist? Even if he tore his way into the hells of another world, his name would have a hard time indeed leaking to the material plane.”

 

“Aye,” said Kaze, his tone grave. “But who would be knowin' his name? One o' the demons he was in cahoots with, that's who.”

 

Link wrinkled his brow in confusion along with the Prince who asked, “Demons can summon other demons?”

 

Kaze shrugged. “I ain't puttin' it outa the realm o' possibility, but this weren't quite the case here. Quite. For it was the demon that summoned your pal Errtu, but not as a demon. As a human.”

 

This had every brow furrowed in confused thought. All but one.

 

Link's knuckles had whitened where he gripped the table, and his eyes burned as he stared into nothing.

 

“I told ye ye weren't gonna like it,” said Kaze.