untitled
|
|
|
<Back to chapter 1
At Orbonne Monastery, Agrias vowed to save Princess Ovelia. Gafgarion
was initially reluctant to help, but Ramza's insistence on joining the
royal guardian to see Delita again convinced the mercenary leader to
accompany them.
After being ambushed in Dorter Trade city by
Nanten mercenaries, Gafgarion question Agrias' plan on how to recapture
the lost princess. Agrias responded,
"There is only one place they could've escaped to,
the impregnable fortress, Bethla Garrison."
The
way to the Bethla Garrison of Goltana's Nanten Knights was the shortest
when traversed over the waterfalls of Zirekile. And that is where the
golden Knight, Delita, stood against a dozen Hokuten Knights, shielding
Princess Ovelia.
The Hokuten Knights, supposedly representing
the royal family, and the regent Prince Larg, demanded the princesses
return. But Delita had other ideas,
"Hand her over? You want to kill her! And after that
you'll kill me for knowing the truth!"
The
Hokuten were outraged at this remark. But the situation was far from
the end of complicating factors. Gafgarion, under the orders of the
Hokuten, betrayed Agrias and the princess' bodyguard, but Ramza refused
to be involved in the betrayal.
Delita, seemingly to be ever one
step ahead, accused Larg, of arranging the kidnapping and eventual
murder of the princess, and putting the blame on Goltana, resulting in
a loss of political support of the leader of the Nanten Knights. Delita
finished his accusation by addressing Ramza,
"I'm sure that's how Prince Larg wrote the scenario.
No...Dycedarg probably wrote it. Don't you agree
Ramza?"
But
Ramza had little time to answer. Battle ensued between the princess'
bodyguard and the Hokuten, now lead by Gafgarion, but Larg's men were
defeated. This left Agrias, Ramza, Ovelia, and the golden Knight,
Delita.
Delita was hesitant to leave the Princess with Agrias
and Ramza. He claimed to be able to "do what they could not" in terms
of protecting the princess, but would not elaborate. Eventually, Delita
decided to leave the princess with them a little longer. The princess
thanked Delita, and he dissapeared along the wooded paths heading east.
Agrias
had taken note of Delita's parting warning, reinforcement Hokuten
troops were sure to be arriving at any moment, and Delita had said that
Goltana would execute Ramza and Agrias, and returned the Princess just
to clear himself. Left with few options, Agrias suggested that they
visit Cardinal Draclau of the Glabados Church at Lionel Castle. Even
the Hokuten had to watch their step in the territory of the Church.
On
their way to Lionel Castle, Ramza's party came upon a young man by the
name of Mustadio who was being pursued by a crime syndicate known as
Bart Company who held Mustadio's father captive. Ramza's party was
moments too late to save the young man, but as his dying request,
Mustadio gave to Ramza a strange red crystal which he said must never
fall into the hands of evil.
But on the other side of the
country, near the coast of the western sea, was Igros Castle, home of
the Beoulve family. That was the headquarters of the Hokuten and in
that castle resided Dycedarg.
Hellbent on capturing Ovelia,
Dycedarg ordered Gafgarion to give Ramza one more chance to aid his
plot for the greater good, and if Ramza refused, that the Dark Knight
was to kill him. Worried about the involvement of the Church, Gafgarion
expressed hesitation, but Dycedarg reassured him that he was prepared
for such a situation. As an endnote to his report, Gafgarion told
Dycedarg that the although the fake Nanten Knights had shown up at
Orbonne Monastery to capture the princess, the Hokuten Knights who were
supposed to remove the princess through the back door were all found
dead in the woods. Somehow, Delita had inserted himself into the plan,
and snatched the princess from Larg's grasp. But his motives and
intentions were still unknown to all but himself.
Despite his
brothers' murderous intentions, Ramza and his party made it to Lionel
Castle safely. The Cardinal Draclau immediately set about to help the
princess, offering her asylum and even a messenger to the Holy City of
Murond to attain the protection of the High Priest Funeral. Draclau
vowed to dispatch troops to destroy Bart Company. Ramza showed the
Cardinal the Holy Stone, given to him by Mustadio. Draclau had a
similar stone in his possession, and hypothesized that Bart Company had
desired the fabled Holy Stone to make weapons.
Ramza, sensing
something foul to do with this Bart Company, decided to accompany the
Lionel troops to the Machine City of Goug, whilst the princess and
Agrias remained with Draclau. Upon reaching the city, he was ambushed
by Bart Company mercenaries and brought before their leader, Rudvich.
Rudvich demanded the Holy Stone. However, Ramza had been prepared for
such a situation and gave Rudvich a fake Holy Stone. Rudvich, in his
glee, exclaimed that,
"The Holy Stone! Finally we've got it! The Cardinal'll be very pleased! Good job. Get rid of him!"
However,
Ramza managed to escape the mercenaries and fled to Warjilis Trade
City. He knew his only hope was to sail back to Lionel to save Ovelia
and Agrias. Knowing now that the Cardinal was part of the plot to steal
the Holy Stone, he could only assume that the princess and her guardian
were in grave danger. However, on the docks of Warjilis, Ramza came
upon a Knight in gold....
Ramza was surprised to see Delita, but
Delita brushed off the circumstance with a vague reference to an
information network he belonged to. Delita gave Ramza a warning,
"Go back to Igros. For your own sake. It's healthier to keep your nose
out of certain things like princesses and stones. Rescuing the
princess from Draclau only solves one problem, but I can save her from
all of them. Larg,Goltana, your brothers, everyone... they're all swept
up in the same flow. I'm just going against that flow. I'll see you
again, if we live that long."
And Delita was gone.
Back at Lionel Castle, the Cardinal Draclau was in meeting with Rudvich
and Gafgarion, his two henchmen. Gafgarion and Rudvich were at
eachother's throats, blaming the other for the escape of the princess,
or the loss of the Holy Stone, or both. But Draclau had no time for
their petty arguments. He ordered Gafgarion to use Ovelia as bait to
retrieve the Stone, and then executed Rudvich for being fooled by a
sham Holy Stone. The trap was set, and they needed only to wait for
Ramza to walk right into it.
Ramza, realizing that a trap was
likely had no option but to spring it and hope for the best. He felt he
must save the princess at all costs. Luckily, Agrias had escaped
Draclau's clutches, and after being rescued from Lionel troops by
Ramza, they were able to move forward together.
Princess Ovelia
was set to be killed at Golgorand Execution Site, and Ramza and Agrias
had no choice but to rescue her. Upon reaching Golgorand however, they
found out that the execution was a sham. Ambushed by Lionel troops and
Gafgarion, Ramza and Agrias were forced to fight for their lives.
However, Ramza's combative skill and Agrias training as a Knight turned
the tide of battle, and they fended off their attackers. Despite offers
of forgiveness from Dycedarg, delivered by Gafgarion, Ramza was still
determined to save Ovelia from Draclau. Spurred on by neccessity, Ramza
and Agrias raced to Lionel Castle where certain players were starting
to reveal their position in that deadly game of manipulation....
Locked in a cell at Lionel, Ovelia had refused to eat any of the food presented to her.
And then three consiprators entered...Draclau, a Shrine Knight of Murond Holy City named Vormav, and Delita.
Ovelia was ready to accept her fate, but questioned why they had not disposed of her already.
Delita
seemed to find this mildly amusing. He explained to her that they were
not going to kill her, nor were they on the side of Larg or Goltana.
Vormav in a sadistic act of superiority explained to the princess her
origin.
To ensure his own relation to the royal family, Larg
had bedded his own sister to make sure that the royal child came from
her womb, ensuring his position in the royal family as an uncle of the
successor to the throne. As a possible future Queen, Larg's sister
Ruvelia needed to be the first one pregnant to become the King's wife,
but she wasn't.
Motivated by a lust for power, Larg arranged the
deaths of the infants born before Ovelia to ensure her succession to
the throne. And so Princess Ovelia Atkascha learned of her terrible,
bloody royal birthright.
On to chapter 3>
bravenet.com