Dragon Quest VIII: Secrets

-Chapter One: To the Dragovian Sanctuary-

"Are you sure you want to go, Ichi, my boy?" the small green troll-like creature asked him. "I do understand that you're young and want to explore the world while you still have it in you, but what about that mangly Rapthorne hovering up in the sky just waiting to unleash his full power on the world? And have you forgotten about this atrocious curse set upon Medea and myself??"

He looked down at his hands which had been worn down from constant use with the sword. They were at Argonia's Inn to rest after collecting the seven orbs of the legendary seven sages. Their next destination was finally Rapthorne, but the young palace guard of Trodain wanted to check out one last place. He felt that he needed to go to this unknown temple high in the mountains.

"It is not far from here, Your Majesty," he replied and looked up. "I think...that this is a place that has to be done before we fight Rapthorne." He paused and shook his head. "No, I know that it must be done before fighting Rapthorne."

His king stared, testing his determination. The young man, in all the twelve years he served Trodain, had never asked for anything from King Trode until now. He was forever loyal to the kingdom, the place that gave him refuge and sanctuary after entering without a single memory in his head.

That is, except for his name.

The dream in his memories last night bothered him. The temple felt familiar yet unfamiliar to him at the same time. He had to go there and find out the source of his troubled thoughts. Something inside of him called to that place, even though he had never seen the temple before in his life.

...Or did he?

King Trode let out a sigh and tore his gaze away from the young man. "Very well, then. You have come this far with me, and I will grant this request of yours. Where exactly will we be going then?"

The young man smiled in gratitude and bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty. However, I cannot take you and the princess with me. I have a feeling that this place will be far too dangerous for you to accompany us. It would be best if you stay here in Argonia."

Trode nodded in understanding. "Very well. But I want you four to return here alive and well, do you hear me?"

"Of course, Your Majesty."

------A few days later-------

"Finally, there's an end to this place," Angelo couldn't help but comment as they reached a pair of gates.

"Wot d'you suppose this place is, eh?" Yangus mentioned and plopped himself down on the ground, exhausted.

The young palace guard approached the gate, wondering to himself why the inscriptions were so familiar to him. It was the first time that he had ever been in this maze of caverns, with no real sense of time, but he guided his comrades through the entire area perfectly without a map of any sort. The monsters here were difficult to handle at times, as if they were created to be this powerful in order to protect whatever these gates now guarded.

He ran a hand through the foreign words engraved on the gates before it settled itself over one of the handles. Grabbing the other handle with the other hand, he took a deep breath and pulled. The doors did not budge. Figuring as much, he pulled harder at the doors before letting go. It felt as if the gates were merely pretty decoration.

"Great," he heard Angelo say. "We finally make it to the end of this place and we can't even get in?"

"Well, it's not like we can go back, you know," Jessica pointed out. "We don't even know how we got here in the first place other than that statue that sent us here."

"So wot do y'suppose we do now?" Yangus asked.

The palace guard eyed the gates with high scrutiny. There had to be something that they needed to open the gates, but his exhausted mind was too tired to figure out what. He figured that they had been wandering through here for days now with very little rest since the place was filled with dangers that couldn't afford a good night's sleep. It didn't help that the place seemed to have no sense of time; it was always bright outside.

His satchel began to move around, causing him to stir away from his thoughts and frustrations. His pet mouse hopped out and scurried up to the gates. The young man wondered what his pet was up to.

"...Munchie?"

He and the others watched the mouse pause at the gates as if waiting for a sign. Much to everyone's surprise, the insignia on the gates glowed in response to something and opened.

"Would ya lookit that," Yangus murmured in awe.

The young man noticed that his pet was not coming back like he usually did and instead had run on ahead into the fog that coated the next area. An odd sense of fear overcame him, half because there were still dangerous creatures about and the other half in fear of losing Munchie. Without thinking too much, he chased after his pet.

"Hey, Munchie! Where are you going?"

The fog was thick, and he could barely see what was in front of him. He wondered to himself if he had gotten himself lost and that thought made the young man more eager to find the mouse.

"Munchie!"

The fog soon cleared as he ran further, and he slowed to a stop, looking around. He was in the same barren land in the clouds, the same environment that he had been in for days now. He looked back in front of him to see a second gate with a similar inscription as the first.

"Hey, Guv!" Yangus' voice bellowed behind. His comrades caught up with him in the clearing. The rotund, muscular man stopped to catch his breath before speaking. "Cor blimey. Y'could've at least given us a wornin' or some'in before y'took off like that."

The young man chuckled, scratching the back of his head out of embarrassment. "Sorry."

"Where did your mouse run to?" Jessica asked.

He looked at his comrades, then at the second gate before turning back to them. "I don't know."

A small "poof" sound from behind caught their attention. An old man appeared out of the fog with a smile on his face, as if he had been expecting them. Yellow robes wrapped around his body and he had a graying mustache and goatee with his hair held in an unusual mohawk. He looked human, but the strange, web-shaped ears that he possessed told them otherwise.

Something in the old man struck a cord in the palace guard's memory. He looked awfully familiar...

"Greetings, humans," the old man greeted them, his voice soft yet hoarse as if it had been a long time since he used it. "Welcome to the Dragovian Sanctuary."