Dragon Quest VIII: Secrets
-Chapter Three: Bloodline-
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Oh my...it's been a while since I updated this, huh? My most humblest apologies for those waiting for this chapter. I had been extremely busy with college work, and it wasn't very fun (well...I loved working on all the projects I had, but that sucked the term "life" out of me, unfortunately). And as I am typing this now, I have realized that this will probably be five chapters, not four. Which is nice for you, right? (I mean, you get to read more of this and all...)
Anyways, enjoy! I hope that the next one will come much faster than this considering that....the semester is over.
DISCLAIMERS: Spoilers for the 2nd ending of the game. Read on if you dare!
He didn't quite know why he was coming back here again. The way to the Sanctuary was much harder now that the godbird Empyrea and her son had gone back to their true homeland. Ryuuichi now really had no way of getting to the Sanctuary other than climbing up the mountain where it stood. That in itself was no easy task. Doing it alone was even harder.
But Ryuuichi wondered to himself if this was what his father had done to get there.
He poked at the fire with the stick in his hand before standing up to stretch his tired muscles. It had been five months since he and his comrades defeated Rapthorne and went their separate ways. Trodain was restored to its old glory, the curse no more. King Trode appointed him as the new captain of the guard soon after the celebrations were over as a gesture of gratitude, although Ryuuichi honestly did not feel worthy of such a position. He stayed by the king's side solely out of loyalty for the kingdom that had taken him in as one of their own and...for her.
He sat back down on the boulder he had designated as his seat for the night and sighed. His princess was the most important person in the entire world to him yet she and her father were the only people close to him who did not know about his true origins.
And because of that, he was one month away from losing her.
The movement in his satchel caught his attention and out jumped the furry creature inside, transforming into the old Dragovian man that was his maternal grandfather. Now that he was told the truth, Chen Mui would often transform back and forth between the pet rodent he had named as Munchie and the Dragovian's human form. However, it was only done when the other was absolutely certain that no one else was around.
"What is calling you back to the Sanctuary, Ryuuichi?" the old man asked him, taking a seat close to the fire but not to him.
Ryuuichi didn't quite understand why the Dragovian would often sit so far from him in his human form, but the captain of the guard guessed it was because of the guilt that still haunted the old Dragovian. If he was in his shoes, Ryuuichi might have probably felt the same way. But nonetheless, he was happy that he had family now even if he still wasn't very talkative to the Dragovian.
He stared back into the fire and then down at his hands, hands that were rough and calloused from the years of training with the sword and other weapons. Funny how he had countless of years in weapons training yet he needed barely little instruction in magic, he realized. Perhaps the answer lied within his Dragovian blood.
"...I don't know," Ryuuichi finally said after a while. His lips unconsciously curled into a sad smile for a brief second. "To learn a few more things, perhaps."
He took out his father's ring that hung on a necklace around his neck, hidden beneath his clothes. The ruby color of the Argon heart embedded inside the silver ring reflected back a small image of himself, reminding him just how different this ring was beginning to mean to him. Ever since Chen Mui had given him the ring, he had found it to be a source of comfort for his troubled thoughts.
Chen Mui sighed. "Going back to speak to the Lord of Dragovians will not help you solve the conflict that you have within yourself, Ryuuichi. Plus, it is extremely dangerous to venture in there alone. You know that."
"I know."
"I cannot help you once inside."
"I know."
"You might never come back."
A slight pause. "...I know."
Chen Mui watched his grandson's reactions to his words. He had only seen this look on his grandson's face on a very few occassions and only when it concerned a certain princess to a certain kingdom he worked for. He noted the young man's interest in her a long time ago, and the feeling had only deepened between them over the years they had been together. He remembered how devastated Ryuuichi had been when he heard news of Medea's arranged engagement with Prince Charmles of Argonia, an unknown man to him at the time; and he remembered how beside himself he was when he interacted with the princess from there on afterwards like she was someone that should have never been touched by him.
And then he remembered just how stunned he was when it dawned onto him that he, too, was a prince to Argonia. Charmles just happened to be his cousin.
"Princess Medea's wedding will be in less than a month from now if you keep this up," Chen Mui said. "So why did you decide to take this journey here, this close to the wedding?" He watched for his grandson's reaction. "Why haven't you told either king about where you come from? Why haven't you told the princess? The answer is very simple, Ryuuichi."
Ryuuichi frowned, the muscles in his jaw tense. He knew why he didn't say anything; he did not want to create an uproar, nor was he one who sought for power. Rapthorne's reign of terror had only recently ended and there was no need for any more confusion among the ruins of reconstruction around the world. A good start to rebuilding a normal life was to continue the unification of a marriage that was supposed to have taken place long before Rapthorne was set free by the crazed jester, Dhoulmagus. At least, that what he was trying to convince himself should be right.
"It's...better this way," he finally said.
Chen Mui shook his head and sighed. "What might be better for the rest of the world does not mean that it will guarantee your happiness. You have already done your part for the world: you defeated Rapthorne, an impossible feat that you and the others made possible. What happens in the future should just lay there. I'm sure that...your parents would have wanted you to live happily with the one you love, Ryuuichi." He paused.
"I, too, want you to be happy."
An awkward silence fell among grandfather and grandson, united by blood yet so far apart from each other by distance. It was a somewhat uncomfortable relationship and neither liked to speak too much about the blood that they shared. It was all too new for Ryuuichi and all too painful for Chen Mui.
However, the young man wanted to know -- wanted to remember what kind of child he was like at the Sanctuary, what kind of people his parents were like and what kind of love they shared that caused both to greet one another in death. That, in all, was what troubled him the most among other things.
"What..." Ryuuichi finally broke the silence. "...What kind of person was she like? Xia. My mother. How much did she...and my father love one another?"
Chen Mui looked up in surprise although Ryuuichi was watching the fire again, occasionally poking it with the stick in his hand. He had expected the young man to ask but not so soon.
"Xia...your mother was a very kind...caring person," Chen Mui began. "She was stubborn when it came to what she wanted."
He chuckled. "Sometimes her stubbornness was what made her stand out from the rest at home."
Silence once again fell in between, but it was not as uncomfortable as before. Ryuuichi was only content in listening and Chen Mui cleared his throat to stop the wave of emotions from rising in his head.
"She feared nothing and welcomed everything. Your mother, when everything went against her, was extremely brave in meeting the challenge. That was what might have drawn your father to her when they...first met."
He remembered when he had finally discovered the two of them together, how angry he had been and how Eltrio gently pushed Xia protectively behind her, requesting him for Xia's hand in marriage with determined eyes.
"When I discovered the relationship between your parents...they had been laughing. Xia rarely laughed in the Sanctuary...and did not speak too often. But upon seeing them together, I saw just how happy she was -- only to be blinded by my own biases against humans."
Chen Mui took a deep breath, controlling the sadness and guilt that dwelled within him. "They were very determined to stay together even when I took your mother back with me. I didn't see that until we saw your father at the gates...and your mother had stopped smiling all over again."
Ryuuichi looked up from the fire, watching his grandfather smile sadly at what memories he had and unconsciously nodding his head.
"But the last time your mother smiled was when she had you, before dying from exhaustion. She...I believe that your mother wanted you to be free from the restrictions that she had had with me and the rest of the Sanctuary. You look very much like your father, but you resemble your mother in more ways than one. They had gone far to express how much they loved each other...and they made me realize just how much they did. You possess both sides of them, which was one of the many reasons why I asked the Lord of Dragovians to stay with you. I...I did not want you to go through what I myself had put your parents through."
Chen Mui met his grandson's eyes. "Be true to your heart, Ryuuichi. Go back and speak to King Trode."