A Tumultuous Act 4

The sound reached the three even from deep in the cave, it was followed by a terrible headache and strange visions. This all finally culminated in the roar we are so familiar with.

“Thats just like what happened when I killed the butterfly!”

“The same happened when I killed that insect too~ So it’s safe to say it’s a feature, not a bug if you’ll pardon the pun.”

“But why is it waking up the Dragon?”

“You saw the visions didn’t you? The Dragon probably could too, in fact since the butterfly came from the Dragon it probably saw the vision more clearly.”

“They failed, oh gosh they failed, what are we, I mean how could they fail-”

“Thanks for the input dad. On a more productive note should we continue?”

“I think we should keep going~ The Dragon hasn’t been woken up quite yet, but if the Dragon does end up waking up, it would be better if we found the Knight before it did.”

“Yeah, hopefully she can at least slow it down…”

“Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh, we must hurry, me must- oh gosh what can we do?!”

“Dad, with all due respect, please just be quiet?”

“But-”

“QUIET. Panic is contributing NOTHING, but if what the Quack says is true, then there's a chance even loud noises could wake that thing up faster, so please just… don’t?”

“But I-”

“But what dad? That I don’t respect you enough? Please tell me dad, what. Is. The. Problem.”

“...I’ll, I’m… I’m sorry.”

He looked down, and said nothing else. The Delinquent began to feel rather poor about his own words.

I guess I’ve let myself build up a bit of the old resentment over the years.

The two looked down, you could tell they were related in a strange sort of way. Wanting to get the show on the road, the Quack grabbed both of them by the arms and pulled them in deeper.

Ah shoot~ The butterfly reacted.

She had to pause, and took a detour through a nearby pathway to avoid the Dragon’s range. The butterfly had reacted a few times, each one requiring a detour away from the map’s carefully made instructions. Though thankfully they had made their way back to the path each and every time. This time a part of her wondered if there was any point, given that the Dragon was only hours away from waking at most. But after a moment she decided discretion was the better part of valor.

Maybe I should say something…? No thanks~ I’m no family therapist~!

Her slight desire to alleviate the awkwardness was immediately shut down by her sheer disdain for inserting into family troubles.

My son… What am I to tell you? How can I apologize…?

Dad… it’s my fault we’re in this mess to begin with, but here I am just getting mad at you.

The two had a complex relationship at the best of times, neither could achieve understanding their better, and resented this fact. Both inwards towards themselves and outwards towards the other.

I am a drunk, I suppose that is all I am… rash as well. That thoughtlessness of mine attracted the old order to me, though both they and I thought it to be initiative and bravery. Yet this is the same reason I was let go. The order… the order was right to do so, after all I so thoroughly fell to pieces after my excommunication.

I probably am just no better than a criminal, I mean he just wants to help clean up my mess, but here I am acting so cruelly towards him. What sort of dirtbag yells at a recovering alcoholic? My buddy is smarter and nicer than I am, but all I’ve done is push him into this. I was even so terrible that I tried to escape responsibility after the fact.

On top of all this, they had baggage, increasing this inwards and outwards resentment. Both their portions of baggage ironically came from a similar source, failure.

The Father was a star recruit to the old order, who was brought in with the hope of revitalizing the organization in times of troubles. One of his strategies, a strategy that the Delinquent emulated, was to find the Dragon’s horde. This strategy was not only unpopular due to the dangers involved, but was made all the more so when he went behind the old orders back to try and implement it. This attempt failed horribly, and almost got a few people killed. This resulted in his termination, a public scandal, and killed any hope the old order had of stopping their prolonged death.

The Son was not quite so special at first, but his failure was nonetheless catastrophic. At a young age, he fell in with a bad crowd. A crowd of somebodies and con-artists, totally unlike a nobody like him. He wanted to be better, he wanted to be somebody, unlike his father. The Delinquent had grown up seeing nothing but legends of his fathers failure, simultaneously he was also stuck in his fathers shadow. He only ever found himself compared to his father, never allowed to make his own image, and never capable enough to escape it. Eventually this all came to a head, and ended with a prison.

Man~ We’re almost there, you should both really get your act together soon!

The Quack could not help but feel increasingly annoyed at this, and wished the Bookworn was around. His sort, while idealistic, at least had the stomach to insert themselves into this sort of situation.

Well… well I guess I could try~ From what I read about fairies, they can be sensitive so- I’d rather not make them angry

“You know~ Angst has a time and place, but you should both cut it out~”

“Sorry…”

“Yeah…”

Man I’m awful at this~

“If you don’t, I’ll personally have you both sent to prison~”

“I probably deserve it.”

“Yeah…”

Oh boy, I think I kinda hate you both right now~

“Well~ uhhh… Bored Brain, why do you think you should go to prison?”

“I woke it up. I’m the reason the Dragon is being woken up.”

Didn’t we already have this conversation? Either he wasn’t paying attention or he doesn’t care, either reason is quite infuriating~

The Quack was about to bring the previously mentioned point up, but she didn’t have to, the Clown spoke up.

“No… no I don’t umm, you know you don’t deserve that, I think you're not right.”

The Delinquent looked to his father for explanation.

“Well you know, with the Dragon, you're waking it up, it probably wasn’t, I mean you didn’t think of that did you?”

“Yeah, I just stole the idea that got you fired. Cause I’m to stupid to think of my own ideas.”

“Ah- well, well yes that is the case-”

He didn’t think the insecurity ran that deep huh~?

“But uhh, but you know if you think about it, when did you come… ah! Why did you decide to use it?”

“I… well it… I wanted… you see it was all for the money.”

Man, you really can tell they’re related with all the stammering~

“You probably… You probably wanted money yes, yes you wanted money I’m sure but… you thought of me, you thought of what happened to me and… and you made it work, you managed to make it work despite my failure. You were smart, you were smarter than me… I’m nothing but a failure…”

There was a pause, a pause the Delinquent exploited to speak.

“No, no you aren’t. Yeah your… a bit clumsy sometimes, but you… well frankly your a good person, and yeah that might not sound like much. Heck it kinda sounds like a glorified consolation prize… but it’s a whole bunch harder than people think and… and you know what? You don’t screw up that bad? I mean you almost got some folks hurt? I just endangered a bunch of folks! At the very least… I guess… ummm…”

“You have each other~?”

Neither man said anything, and no emotions showed on their faces, but one could see they looked quite embarrassed.

“WHOO! It Worked Out! Did Ya See! Did Ya See Sir Knight!”

A new voice suddenly cut into the conversation, it was a very high pitched, strange voice from beyond the next turn. Both the Clown and the Delinquent jumped, and then further stared. They had both been looking downwards due to the scene’s shenanigans, and had not noticed a strange, horrifying, red glow. This glow illuminated a space oddly humble yet masterful in it’s construction, with carefully laid out masonry forming a strange mausoleum of sorts, The Quack did not jump, in fact she had only looked up from her map for a moment, before looking back down to confirm her suspicions.

“Hello Hello! I’m You’re Biggest Fan! I’m Loving The Current Direction You’re Taking With Your Relationship! It’s Such An Exciting Change Of Pace! Oh Man I Was Close To Crying!”

That's right. We’re here, I suppose it’s only natural she would be showing up. And it’s just our luck she seems to be like… this.

“You’re the Fairy~?”

“Yup Yup Yup~ If You Don’t Mind Me Stealing Your Gimmik~ I’m So Excited To Finally Meet You! Honestly You Kind Of Felt Like A Last Second Inclusion, So I Didn’t Think Much Of You At First, But Then You Became My Favorite! Crazy How That Works Out!”

“Thank you for your support~”

“Thats It Thats It! You Just Heard Me Say Something Outlandish And Rolled With It! You're Just So Goshed Darned Fun!”

Both the Clown and the Delinquent were quite unsure what to make of that creature, she was quite unlike anything they had ever seen.

“So uhhh, nice to meet you?”

“Nice To Meet Finally Meet You To! If I’m Not Mistaken, You’ll Need Sir Knight Yes?”

She was smiling pleasantly despite the quakes.

“Well You’ll Need To Think Of Something Clever, Soon This Place Is Going To Collapse, Long Before Sir Knight Wakes.”

This smile was now utterly gorgeous and pure, making the words that came from it all the more haunting.

“And You’ll All Die Die Die! Rotting And Blood Clotting, Until All Are Gone!”