EPISODE TWENTY-SEVEN: Consequences

The next morning TRITHAL, AXEM, THRAX and CHRIS emerge from their sleeping quarters and decide to split up and explore the castle and the surrounding grounds. CHRIS finds himself in the greenhouse and botanical gardens drooling over the various forms of plant life. AXEM finds himself in an arcade full of both old and new video games on many platforms. THRAX finds himself in a massive library where he finds books on many topics he has an interest in. TRITHAL finds himself in a huge gymnasium where he can do his sword exercises.

Unknown to TRITHAL, Ali stands in a doorway leading to the room he was in and watches him do his sword exercises. After a while, Ali says to TRITHAL, "You're pretty good with that katana, but how are you with a dueling sword?"

TRITHAL, first semi-startled, then kinda offended about being challenged to what he considered to be a lesser form of swordsmanship, responds, "That depends. How well do you think you'd do with a Japanese sword?"

Ali: "Tell you what... if I defeat you in a duel, then you may challenge me to a rematch with Japanese swords."

TRITHAL, thinking he would have the upper hand in either scenario, accepts Ali's challenge. TRITHAL and Ali equip equal dueling swords from the storage room of the gym. TRITHAL's max HP drops to 28 and his max SP drops to 18 after equipping the weaker weapon. Since Ali is still a lower level, her stats don't change. It takes TRITHAL a few minutes to get accustomed to the one-handed sword. During that time Ali takes advantage of his weakness and makes some glancing blows. TRITHAL, having superior defensive stats, is able to dodge most of Ali's attacks. Once TRITHAL finally gets the hang of the dueling sword, he is able to return some of the blows back to Ali.

All the while, word of the sparring match spreads throughout the castle, and a group of servants and the remaining party members converge on the gym to watch the Princess of Mount Sabretooth and the Divine Wind duel it out.

Although no words were spoken between them, the two were able to let the swords to the talking. They vented their frustrations and finished the arguments between them with this sword fight. After about 30 minutes, the fight finally ended in a draw. The crowd watching was in awe of the amazing ability of both fighters. The two sheathe their swords, then bow in respect to each other.

TRITHAL: "Can we still fight with Katana swords?"

Ali: "Um... NO!"

TRITHAL: "AWW! You're no fun!"

Just then a strange-looking character who's as ugly as a dude but carries himself like a chick runs up and hugs the princess and says in an effeminate voice, "Well done, my dear!"

Ali: "Evan! When did you get here?"

Evan: "Just now. When I heard you had returned, I got here as fast as I could! I've missed you! Are you well?"

Ali: "Yes I am. I have this man and his friends to thank for it."

Evan (to TRITHAL): "I thank you for bringing my fiancee back to me safely."

All four party members cast a shocked and surprised look as this gender-bending character loves up on the hottie that they've spent the past week trying to score with themselves. TRITHAL responds, "It was my honor... uh, Evan. Ali is a much stronger fighter than she appears to be."

Evan (to Ali): "I'll wait in our sitting room while you clean up, my dear."

Ali hesitantly kisses the person on the cheek, then the person departs. THRAX, AXEM and CHRIS approach Ali. AXEM asks, "Who, or what, the hell was that?"

Ali (in disdain): "That's Evan. He's my fiancee."

THRAX: "But... he's... a..." (All four in unison) "...fag!"

Ali: (scoffs) "Don't remind me! If we weren't arranged to be married, I would have nothing at all to do with him. He's a total freak... almost worse than CHRIS. Plus, he has a boyfriend in Muika whom he spends all his time with when he isn't with me."

With TRITHAL, CHRIS, THRAX, and especially AXEM now shocked to find out that the hot young blonde they have lusted after this whole time is spoken for (by some fucking queer, no less!), TRITHAL then returns the dueling sword back to the storage room and re-equips his katana sword. His stats return to normal. He and Ali go to separate locker rooms to shower and change into their regular garb.

Meanwhile, a carriage pulls up in front of the castle and from within it 4 identical-looking bodyguards jump out and take formation while a figure that looks like a 14-year old boy emerges. The castle gate-keeper asks "Who are you? What business do you have here?"

Person: "My name is 壮大マハ. I'm here to see Trithal the Divine Wind. It is a matter of the utmost urgency."

gate keeper: "Uh, how do you pronounce 壮大マハ?"

壮大マハ: " Don't worry about it. Would you please inform the Divine Wind that I wish to see him?"

The gate keeper then summons a servant to show the mysterious visitor and his creepy entourage to one of the meeting rooms, then an announcement went out on the house intercom for TRITHAL to go to the meeting room. The rest of the party accompanies TRITHAL not knowing what to expect. TRITHAL asks the servant standing outside the door what's going on. The servant replies, "Some kid named 壮大マハ with 4 creepy-looking bodyguards just showed up and demanded to speak to you."

THRAX: "Who the hell is 壮大マハ? How the hell do you even pronounce that?"

TRITHAL: "Shit! 壮大マハ is the Grand Macha."

Ali: "But I thought Macha-Rei was officially dead. Why do you suppose he wants to talk to you?"

TRITHAL: "Why do you think? I killed another macha. Regardless of whether I'm still macha or not, that's an unpardonable sin. If he's here in person then he probably intends to shove his arm down my mouth, grab my asshole, yank real hard, and make the phrase 'talking shit' more literal."

AXEM: "Well don't worry man. We're behind you all the way."

CHRIS sheepishly says "Not me, man! I'm outta here!" then turns to run away. AXEM and THRAX grab CHRIS by the scruff of the collar and drag him into the room with them.

Inside the room the 4 bodyguards stand at attention at either side of 壮大マハ, who is sitting at the head of the table. The party is somewhat shocked to see the 「Grand Macha」 is just a punk kid, but are slightly intimidated by his fierce-looking creepy bodyguards. Around the table are five additional chairs, two on either side and one at the foot. 壮大マハ stands up as the party enters the room.

壮大マハ: "Trithal the Divine Wind, keeper of the remnants of Macha-Rei. It's an honor to finally meet you."

TRITHAL responds, "Likewise, 壮大マハ." then takes his seat at the foot of the table, while simultaneously the other party members take seats at the sides of the table and the Grand Macha takes his seat.

壮大マハ: "While I did not request that your associates join us, it's a good thing they came because my business here concerns them as well."

The party takes a collective gulp.

壮大マハ: "I'm sure you know why I'm here..."

TRITHAL: "I assume you mean my actions at the summit of Mount Sabretooth four days ago."

壮大マハ: "Correct. Four days ago you defeated Liiche of the Cold, and in the process you killed Macha-Kun. As I'm sure you are fully aware, taking the life of a fellow macha -- no matter what the circumstances are -- is the highest act of treason under our code. But, since Macha-Rei already placed herself into permanent exile by partially assimilating you, I see no reason to take any further action in that matter..."

The party lets out a collective sigh of relief.

壮大マハ: "...However, that isn't the only reason why I came to speak to you today. When you defeated Liiche, you got rid of the enemy of many of the people of this world... and for that the Land of Fantasy owes you a debt of gratitude. At the same time, you caused a major disruption in the balance of power of this world. While Liiche was in power, his groups of followers from the Great Insurrection lay dormant awaiting a signal from Liiche to rise up and strike again. Now that he's gone, they're leaderless and unleashed. I've already heard reports of rouge cells organizing and preparing to launch attacks on random targets. It may only be a small upheaval now, but it has a real potential of erupting into civil war. The great peace and harmony we macha spent a thousand years putting in place could be gone in a blink of an eye."

Ali: "Oh wow! I never realized something like that would happen!"

壮大マハ: "Now then, Trithal the Divine Wind, Axem the Stone Pillar, Princess Ali of Mount Sabretooth, Chris... whatever the hell you are , and Thrax the Hell-Fire (even though you weren't there), since you are all responsible for the downfall of Liiche, you all will be held accountable for whatever happens next. History will look upon you as the catalysts of the Second Great Insurrection"

AXEM: "Well fuck! This isn't what we wanted!"

THRAX: "Yeah! How the hell we gonna get out of this?"

TRITHAL: "We're not. We rolled around in this shit, now we have no right to complain about being stinky."

壮大マハ: "That analogy was a bit graphic, but very much accurate. I'm sure The Divine Wind will agree with me when I say that right now you have two choices: one, you could sit around and do nothing and let chaos reclaim the Land of Fantasy; or two, find a way to actively restore and preserve our harmony."

TRITHAL nods in acknowledgment.

CHRIS: "Well, how are we gonna do that?"

TRITHAL: "We could try doing what that jerk-off George dubbyah Bush did when he overthrew the Iraqi government and tried to impose as much of his idea of goodness in the world, while at the same time alienating those who were against it in the first place and therefore created more instability and unrest... OR... we could go out and unite all of Liiche's followers and work to negotiate peace between the insurgents and the prefectures. I think it would be wiser to take an enlightened approach to the situation, and focus on restoring the balance between light and darkness, and make it to where both sides are equally satisfied."

壮大マハ: "Well put, Divine Wind. You truly are the bearer of Macha-Rei. Now all of you should be aware that, as a practice, the Macha doesn't take any sides in politics for the very reason of keeping the balance of light and darkness undisturbed. If you do this, you'll be on your own. There is nothing I'm able to do from my position in this world to either help or hinder you. You'll have to find your own supporters and fight your own battles. Most importantly, you must work to win the loyalty and trust of all parties involved."

CHRIS: "That all sounds way too hard! What would happen if we chose to do nothing?"

壮大マハ: "If you do nothing and war breaks out, as soon as the people figure out that everything that's wrong with the world is a direct result of your actions, then you can expect one huge lynch mob hunting you down for the rest of your lives."

CHRIS: "But why should I have to be blamed for anything? After all, it was Trithal who killed Liiche and Macha-Kun!"

AXEM: "It's like that town crier said at the Goblin Market... the whole party is held responsible for the actions of one member. Even Thrax is accountable despite the fact he wasn't there at the time. Besides, we all went there with the intent of defeating Liiche and rescuing the princess."

壮大マハ: "I have said what I came here to say so I will now return to the east. May the power and wisdom of the spirits of the elements be with you all!"

壮大マハ stood up and bowed to the party. The party subsequently did the same. 壮大マハ was then escorted by his bodyguards back to his carriage, which then departed. The party goes back to the entertaining room they were in the day before and discuss what they're gonna do next.

(END CHAPTER TWO)