EPISODE TWENTY-SIX: Restoration

As soon as the military transport entered into the castle gates, an entourage of nurses led by the Queen run out and meet Ali.

Queen Mia: "You must hurry! Your uncle Midus has gotten worse!"

Ali: "Trithal, Come with me. I need your help!"

CHRIS (blurts out): "You know, it just occured to me that we have been escorting a hottie to the palace which is home to a King suffering from something that is a mystery to us.

TRITHAL realizes that his horticulture-obsessed drama queen of a party member has a point and kinda wonders out loud as Ali is tugging at him, "Yeah, what happened to the King anyway?"

Ali: "I'll explain it to you all a little later."

With that, the entourage with Ali and TRITHAL go into the castle and down a hallway to the left. The butler shows the remaining party members into the castle. The butler leads them to one of the huge entertainment rooms. Inside the room is a huge wide-screen projection TV, a fully-stocked bar, large sofas, a fireplace, and an intercom to the kitchen so you can order whatever kind of munchies you could want.

CHRIS: "Man, this is awesome!"

In the room was also an older gentleman dressed in a nice tuxedo, who said "Welcome, gentlemen! I am Marty, the head of the household. The queen and princess are presently occupied with the restoration of our King. You are all invited to stay here and relax in the mean time. If the Queen permits, you may stay the night if you like."

AXEM, THRAX and CHRIS thank Marty for the hospitality, then converge onto the TV. In the DVD library in the room, there happened to be several Monty Python movies. CHRIS nearly splooged on himself. THRAX, who kinda likes Monty Python also; and AXEM, who has learned to tolerate it, decide to allow CHRIS his fetish. The three ended up watching Monty Python's Flying Circus for several hours while in the other side of the castle the restoration of the King was in progress.

Several hours pass, and AXEM is thinking about how much Monty Python he's actually willing to tolerate when he sees TRITHAL stagger into the room holding an unconscious Ali in his arms. TRITHAL gently lays Ali on one of the couches, then collapses on the floor... still conscious but very weak. Ali has no SP and only two HP remaining. TRITHAL has no SP but 10 HP remaining. THRAX and CHRIS help TRITHAL to his feet and sit him down in a chair. When AXEM asked him what happened, TRITHAL only uttered a few words in the Macha language then passed out. THRAX chuckles.

AXEM: "What did he say?"

THRAX: "He said that it was a wild fucking trip."

Queen Mia: "....And for that, we owe him our gratitude."

The remaining conscious members of the party bow in honor to the queen and say in eerie unison, "Greetings to you Queen Mia. We thank you for your hospitality."

Queen Mia: "And I thank you for ensuring the safe return of my niece. (to Marty) Please see to it that rooms are prepared for our guests in the south wing. They may stay as long as they like."

Marty: "Very good, milady."

Queen Mia: "And also, see to it that baths are prepared for them as well. They are rather smelly."

With that, Marty calls the chamber maids in the south wing and gives them orders. Two servants enter the room and collect the unconscious Ali and take her to her chambers. THRAX withdraws a canteen full of the restorative water from the waterfall outside the Goblin Market and has TRITHAL drink some of it. TRITHAL then wakes up and, with the assistance of AXEM and THRAX, head down the corridor toward the south wing of the mountain castle.

In the south wing are several luxurious guest suites, a bath house, and a banquet hall, all designed for entertaining distinguished guests of the royal family. Our party almost felt unworthy of such an honor. Each member was shown to an individual bed chamber where they found white linen robes to change into before they go into the bath house.

In the bath house there were eight large tubs -- four on either side of the room -- and a removable partition going lengthwise across the room. The four guys are escorted into the tubs on the right side of the room. Once settled in the warm herbal restorative water, they hear a familiar voice talking to a servant on the other side of the partition.

AXEM: "Hey Ali, is that you?"

Ali (from beyond the partition): "You guys better not be looking through the partition at me!"

CHRIS: "Don't worry. There's too much steam in here. I can't even see the ceiling!"

Ali: "You guys better be grateful! You're experiencing a courtesy only extended to the most-elite of this world!"

Later, when the party members and Ali are getting rub-downs in the massage chamber (with the partition in place), TRITHAL asks Ali "What were you thinking? You were in no position to perform that ritual yourself. If I wasn't there, you'd be dead now."

Ali: "So what? I owe the king my life. If my life energy would bring him back to health, then I would call it a fair trade-off."

TRITHAL: "But you don't have enough life energy to pull it off yourself! All that would have been accomplished would be your own death and the prolonged suffering of your uncle. You really should be less reckless with your own life and plan things out better. You're no good to anyone if you're dead!"

Later in the dining hall, the party sits down to a steak dinner. Ali says "If I wouldn't have done it myself, how would it had been done?... I mean, if you weren't here to help."

TRITHAL: "There are many people in this prefecture with spiritual power greater than even my own -- some of which I know personally -- who would have jumped on the opportunity to perform the ritual for their king. There is no valid excuse for you to have risked yourself for this."

CHRIS: "I don't have a clue what you two are arguing about, but let's just sit here and enjoy this awesome steak instead of bitching at each other."

AXEM: "Yeah. This is the best cooked cow ever!"

THRAX: "Besides, what's done is done. Let's argue later!"

After dinner, the princess returned to her chambers, and the party members went to their guest rooms. All five experience the most-restful night's sleep they've had in a long time.