EPISODE FIFTY-FOUR: Truth & Consequences

EPISODE FIFTY-FOUR: Truth & Consequences
When the whole party lands on the third level and attempts to venture forward, Balthisar stops the party suddenly... then a split second later a huge boulder rolls down from above and down the hallway, away from the party.

THRAX: "That was close!"

Ali: "I don't remember all these traps being here when I was little... of course I really don't remember much about this place. It's been fifteen years since the last time I was here."

TRITHAL: "But, how is it that our friend Balthisar here knows about them?"

AXEM: "Yeah! That's right! He knew how to defeat the Iron Beasts in the first level, and knew about this boulder here!"

Balthisar, trying the hardest he can to not seem like he's hiding something, says "Well, when you're as powerful as I am, your senses are hightened. The power of the Quartz Talon is quite strong, if you know how to use it properly!"

TRITHAL (under breath): "I'll bet."

AXEM, sensing that once again TRITHAL knows something that he's not letting on about, asks "What's going on? What has you all pissy?"

TRITHAL: "Don't worry about it, man. It's nothing."

AXEM, knowing TRITHAL well enough to know that it would be pointless to try to drag it out of him, leaves it alone while the party continues forward.

At the end of the hallway where the boulder stopped, there is another hallway to the left. At the end of that hallway are three spiraling staircases.

Evan: "Well poo! Now which way do we go?"

Balthisar walks up to the three staircases, pauses, then almost instantaneously shoots blasts of energy up each of the staircases. Two seconds later a guard dressed in black falls from each of the staircases. Since they weren't in battle and the guards had no magic power, no EXP was gained.

Balthisar: "I think all three of these staircases end up at the same place, so there's no point in choosing."

TRITHAL: "Is that so?"

Just then, TRITHAL walks up to Balthisar, withdraws his sword, and holds the end of the sharp side against the right side of Balthisar's neck near his jugular vein. The rest of the party is stunned that TRITHAL has turned on their powerful, helpful new friend (who would most likely be able to waste TRITHAL in an instant). TRITHAL speaks a couple of sentences in the Macha language, to which THRAX and Ali (who also speak Macha) immediately reacted to... Ali almost to tears.

A few seconds later, Balthisar smirks and says in English, "I was wondering how long it was gonna take you to figure me out, Macha-Rei. Your senses have diminished to quite a pitiful level."

To that, the Saibot chicks (minus Aelle cuz she already knows) reacted.

Alys: "You mean to say that that long-haired, pudgy nerd over there is the infamous Macha-Rei?!"

THRAX: "Yep, and according to that very same pudgy long-haired nerd, Balthisar is Macha-Bou... which if I remember correctly is responsible for assimilating and killing Duke Annan, Ali's father."

Ali now has a betrayed/scared look on her face. Rishna, who's come to befriend Ali, goes and comforts her as the whole dramatic scene unfolds:

TRITHAL (to Balthisar): "Four years ago Liiche sent an assasin to Laurenstown to kill my fiance, Minako, because somehow he found out that she was Macha-Rei. Tell me, 'Balthisar of the Quartz Talon', how is it that he came to know about this?"

Balthisar: "Are you accusing me of snitching on you?"

TRITHAL: "If the shoe fits! The only other person who knew my true identity and where I was hiding was you!"

Balthisar: "Not only are you losing your senses, you're going senile! The last time I saw you was fifteen years ago. If I had snitched on you, Liiche would have found you alot sooner than he did. Besides, I did what I told you I was gonna do... I headed east to Nelia to try to get support from the macha still living there, but I couldn't persuade 壮大マハ to take action against Macha-Kun... so I left and came back here. Along the way Annan's body died, and I brought him here and buried him. I've been living under the guise of an apothecary in Oldajon for the past decade trying to come up with a plan for ousting Liiche... but you beat me to it. Now I'm here with you guys trying to atone for the sins I committed here which resulted in the current state of things in this prefecture."

Ali, snapping out of her daze, asks Balthisar, "You buried my father's body? Where?"

Balthisar: "I'll show you when we're done here... provided this crazed lunatic doesn't kill me first."

Aelle: "Yes, Tsutaru. Put your sword away before you do something you'll regret."

TRITHAL, pissed off that he was once again put in his place (AND called by his first name) by Aelle, sheathes his sword. The girls of the party plus Evan react. Evan asks, "Why did you call him 'soo-taah-roo'?"

TRITHAL (confronting Evan): "Tsutaru is my first name. If you EVER call me that, I'll slice off your balls and shove 'em down your throat!"

Evan, almost pissing himself in fear over being confronted by an aggrivated crazed lunatic, says in a meek voice, "Okay!"

CHRIS: "Man, no one's called you 'Tsutaru' in years! It sounds weird to hear someone say it! It's almost like someone saying 'psoriasis'. Heh-heh!"

AXEM and THRAX are amazed that CHRIS was aware of such an intelligent word when at that exact moment, TRITHAL reaches off-camera and hurls a pillow across the room, nailing CHRIS in the chest.

Anri: "How many times are we gonna keep hurling pillows at this poor fellow?"

TRITHAL: "When he stops being so stupid..."

THRAX: "...which will never happen..."

AXEM: "...'cuz he is Chris."

TRITHAL: "So, probably never..."

Once the party sets aside the shock of learning all this new information, they divide into three groups and make their way up the spiraling staircases, just in case it's a trap.