We pan to see a barren wasteland of stone and fire, jagged rocks, and fiery pits. There are several half medieval/half cyber dressed soldiers battling fierce fire-breathing dragons. Clashing of swords are heard, and sounds of fire being casted are also resonating.
We suddenly see THRAX open his eyes startled over the dream/nightmare that he was having. He then looks over to see the reason of why he was awakened so suddenly. TRITHAL is already up and at 'em. It seems as though he has once again, resumed his agitated state. THRAX begins speaking.
THRAX: "What's going on?"
TRITHAL: "Well, it kinda occured to me when I was half-assed asleep that we have been wasting time. We should be hauling ass to the mountain castle. We need to get going now."
THRAX: "Alright. Let me wake the Saibotian Wizards, 'cuz if you try to wake them all pissy and shit, then they might melt you into a pile of slime."
THRAX then wakes the girls and tells them that they should get going because TRITHAL is anxious to find out what is going on. For some silly unknown reason, CHRIS awakes and remains shirtless for several minutes right in front of the wizards. He tried to play it off like he wasn't trying to entice the wizards into sexual thoughts. (narrator shudders)
The party gathers their belongings rather quickly, boards the barge with the horse lizards, and THRAX rows the barge up the stream.
The party managed to quite a far amount of distance along the river. They are now somewhat adjacent to the town of Oldajon. After a half-hour, they had reached the point on the river when they can either head northwest which would put them in a postion to go to Kaivez or continue onward which would put them in a position to go to Orestes. The Saibot Clan takes note...
Anri: "Say, Lord Thrax, we can't help but notice that we are close to Kaivez...would you mind if we made a little pit stop there and picked up a few more things at our home?"
TRITHAL is seen growing irritated as he had just pointed out that the party has been taking their time in stride while heading to the Mountain Castle. THRAX observes TRITHAL's displeasure, but decided that keeping his worshippers happy is vital to whatever awaits them. So THRAX then rows the barge in the direction of Kaivez the same way he did with AXEM in episode 42. They arrive to the shore, disengage from the barge, and the party secures the barge hoping to get back on the river soon.
TRITHAL: "Let's not stay here for very long. We need to get going."
Althought the Saibot Clan is fond of the TRITHAL, particularly Aelle, they practically ignore TRITHAL's whining since the Saibot Clan worships THRAX not TRITHAL.
THRAX (taking a hint, repeats TRITHAL) "Let's not stay here for very long. We need to get going."
Palledoris: "Yes, Lord Thrax!"
TRITHAL kind-of rolls his eyes a little and shakes his head.
The nine-membered party makes it to the same building with the black curtains hung over the inside of the windows and the large oaken double-door. The Saibot Clan unlocks the place up and enters to find that their place looks the same as it did. The girls scramble to gather some more of their stuff. They seem to have grown weary of wearing the white clothing they had brought with them from before.
CHRIS: "This place is cool! You know...(talking to the Saibot Clan)...I used to be a shaman. Heh-heh. I was a powerful witch at one time. Infact, I still am!"
THRAX: "Chris, you haven't read any occult books or any of the spell books you wrote way back in the day in ages. What are you talking about? You're not a shaman or an anything."
CHRIS: "Uh, actually, I am, dude."
THRAX: "I never see them anymore."
As CHRIS desperately tries to get the attention of the girls, TRITHAL notices something he wishes he had noticed if he was here the first time to notice it. A fan blade is missing from the ceiling fan in their hut. He offered a reason as to why it may be missing.
TRITHAL: "Maybe because it got tired of being swung around by the center fuse of the fan motor so it unscrewed itself and walked away to pursue a life as a paddle at an elementary school principal's office."
THRAX: "Pssh. That was too silly, Trithal. Axem would have loved that line."
Despite TRITHAL complimenting CHRIS on his strange ability to cook an edible meal, CHRIS seemed to totally not even acknowledge the fact that TRITHAL did say something funny.
Alys: "Ok, we are ready, Lord Thrax!"
THRAX is looking in Alys' direction as she was speaking. His eyes wander for a quick second and notices something he wishes he would've seen the first time he was there. He sees a painting on the wall. The contents of which seem to be straight out of his nightmares/dreams he has been having. His heart almost jumps out of his chest.
THRAX (as he is walking over to the painting and pointing at it): "Hey, what is this? Where did you get that from? Who made this?"
Palledoris: "We are not totally sure. Xanatos had something to do with it. Why do you ask?"
THRAX, not wanting to advertise it to the whole world, walks nearer to the girls and says, "I have been having these dreams about this exact thing: warriors and soldiers fighting dragons. Do you have any idea what that is about?"
Palledoris decides that even though THRAX got in closely next to her trying to make the conversation private, she finds TRITHAL characteristicly eavesdropping so she opts out, "We don't have time for that now, Lord Thrax. We should get going."
And with that, the party exits the building. TRITHAL is quickly darting over in the direction of the river trail.
CHRIS: "I don't know about you dudes, but I am famished."
TRITHAL stops and gets more irritated, then walks back over to the group and gets up in front of CHRIS exclaiming, "Chris, don't you care about Axem? We gotta get going! Our task at hand is more important than feeding your face!"
THRAX: "I'll admit, I could use some breakfast or something, but I agree, I wanna get our asses to the Mountain Castle and maybe figure out what the hell is going on."
CHRIS: "Why are you so sure that we will know what's going on when we get there? Axem is in jail in Tanchi City. He ain't there at the Mountain Castle or anything. So what's the big hurry...?"
TRITHAL readies himself to lift his hands up in his signature awkward manner and gets ready to cuss out CHRIS, but then he just talks first before TRITHAL can talk, "Well, fuck you. I am going to get something to eat."
He buttwalks away trying to find the one and only cafe in town. TRITHAL is still pissed that now CHRIS is wasting their time, but THRAX tries to be the mediator in AXEM's absense.
THRAX: "We do need a bite to eat, man. I am a fast eater. Let's just eat real quick and go."
TRITHAL hesistantly agrees with no audible response.
Anri: "Good call, Lord Thrax. We are hungry!"
THRAX, TRITHAL, and the girls make it to the cafe before CHRIS because the girls knew exactly where it was. They walk into the cafe and find it predictibly empty. They all walk up to the counter and each order a varied meal different from the others. CHRIS walks in behind them and approaches the server. CHRIS looks at the menu and asks a couple questions. THRAX and TRITHAL cringe as they fear that CHRIS is gonna order his signature meal...
CHRIS: "Give me large fries, a Pepsi, and a double cheeseburger with cheese and ketchup only."
THRAX and TRITHAL were sadly proven right, and with that, they roll their eyes, and find a table to sit at.
Ten minutes goes by and the entire party's meals is brought to them. Ten more minutes passed and everyone, even the Saibot Clan, had finished their meal. They look over at CHRIS to find that an eighth of his fries have been eaten and half of his cheeseburger gone. The party tells him to hurry it up. He sets the food down. And slouches in his seat confessing, "I gotta let a settle for a minute, yo."
THRAX: "You shouldn't have ordered so much."
CHRIS: "I thought I was more hungry."
THRAX: "You always think that."
TRITHAL, standing up, and says vehemently, "Fine then, Chris! We'll wait for you outside."
TRITHAL walks away and exits the cafe.
CHRIS: "I'm still hungry, man. I'll be done soon."
Not just one minute passes and CHRIS has resumed eating. THRAX decides to get up and go outside and smoke a "death stick". The Saibot Clan follows him. Within seconds, CHRIS stands up and tosses his food in the trash and is quickly bringing up the rear behind THRAX.
THRAX: "Dude, what are you trying to do? Walk me to the door? I'm not a chick."
CHRIS: "Well, I just wanted to go. My food was cold anyway."
THRAX: "Pssh."
Once they are outside, CHRIS quickly managed to find himself looking at some archetecture that was nearby. Needless to say, the party succeeds in making it back to the barge, but not without TRITHAL practically dragging CHRIS away...again.
They hop onto the barge with the horse lizards and are back on the river.
By this time, it is mid-day. The party had took some time to administer sustenence to the horse lizards. THRAX is just as anxious if not more so, as TRITHAL so he powerfully rows the barge faster down the river. The current is irritatingly not-as-strong as before so the party finds themselves helping THRAX row the barge. It seems like there are so many factors coming into play that are forbidding them from reaching the mountain castle in a timely manner. This is only fueling their strength to row the barge onward.
After a rowing all afternoon and evening they find that they have remarkably made it to the prefectural border. It is dark once again, and the party, quite proud of the distance they covered decides that they deserve some rest. Not only would it be uncalled for to arrive at the mountain castle after dusk, they figured one night isn't gonna make much difference in their rush to get back to Mount Sabretooth so the whole party unanimously agrees the rest is essential. They abandon the barge for the last time, take their supplies and the horse lizards and decide where they are going to rest.
TRITHAL: "Hey, why don't we find safe quarter in Hatsuka? Maybe we can talk to the Colonel of Midus' little army there. Maybe he can tell us something so we aren't totally clueless when we get to the Mountain Castle."
And with that, they hop onto the horse lizards to travel the small distance to Hatsuka. When they get there, they oddly find that the town is literally a ghost town. The party can not spot even one person. The houses are abandoned along with virtually the whole town. The party went to the Colonel's hut where they had met him before in episode 32. There is no sign of him. The combined sleuthing efforts of the party had helped in concluding that the Colonel was recently at his hut. They determine that not only was he there earlier in the day, but that he was most likely unwillingly removed from his hut. This troubles them. They can't help but think what they were being protected from by wasting all of that time getting here. The party, already beat and creeped out, finds a hut and helps themselves to the beds and, in record time, settle down and commence counting sheep.
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