The next day, the party plus Ali, King Midus, Nathan and Lisa, awoke and prepared to depart. It was agreed that Ali, Lisa and her baby, and the Saibot chicks minus Danika, would all ride in Ali's coach back to Mount Sabretooth, whereas King Midus, Nathan Sormeo and the rest of the group would ride in the King's coach. Each group engaged in random conversation during the 4-hour ride from Kurgemenheim, through western Morgura and the border area between Tanchi and Sabretooth, around the southwest corner of Mount Sabretooth to the Mountain Castle. When they arrived, they were greeted with a grand fanfare that one would expect to find at the end of an RPG which, again, only THRAX, TRITHAL, and CHRIS seem to only be aware of.
As the group disembarked the coaches, Queen Mia immediately went and greeted her two nieces.
Mia: "Ali!! Ella!! Oh, we've missed you so much, Ella! You had us worried sick! We've missed you so much!"
Mia continues to show her love to Ella aka Lisa. Nobody is able to communicate to her that Ella has suffered amnesia so Queen Mia proceeds to go nuts over her lost niece. All the while, Ella is fronting a weak look on her face not knowing how to react. The group of them made their way inside to the Grand Entertainment Hall, a room which the party hasn't seen yet inside the castle. The inside of this room was about 10 times bigger than the entertainment room the party had used last time they were at the mountain castle... and it was filled with 10 times more stuff too. It would take a very long time to describe everything in it, so just use your imaginations.
During the celebration, the trio was anxious to find out when they would see AXEM.
THRAX: "Hey...[showing restraint]...Duchess Ali, when are we gonna see Axem?"
CHRIS: "Yeah, we reunited you with your missing family member, now we want ours."
Ali (showing some restraint in her words):...he is being transported from Tanchi City and will arrive either later tonight or early tomorrow morning..."
With that, the party excused themselves so as not to disrupt the family gathering, wondering if Ali could maybe be suffering from epilepsy... or if maybe there could be something brewing between Ali and AXEM.
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As the evening continued, Palledoris and the other Saibot chicks decided that now is as good a time as any to discuss the situation surrounding Danika. They obtain permission to use a conference room in the north wing, and the Saibots minus Danika meet in there and spend an hour or so discussing amongst themselves.
Meanwhile, TRITHAL, THRAX, CHRIS and Danika are in their usual entertainment room trying to find ways to help keep Danika's spirits up while her fate was being decided in the other end of the castle. They manage to find some movies that they can mutually agree upon, and spend time watching them.
After a while, a servant enters the room and says, "Please excuse me, sirs and miss. Miss Palledoris has requested the presence of Miss Danika in the north wing." Danika immediately became nervous. TRITHAL offers to escort her to the meeting room, and she accepts.
The two of them, led by the servant, make their way to the North Wing of the mountain castle, to the door leading to the meeting room where the other Saibot chicks were waiting. TRITHAL hugs Danika and tells her that he will wait here for her. Danika tries as hard as she can to keep her composure as she enters the room.
Danika walks in and faces the other Saibot chicks sitting at the long side of a rectangular table aligned parallel to the back wall. Palledoris is sitting in the middle.
Palledors: "Danika, daughter of Ghondu, we have called this meeting of the Saibot Order to discuss your recent change in behavior. We have reached an agreement on how to respond to this. Before we continue, is there anything you would like to say?"
Danika: "Yes, there is." (pauses for a moment) "In light of all that has happened since we've met Lord Thrax, I have come to a realization: I don't think I can uphold the beliefs of the Saibot Order in good faith anymore. After spending as much time with Thrax as we have, I cannot see how our beliefs can be valid, given the kind of person that he is. As hard as I've tried to, I really can't see him as our promised messiah in the same way the rest of you do. There's no way I would ever feel comfortable in my faith if I'm not completely certain of what I have faith in. Therefore, I wish to leave the Saibot Clan on my own accord."
Palledoris: "Well, I can see that you're absolute in your beliefs, and for that I commend you. However, if you choose to leave the Saibot Clan, you can never return. You will be forced to relinquish the powers of the Forest Dragon and you will not be allowed to see any of us ever again. Are you sure this is what you want to do?"
Danika hesitates, then says with confidence, "Yes, it is. I have already decided that this is what I want to do."
Palledoris stands up and says, "Very well then. Danika of the Forest Dragon, you are hereby expelled from the Saibot Clan." then says a phrase in the Saibot language which means 'You are dead to me', then turns her back to Danika. The other 4 get up and do the same... Rishna trying as hard as she can not to cry.
Afterward, Danika turned and left the room. Outside, TRITHAL was sitting in a chair waiting for her. When she walked out, TRITHAL stood up and Danika immediately fell into his arms crying. As soon as enough of her composure was regained, the two made their way back to the entertainment room with THRAX and CHRIS.
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By this time, the hour had grown considerably late. Outside, a Tanchi Military Police transport vehicle arrives, and from within it emerged 4 guards and the chained-up AXEM the Stone Pillar. A few palace guards meet the procession and escort the Tanchi guards and AXEM down to the dungeon beneath the Mountain Castle. Soon thereafter, a servant goes to the entertainment room containing THRAX, TRITHAL, CHRIS and Danika and informs them that AXEM had arrived, and the Duchess has granted them permission to visit with him downstairs. Danika, still an emotional wreck, and having never really cared for AXEM to begin with, stays behind and insists the rest of them go see him.
Down in the dungeon, Ali meets the party outside the cell block.
Ali: "You can tell him that tomorrow morning will be Red Phile's trial. If Phile is found guilty, Axem will.......(in a quotationative tone)...be set free.... If not, Axem will rot away in jail like he deserves to."
THRAX was about to utter a sentence comprised mostly of harsh derogatory words until TRITHAL grabbed his arm and pulled him into the cell block. The trio have been wondering in their minds why she seems to stutter and halt before she talks about AXEM. THRAX is more cognizant of it than the others. Wanting to make sense out of it, he asks Ali, "Uh, don't you wanna go in with us? I mean, regardless, you two did have a thing for each other..."
Ali simply walks away and mutters, "He is no friend of mine anymore..."
With that, the party makes their way down the cell block to AXEM's cell, and AXEM immediately jumps up and greets his friends.
AXEM: "Hey shitbags! What the fuck is going on? Why am I back here? You couldn't imagine the look on my face when those Tanchi fucks ordered me to come here."
TRITHAL: "Well, we have some 'good' news, some 'awesome' news, and some 'bad' news. Which would you like to hear first?"
AXEM: "Umm, how about the awesome news."
TRITHAL: "Okay. The 'awesome' news is we found Ella and she's been brought back here to the Mountain Castle."
AXEM: "Wow! Holy fuck, for real? (trying to show genuine interest): H-h-how is she? Is she OK?"
TRITHAL: "Yeah, she's fine. To make a long story short which I will explain later, she was rescued by a family in Fafara and taken to Mordentshire. That's where we found her. However, she cannot remember anything before the first of the 324th Year of Nengo."
AXEM: "So that means she doesn't remember me?"
TRITHAL: "You, and everything else about her past before that time."
AXEM: "Well, that fucking sucks. The only person that doesn't think I'm a piece of shit doesn't remember a goddamn thing about me. Now how about the good news?"
THRAX: "...Well, we don't know what she thinks of you yet. She has been talking with the Saibot chicks and that brat Ali so she may not be too excited about the thought of you. Anyway, the 'good' news is we found and captured the punk-ass who attacked you and kidnapped Ella. He's in the King's custody now and will be tried tomorrow morning. If he's found guilty, Ali said she will let your ass outta here."
AXEM: "Ok, thats pretty cool... But what if he's found innocent?"
TRITHAL: "Then Ali will throw you in prison for the rest of your life."
AXEM: "That would suck major dick... How can it get any worse than that?"
TRITHAL: "Well, here's the 'bad' news: Rishna has missed her period."
AXEM (experiencing delayed reaction): "Oh... OH!!! AH, FUCK ME!!!"
CHRIS: "Yeah, that's what she did, alright! Heh! Now there's gonna be a little Axem running around! That's silly!"
THRAX: "Yeah. There almost would have been 2 of them! When we arrived in Mordentshire we learned that Ella had a 1-year old baby that might have been yours... but it turned out to be Phile's."
AXEM: "Well, this is all fucked up! You fucks have been on quite a journey while I was rotting away. I guess this is what I deserve for thinking with my dick instead of my brain. Goddamn it, what was I thinking?!! AAAAHHH!!! This will probably turn out to be a learning experience for me about how the consequences of my actions will eventually find me and chew me in the ass."
TRITHAL: "Yeah, it should be. Anyway, it's after midnight now and we all have a busy day tomorrow. We should go get some sleep. You need to do the same."
AXEM: "Good idea. I'll see you tomorrow then."
THRAX: "Yeah, ¡hasta mañana!"
The party exits the cell block and makes their way back upstairs to the South Wing, where they showered and slept.
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