Part 45: Dio

Chapter 31- Dio

Thursday

Evening

Well, today went surprisingly well. Almost too well, honestly. I have a bad feeling about this. Yeah, whenever someone's that cooperative they're planning something. Anyway, we hit Orviska today. Gig decided to pick a fight with some people, as usual, but we somehow managed to get to the castle without getting kicked out.

VIDEO




*ahem* I am a close relative of your Lord Dio!
Go tell him Odie demands an audience with him!
Odie...?
Where have I heard that name before...?
Oh ho! So my fame and renown has traveled even to this far-flung backwater swamp!
How do ya like them apples?! Now what do you think of ol' Sluggo?
Yeah, great, I'm sure we're all really proud.
Oh! Now I remember! Your name is way at the top of the Do No Allow list!
Urrg...
Way to go, Sluggo.



Hmm... mhmm... gh!
This is...!
No, wait... here it says... hmm.
Wait here a moment!
What was that all about?
Perhaps it's because the referral is from Layna the Firebrand herself.
After all, she was supposed to have died years ago. She's practically a god around here.

We sat and waited for the guard to get back. He took forever.



The hell, man? How long are they gonna make us wait out here?! I'm about ready to start cracking some skulls.
Maybe something happened to him.
I'm so sorry to keep you waiting! Her Majesty would be delighted to meet with you.
Now, if your representative would just please follow me...

Yeah. They would only let one of us in. Pricks.



I-I have to go, too! I have to be there!
I'm sorry, miss, but I cannot allow anyone other than your representative.
Mmm! Fine!
I guess I have to leave it to you. But you better not screw this up!

We went in to meet the Queen and Dio. But things weren't quite what I expected.



What the hell? She's just a kid!
But that masked dracon next to her... That must be the Dio we're looking for.
Huh? I've seen him before... And not just in my dreams.
I never dreamed I'd see such a rare treasure as a letter from Layna the Firebrand.
Truthfully, I still find it hard to believe. But... if Dio says it is real, then it is real.
It's true, Your Majesty. I sense a strong magic within the paper.
Only Layna or a mage of similar power could have written this referral.
But did Layna not perish decades ago? How does she still live 200 years later?
Your Majesty...



Don't apply your short-sighted concepts of life and death onto the eternal.
Wh-what's that voice?
It's a ghost!
Someone, kill it!
Silence! You are in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen!
It's okay, Dio.
You can't blame them for being afraid. It surprised me a little, too.
So, what do you want from me? Tell me why you came here.
Please release the seal in the forest.
What? Is this a joke?
You're asking me to release that... that monster?



!!
I was wrong. This is no joke. You're insane.
No... no, I know what this is.
You want us to endure the same fate as Raide! You want our nation to crumble and our people to suffer!
That's it, isn't it?! And what happened in Thuris was because someone decided to provoke them, too!
What happens when they're allowed to roam free? They take vengeance on everything in their path!
Now how does a teenybopper like you know about all of that?
There is nothing that Dio does not know.



So no, I will not allow this. I will not allow you to ruin my country!
Dio, what say you?!
Your Majesty...
Please do as they ask.
Wh-! Dio, are you mad?!
They're asking you to break the seal your family's been safeguarding for generations!
I would ask that you trust me, Your Majesty. I will not let things go astray.
B-but... I don't know...



I leave everything to you, Dio.
As you wish, Your Majesty.
Thank you very much.
I shall meet you at the Hidden Tree Forest three days from now. I must make the necessary preparations until then.

So now we're camping out near the forest, waiting for Dio. But that little girl... What the hell does she know? She wasn't there to see the horrors Thuris unleashed upon the world. She wasn't there to see Feinne wipe a whole kingdom from the face of the earth. And destroy her kingdom? She's doing a better job of that than any World Eater ever could, anyone can see it.

The question now is whether or not we can trust Dio. I don't know why he'd agree to help us so quickly. Maybe he thinks we can kill the World Eater, but I wonder. I remember him too. He was the one we saw when we first battled Feinne, with some swordsman... Could that have been Gestahl, the Blazing Swordsman? But then where was he now?

Dammit, this is all too confusing. We have to just work under the assumption that Dio will play nice, because we need his help to get through the seal. If he turns on us we'll just have to deal with it. But until he arrives, we can actually take a much deserved break.