DTS Meets TDO, Pt 2

Part Two
The Strange Potion & Unexpected Approval

The sun was going down by the time Darius had returned to the Fire Siyo castle, avoiding the main gate he snuck along the walls to a rock that hid a small opening. The hole was too small for a full-grown Siyo, but for Darius it was more then big enough to fit through, crawling into the crevice Darius soon came to the castle basement. It was very dim and full of crates and barrels, Darius pulled out the bottle Ron had given him and sat in the corner.

Swirling the contents again and taking a long look at its semi clear blue liquid again, “Just one mouth full.” Darius said to himself and uncorked the bottle, he sniffed the liquid but couldn’t smell anything, finally he took a small sip, but tasted nothing, drinking only a mouth full as he was told Darius re-corked the bottle and stashed it behind one of the crates. Darius then sat for a moment, expecting an instant effect to kick in, several minutes passed and nothing happened, finally deciding he could no longer wait Darius got up and headed for the stairs.

Careful to avoid being seen by anyone Darius made his way to the second floor of the castle and to his room. As Darius stepped inside he came face to face with his father Rock Ukugagi who had his arms crossed and a stern look on his face, the both of them stared at each other so a second then Rock said, “And where have you been today my son?”

Darius hesitated, “Just out exploring. That’s all.” Rock sighed and walked over to his son.

“How many times do I have to tell you not you go out on our own like that? You’re the next king Darius, you need to stay in the castle.” Darius frowned a little, but a sudden hungry growl from his stomach caught him and his father off guard, Darius blushed a little and Rock laughed heartily, “Well, we’ll talk about this again later, right now you better wash up for dinner, you sound hungry enough.”

“Uh, thanks dad.” Darius said quietly as Rock passed him out the door where he stopped.

“Well don’t thank me yet, I still want to know where you were ‘exploring’ today.” Darius nodded and went to his bathroom to clean himself up. He didn’t really want to tell his father where he had been, Rock was well known for his habit of not liking non-Siyos, and even though Ron seemed nice to him he knew his father wouldn’t approve of it. Taking off his hat, pack, and gloves Darius washed his face and hands and put on his formal prince cloths. Satisfied with his appearance Darius went downstairs to the dining hall where his father sat waiting for him.

Rock’s formal cloths didn’t really suite his warrior looks, nor did Rock really like wearing them. Spread on the long table was the usual dinner Rock and Darius enjoyed, the meal consisted of mashed potatoes, carrots, and other foods that grow around the world as well as Siyo distinct eatables like roasted qurlip, the Siyo equivalent to a turkey, fried lappa meat, an animal similar to a buffalo, and steamed puka fruit which is a delicacy among the Siyo.

The two of started eating in silence, the occasional clinking of forks on plates and the chewing of food were the only sounds. After a while Rock spoke up, “So where exactly were you today Darius?” Darius was kind of dreading talking about it, so he chewed his food slowly as he could until Rock cleared his throat, Darius swallowed and looked nervously down the long table at his father.

“I was just out, nowhere special.” Darius said trying to sound innocent, but Rock didn’t buy it.

“If it was nowhere special you wouldn’t be so hesitant to talk about it son, now where were you?”

Darius frowned, he knew he was caught, “I went exploring in Blood Mist Forest.” Rock looked a little more intensely at Darius.

“You know that it’s dangerous in there for someone young as you to go alone.”

“I- I wasn’t in there alone the whole time, I mean…I was but…”

Rock raised an eyebrow and put down his fork, “You weren’t in there alone? Who was with you?”

“N-no one.” Darius was starting to sweat a little under his father’s gaze

“Darius.” Rock looked harder at him across the table, “Who was with you?”

“W-well I met this guy in a castle in the forest…”

“A castle? There aren’t any castles in Blood Mist Forest,” Rock looked really serious now, “What was its name? And who did you meet there?”

“Well, the castle was called Crimson Dragon Castle, the guy I met there, Ron, said he had built it.” Rock looked even more serious, “But Ron was real nice to me, he said he came here to research the fruits that grow here on the island.”

“So Ron is not from the island then.”

“Uh well…” Rock sighed.

“Tomorrow, you and I will go to this castle, I would like to meet Ron myself.” Darius looked down at his plate, “Is there a problem son.” Darius suddenly looked back up.

“No, no problem, it sounds ok to me.”

“Good,” Rock stood up from the table, “I’ll see you in the morning son, don’t be up late tonight.” Darius nodded and Rock walked out of the hall.

Darius sighed to himself and absently poked his food with his fork, he knew his dad wouldn’t be happy when he met Ron, and he didn’t know how Ron would react to his dad either. It was a loose, loose situation for him. Darius ate his fill then went back to his room to think of a way out, hours passed but nothing came to him, the moon shined through his window with he faint light of candles lighting his room. Getting up from his chair Darius opened a small cabinet he kept snacks in and pulled out a box of spice cookies, which, despite their name, were actually very sweet to fire siyo who ate them.

Walking to the window Darius looked at the moon while he absent-mindedly ate the cookies, before he realized it the box was empty. Darius just shrugged it off as late night hunger, took off his prince outfit and climbed into his soft warm bed, it didn’t take long for him to fall into a deep sleep.

In the morning Darius woke groggy, he may have slept well but knowing what was to come in the day ahead left him with restless dreams. Nonetheless Darius got up and washed his face, fixing up his hair and dressing in his exploring cloths. Not long after he finished there was a knock at his door and Rock came in, he was clad in his warrior belt from when he was in the war and had his sword strapped to his back, “All ready to go son?” Darius nodded with a yawn, Rock chuckled “I told you not to be up late.” Rock came over and lifted Darius onto his shoulder, he carried him out of the castle and into the surrounding town, walking out into the rolling fields outside of the fire siyo kingdom until they came to the tree line of Blood Mist Forest.

There he set Darius down to walk on his own, the morning sun was dim through the red leaves making the thicker morning mist a much darker shade of red then the day before. Darius kept his pace a little slow as he continued to try to think of a way out of this situation, but no matter how slowly he lead his father it was not long before they came to the foliage covered walls of Crimson Dragon Castle.

“This place looks like its been here for years Darius, and you’re saying that this Ron built it himself?” Rock said as he surveyed the castle.

“Yeah.” Then a thought occurred to Darius that since Ron said he was here to study the fruits on the Siyo Island that he might not be home, and even if he was the castle was big enough that Darius could lead his father around long enough that he would simply give up and head home without ever seeing Ron. The idea gave Darius hope, unfortunately a familiar call from the castle put those hopes down.

“Hey Darius!” Both Darius and Rock looked to see Ron waving to him from the castle’s second floor balcony, “I see you brought someone with you, why don’t you two come inside and I’ll meet you on in the grand hall!” Darius couldn’t help but frown a little as Ron walked inside, he couldn’t avoid it now so the two of them went up to the gates and inside. Not much had changed since Darius was there last time, it was still dusty with very dim light, Rock looked around the hall and it didn’t take long for them to hear Ron coming down the stairs.

As he started down the last of the stairs Ron clapped his hands together and in a swift movement spread his arms apart, creating a light that swept all across the room, after it faded the room was clean and the torches on the wall had been lit and gave the hall a much more welcoming appearance, the detail of the marble and the red carpets that had previously gone unnoticed now made the room colorful. “I don’t really have guests so I tend not to clean much,” Ron said as he descended the last of the stairs and walked up to Rock and Darius, “So who is your big friend Darius?”

Darius opened his mouth to talk but Rock interrupted him, “I’m Darius’ father, Rock Ukugagi, King of the Fire Siyo,” Rock’s tone was very commanding, but Ron seemed unfazed and more intrigued then anything, “Who are you and what are you doing here in fire Siyo lands?”

Ron smiled a little, “Well you certainly assert your authority like a true king, but to answer your questions, I am Dragon Overlord; Ron, and the reason I am here is to study the fruits on the island, now if your question was geared more toward why I am in Blood Mist Forest, I just liked the name.” Ron was as smooth talking as he was with Darius, but Rock was still not pleased with the turn of events.

“You’re not a Siyo.”

“Correct, I am a dragon. As I told your son we are similar to siyo, but still very different in many ways.” Ron kept with his calm way of talking, “So what brings you here this morning?”

“I came to see where my son has been and to meet you.” Said Rock as he crossed his arms.

“Well is that all you came for?” Said Ron

“No, you are a non-Siyo and you have built a castle in Fire Siyo lands. As the king I can ignore that you are here.” Darius didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Since you can’t ignore that I am here what is it that you intend to do?”

Rock was silent for some time before letting out a drawn out sigh, “You,” Rock stopped and thought, “Besides being here you haven’t done anything that would warrant me to make you leave, you were kind to my son as well,” Darius looked up at his father in admiration, “I won’t force you out as long as you do not meddle in the kingdom.” Darius jumped this joy, Rock caught him in mid air, “But I will say that if anything does happen to my son while he is at this castle I will personally drive you out of our land.”

“Very well.” Darius was impressed and Ron’s calmness, “Well before you two go, do you mind if I have a word with you alone Rock?”

“I suppose it is alright,” Rock set Darius down and the two of them went into an adjacent room, leaving Darius somewhat confused in the main hall, “What is it that you want?” Rock questioned, they talked softly so Darius would not be able to hear.

“Well, yesterday I asked Darius a few questions after he asked what I was doing here, what it lead to has me asking Darius what he saw as strong since that was something he desired,” Ron sat in a chair in the room and motioned for Rock to sit as well. Rock set his sword by the chair and also sat, “Being the strongest is what he said, so I asked him what he thought of as strong. The answer he gave me was ‘the biggest’, meeting you I kinda see where that answer came from, he clearly looks up to you.”

“This is very humbling to hear, but is there a point to you explaining this to me?”

“Well, since Darius thought of size as being strong I gave him a potion that would give him just that.” Rock raised his eyebrow.

“What is it that you gave my son exactly?”

“Well, it is a unique combination of this islands bolkop fruit, which I can tell you was difficult to work this since its effects kick in so fast, as well as my personal mixture that would increase appetite.”

“So what you gave my son will make him fat is what you are saying.” Rock’s eyes now narrowed at Ron.

“Yes, if he as sure to take only a mouth full the effects will be very subtle at first since I found a way to slow the bolkop fruits weight gaining effect, he will most likely not notice his weight gain in the early stages.”

“What happens if he drinks more?”

“Naturally the results will show much more quickly.”

“Can you reverse the effects?”

“A debolk fruit will remove the effects of the bolkop fruit in the potion, but he weight he gains from his extra eating he will have to loose the old fashioned way.” Rock was clearly not amused by what he was hearing, but Ron continued, “The way I see it this could turn into a good lesson for Darius to learn about what makes someone strong, don’t you agree?”

Rock still looked sternly at Ron but eventually gave in, “I have to admit you are right about that, is that all you had to say?”

“Mostly, once Darius is ready to loose the weight come back to me and I’ll give you something to remove the appetite effect that my potion gives him.”

“Alright, but I’m going to have to give this serious thought Ron, playing my son off like that isn’t exactly a way to leave a good impression on me.” Rock stood up, “I’m sure you will hear from me again.”

“Of course.” Ron stood up as well and Rock picked up his sword, the two of them walked out o the room and back to Darius who was sitting by the wall eating a small piece of raw puka fruit, Rock looked at Ron who smiled back at him.

“Time to go Darius, come on.” Rock lifted Darius back onto his shoulder, “We will see you again Ron.”

“Really dad?” Darius was surprised, he was sure his dad wouldn’t want him coming back here, when Rock nodded Darius hugged his father’s neck happily.

“Don’t be strangers now.” Ron said waving as the Rock walked them out of the front gate, when they were gone Ron proceeded back up the stairs, “Like father, like son I suppose. This will probably bring those two closer together in more ways then one.”