Sir Deltus the Questionable

## Ebonor Questions DN-1000

Ebonor looked down at DN-1000. The small robotic brain was strapped to a table rather thourougly, and was tight enough that the both of them were aware that DN was not escaping. DN remembered how he had gotten himself into this mess, by telling the gang he had information. Hopefully, Nicko would just log onto his systems and recite it all perfectly, else he would have to improvise.

"I don't know why we're trusting you like this, but for today, we are. For the moment, all we need is information about Tharchilla's knight, Sir Deltus. If we know his story, we know how to beat him." Ebonor said in his loud voice to the robot. DN knew that he'd better do this well.

"Um... If I may... Wasn't Dece Noko a desert creature? Why would he know anything of such... How do I put it... Winter-y villians?" Thestra asked, hunched in her seat with a rather dubious look in her eyes.

"Well, now that he's a bucket of bolts, he could hold anything, right?" Max said in a cheery voice, though every part of his body launguage showed pure discomfort. Jim looked over at the two.

"We both know what will happen here. If anything, I'm only still sitting here for the sport of seeing how long I can keep up without my circits breaking." He stated, his low voice bringing the gang down with him, if that was even possible.

"Jim. I know you have your doubts, but I think we might actually be able to put this thing to use. DN, start..."

### **From the point we're dropping off at...**

"I'd say it looks pretty nice; don't you think?" She asked. Deltus was no talker, but he was going to be blunt here:

"It looks like you're a monster with an alien fashion sense." Tharchilla frowned at this comment, and then sighed.

"Well in that case, Deltus, you might like this a bit better..." She closed her eyes and smiled. Deltus was wondering why he hadn't killed her ten minutes ago. Then came the point where even Deltus's interest was caught. Her skin was turning a bright, radiant blue... To ice. and in seconds, she seemed to be a shimmering statue of ice, crystals sometimes breaking off in less organized patterns.

Deltus slowly reached forward, curiously reaching to touch the odd statue. Before his finger even made contact with it, however, something far more intimidating than the princess he had just met emerged from the statue. An oddly shaped mask adorned her face, astounding wings flexed and swiped, threatening to rip all that went near them in two, her gray blue skin shining brightly wherever light hit it. Tharchilla was not a princess. This transformation proved it. She was a Draigis, the strange, yet clever beast Deltus had read about earlier in the day.

### **Then DN-1000 starts improvising... {These brackets mean Nicko dropped in to correct him}**

If one-seventy-four years of earth history had taught him anything, it was to stay away from those beasts. {Deltus backed away slowly.}

"Wait..." Tharchilla commanded, apparently at the end of her patience, while her Draigis form shrank and it returned to its true form. "How do you suppose {you'll even hit me}? You're not exactly good with-"

"A {gaunt-necked} monster?" Deltus said matter-of-factly, though again Tharchilla reacted a bit differently. Instead of a gasp, there was nothing but a kind of unconscious laugh, and the two just stared at each other for a bit.

"Oh, that's right! You don't know anything about the Draigis... The Draigis," Deltus tried again.

"Who am I?"

It took the both of them a few seconds to recover from that sentence. The snow woman froze and cocked her head to one side. Deltus didn't look like much of a threat.

"I'm not sure that I would even classify you as a..." Tharchilla, standing, looked at her foe again. "At least, a terribly average human." Deltus's eyebrow quirked up, annoyed slightly by this comment, though as usual, he remained silent.

"Who ARE you?" Tharchilla persisted.

"Who do you think I am?" Deltus asked in a heavy Russian accent, and was glad to see Tharchilla look a little disturbed. {"I thought it would be obvious." Deltus finished quite coldly.}

"Well... I guess that I should say that I am Princess Tharchilla, last of the once glorious empire of {Kait-Karan}, Queen of these lands, Grand Empress of the Draigis... The Well..." The princess smirked as she said that last part, at her own handiwork, her face seemed to darken, or it could just have been a trick of light.

"What?" Deltus demanded.

"Ah, Ah," Tharchilla giggled, while revealing the inside of her mirth. "Your... Archeologists did find this place, and indeed discovered a statue, in which the likeness of a woman, who seems rather... dead, was recreated, within a 'spacewall' of ice." The snow creature seemed to feel a bit odd about speaking of her friends as 'art'. "That statue was nothing, though, compared to the most recent addition. Not only was it not a statue at all, but..." Tharchilla paused for a second, and then corrected herself, "... make that was not a man at all. In fact, it was a woman, living, breathing, perhaps even intelligent."

"Well...?"

"Hmph. I suppose you can still say you haven't seen everything," Tharchilla growled. "Alright, then. What sort of 'statue' are you?"

Deltus was forced to think on that one. The best way to describe what had been found at the northern cape was... magical. Nothing in Deltus' experience made him expect that such things existed. He turned his gaze to the snow-covered glacier, still somewhat shocked that anything with the exception of the statues and little else could be here, and revealed his own form to it.

"Hmm... As I thought. This would explain a few things," he finally said, as he watched the princess watch him, her once dark features showing faint traces of bright red. "I'm a Draigis," Deltus finished with a nervous smile. "I suppose that explains the fur," Deltus added.

"Ha! Ha!" Tharchilla laughed. {"So, now that you have discovered just what you are... What would you like to do first?"}

"Well..." Deltus said with a sigh. "I suppose, I'd like to get home," his eyes twinkled briefly.

"Well, then," the princess nodded. "You just need to locate your... Mother."

Deltus looked back at the draigis. "Well, if I can see my own Mother, I suppose I can't complain," he said with {his usual grimace}. He then stood up and proceeded to walk towards the ice wall, his reflection seeming to help even in the darkness, and headed off.

"And let's be clear on one thing, Deltus: that last part was a joke. {Your mother is dead, as is most of the Draigis species." She said, now once again in her true Draigis form.} She walked out to the middle of the ice-covered water and turned around, meeting Deltus' gaze.

"But you are still here, Deltus," she began.

"The cosmos is large, princess," he replied softly. "And filled with strange things."

"That may be true, but we all must face our trials. You must survive, Deltus. {You are one of the three draigai I know of, and that's including myself. And not to mention, the two others are my brother and sister.}"

Tharchilla {sort of wanted to remove her mask and stare into the eyes of Deltus, however, she knew the mask was magically bound to her face, for that is the curse every draigis bears.} "I know a bit about you already. When I found you after the mission with Patcher, I found it hard not to approach you. While I respected your role and admired your loyalty, I was always aware of the many scars of battle you bear. And not once did I see a single one. So tell me, {beneath all that armor and plating, who are you, Deltus?}"

{Deltus simply looked down at her, his heavy armor shining in the moonlight. Deltus was arguably the most experienced male hunter in the void's end, and just like that, here he was, speaking with a draigis, who he apparently was the same race as.}

"Tharchilla, I am a veteran in the struggle against the Draigis. I've seen countless deaths and scars over the course of my career. And if you are to believe your mother, I have seen an entire race wiped out from existence. When I was young, the Draigis were no less than a myth. And while I was a child when the empire {(Better known as the dynasty)} took control of this part of the void, it was a different story for my father, who was one of the few draigis that managed to escape the destruction of {the dynasty}." Deltus paused briefly to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I have seen most of what my mother has seen in her life. My own eyes, my sister's eyes... And, if you want to speak of wounds, then, Tharchilla... My heart."

Tharchilla looked into the darkness, unable to meet his eyes. She was reminded of her own past, when it was just her and her mother on an adventure against {those who opposed the dynasty}. And she could not think of anything she would rather do at that time.

"Yes, Deltus. I think I understand the title," she chuckled. "Brave. Brave, I mean," she said, grabbing her chest.

"It is my duty," he replied with a nod. "Every draigis has a duty. make the draigis live to future generations. My, Draigis have been around for many, many years, and they are going to need those descendants."

Tharchilla shook her head in protest. "That is the noble part, Deltus," she said. "But where you really slip, is in the part about 'dying for the Draigis'... So if you think you are really living, then you are way off. And I want you to know I would {put my self preservation over simple culture}."

"I understand," he replied. {It was a bit strange how a monster hunter such as himself was speaking to a draigis princess...} Especially one that tried to kill him.

"I should probably get going, {Tharchilla}. In fact, I believe I have a mission waiting for me."

"I know, {Deltus}. You must depart soon," {Tharchilla} said, thinking it over as he sensed {her} time with {Deltus} was done. "I must take my leave." {They then departed their separate ways, though both of them knew that they would meet again at some point...}

### **DN-1000 Finishes his tale**

Ebonor blinked a few times. Max looked like he might as well throw up, and Jim's circuits might have broken and locked into the 'raising an eyebrow' expression. DN-1000, still strapped to the table, beeped quietly.

"That is the tale. No more, no less." It said. Ebonor however, shook his head.

"That is one of the worst thought out lies I've ever heard, DN-1000. Have you even heard Deltus verbally acknowledge any feelings for Tharchilla, or even keep his mouth open for more then three seconds? I hate to break this to you, DN, but all the information you gave us was a bad headache."

"You said it." Said Jim from the corner, in his dull, semi-resentful voice. "I could almost feel his urge to say that Tharchilla removed her mask."

Max, being just as thoroughly disturbed by DN-1000's fanfic as the other members of the ADG, stepped in too.

"And why the \*\*\*\* would Deltus hint at having descendants that hard!? He's a knight, not a guppy!"

"Does DN-1000 even know what a draigis is?" Thestra asked quietly.

"Apparently not. I thought you might serve as a good source of information in the gang, DN, but honesty, you're just the Reason if he was a liar..." And with that, DN-1000 was sent back to prison, the tiny brain pondering it's next bid for freedom with another fabricated lie of a tale.