"Over here! We made it through!", a man's voice could be heard yelling from the other side of the crypt.
Paul and I immediately started making our way back to where we left Aurora to make sure she was safe. As we swiftly turned a corner, we nearly crashed into her as she was running from the other direction.
"Aa-...", she began to yelp, but thankfully Paul covered her mouth and signaled for her to be quiet.
He let her go and we hid behind one of the stone coffins in the room adjacent to the life size replica of Aurora that I had made. Thankfully, it looks like Aurora managed to finish dressing it. The statue was wearing her wedding dress, tiara and jewelry, and presumably her undergarments as well. Meanwhile, the Aurora that just ran into us was wearing nothing but the robe I gave her.
Aurora was slightly tall for a woman, nearly the same height as Zanoba, and she had long, straight, brunette hair. She wasn't fat, but had more meat on her bones than Sylphy or Roxy. Unlike Eris, however, she wasn't very muscular. She had a build more similar to that of Princess Ariel, only a bit taller. Due to our difference in height, the robe I gave her didn't fit her properly and she had it pulled over her front side to protect her decency.
I couldn't help but notice Paul kept looking her way. I can't blame the man, the sight of her is rather alluring and I also was struggling to look away, but still, her face was flush with embarrassment so I pulled his head towards me by the ear.
I whispered to him, "Stop staring at the poor girl. I'll tell Mother if you don't!" He knew I wasn't bluffing.
"Up ahead! It's Princess Aurora! I found her!", we heard another man shout.
The three of us stayed hidden as we heard a bunch of clamor as several men and women made their way to the statue in the room adjacent to us.
"Aurora, are you alright! Say something...- Aah!!!"
The king had walked up to the statue and placed his hand on its shoulder before realizing something was wrong.
"T-This! What is this!? Aurora! My daughter! S-she... She's been turned to stone!!"
We heard several gasps from the crowd surrounding him. As I peeked from the side of the coffin, I could see the King weeping next to the statue and Pax, Zanoba, and several other people who looked like royalty surrounding him. There were also some knights and a magician nearby as well.
"AAAAAAHHH!", Zanoba cried out, loudest of everyone here.
"I know, my son", King Shirone said as he wept, "I too cannot believe what has happened to your sister. And on her wedding day, what should have been the happiest day of her life."
Zanoba continued to weep as he approached the statue and slowly reached out a trembling hand to touch it.
"It's... It's...", he muttered as his fingertips pressed up against the statue's cheek. "It's BEAUTIFUL! I can't believe my luck! To think I have been allowed to touch something so divine. I am not worthy!"
Zanoba embraced the doll as tears continued to flow down his cheek.
"Zanoba! Enough! Let go of your sister this instant!"
As the king began trying to pull his son off the statue, Zanoba brushed him away with ease.
"Guards! Arrest this fool! Let go of her Zanoba! You're going to break her!"
Several knights closed in on Zanoba who began slapping them away like flies. "Don't come any closer! This doll is mine! I won't let any of you defile it!"
The knights of Shirone were being sent flying through the crypt one after another. One of them flew right past us and wound up embedded several inches into the stone wall behind us.
"Now's our chance!", I yelled out to Paul and Aurora. "Follow me, I'll get us out of here!"
The sound of clanging metal and shouts and screams reverberated throughout the crypt as we used the distraction Zanoba created to escape. I counted the rooms as we passed through them until we reached the one I was looking for.
"Four back and three to the right... This should be the right one."
I conjured a stone platform and then stepped upon it, motioning for Paul and Aurora to join me. As soon as they did, I reached out above us and opened up a path to the surface, simultaneously lifting the stone platform we were standing on up through the path. Doing so created a lot of noise, but thankfully the commotion Zanoba was causing was far louder.
Soon enough, we found ourselves in a toolshed with an open door. We could see several people in the courtyard outside, but nobody was looking our way. They were all too busy looking down a huge hole that had been dug out and several knights were climbing down into it as well.
"Stay close and follow me!", I whispered to them before running out the door and making a beeline through the courtyard for the wall.
There were a couple guards patrolling the stone curtain wall, but I took each of them out from a distance with a precise stone cannon to the forehead, making sure to hold back enough as to not kill them.
I lifted the three of us up atop of the Palace's outer wall with gravity magic. We walked along the wall while keeping our heads down and trying our best to stay out of sight. I was keeping a look out below for an opportunity to lower ourselves down, but the city streets on the other side were fairly busy.
Eventually, we reached a part of the wall adjacent to a building down below, so I gently lifted the three of us down on top of the building's roof. The roof had a ladder down on the side of the building.
It looked like the building below us was a shop of some kind as there were several crates and barrels atop the roof. They seem to be using the space for storage.
"Princess, could I trouble you to stay here with my Father? As promised, I will purchase some proper clothing for you and come back."
"O-Of course! Please do!"
As I looked back at her I felt bad that she had to run through the courtyard in that state. She had to have been petrified. She was effectively streaking, wearing only a robe that was too small for her.
"Please protect her, Father. I'll be back soon!"
With that, I waited until there was nobody in the alley below, and then jumped down into it. Thankfully, we were at the outskirts of the commerce district, so it didn't take me long to find a clothing shop.
I still had a couple Asura Gold Coins as well as smaller denominations, so buying a set of clothing was no problem. Despite her being nobility, If she truly wanted to escape from the city it would be best to buy her clothing fit for a commoner. Despite having just met the woman, after crafting such a detailed statue of her while she modeled, I was fairly confident in my ability to guess her sizes.
I purchased a full set of clothing and then made my way back atop the roof where they were still hiding. We turned the other way while she got dressed.
Once Aurora had finished getting dressed, she placed her hand upon my shoulder indicating she was ready.
"Once again, I want to thank you for saving me", she said with a serene and noble look on her face.
"You don't have to thank me. It was my fault we wound up in that situation to begin with. I'm just sorry I had to put you through all of that."
"No, you did save me. It was only through the divine intervention of Saint Milis that you came when you did."
"So... what do you plan to do now?", I asked her.
"I will follow you. As I said before, I prayed with all my soul and Saint Milis provided me with you. You are mine and I am yours."
"Uhh... I don't think that's going to work. I'm not of age to marry."
"Hmm.. that's true. In that case I will stay by your side until you come of age."
"Eh? I can't approve of this. I don't believe in this divine intervention; I'm not even a member of the Milis faith."
Aurora looked a bit taken aback at first when she heard this, but her face soon softened and she responded, "Then that is all the more reason we were brought together. You saved me from an unwanted marriage that was never meant to be, and I am meant to bring you into the light of Saint Milis."
Another one of those religious fanatic types. I can't see myself being with someone like that. Besides, I already have my own religion, Roxy-ism. I'll escort her out of the city and then we'll part ways there.
"Well, for now we need to find a place to rest. We can hardly sleep up here. Let's find an Inn to stay at."
"Hey! You haven't forgotten the reason we came here in the first place, have you!?", Paul complained.
"Hmm?", Aurora tilted her head, wondering what he was referencing.
"Of course not! We are here to find Laws. Let's get a room at an Inn for now, and then we can split up and look for him."
I guided our party to the only Inn I knew of in this town. The one Ruijerd, Eris, and I stayed at way back in the days when I was looking for Lilia and Aisha in this town. We rented a room and carried our stuff up to it. I was a little concerned at first when I noticed several people looking Aurora's way, but it seemed their gazes were only drawn by her beauty. Common folk didn't often get the chance to see the Royal family members, so they wouldn't recognize her, especially when she was dressed like this.
Once we finished unpacking our things, I decided we should have a short party meeting before splitting up.
"Aurora. We came to this town to look for a friend of ours. Last we heard, he was in Shirone. He was leading a small group of men searching for survivors of the Fittoa displacement incident. I don't suppose you've heard anything about their group?"
"No... I can't say that I have."
"I see. Well I suppose I wouldn't expect news of a small search group like that to reach the Royal Palace. We are going to look throughout the city for our friend. You should be safe if you stay in this room. I'll bring some food up to you before we leave, Ok?"
"When will you return?", she asked.
I looked over towards Paul. "What do you think? Meet here before nightfall?"
"That should work. I'll return sooner if I find Laws or pick up any information regarding his whereabouts."
"Sounds like a plan."
We continued our party meeting for a short while, with mostly Paul and myself talking while Aurora listened silently. Paul and I exchanged ideas of where to look and how to go about it. He seemed like an expert at this, which made sense considering he had been leading a search group himself for the past year.
Once we each had our assigned tasks and locations in the city to look, we adjourned the meeting. Before I left, I went back downstairs and ordered some food to bring up to Aurora.
"Sorry to leave you alone like this, but we have to find our friend."
"It's alright, I understand", she replied with a kind smile on her face.
She really had a beautiful smile. It's a shame she's so crazy...