<div class="floatleft">(http://blog.friendster.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Human-Warrior.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Harold Dean<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Tonberry Tavern<br/><strong>With:</strong>Open<br/><strong>Mentioned: </strong>Alex, Lynn<br/><strong>Notes:</strong>Mood Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZZSMgInIOU)<br/><br/>What a cruel mistress Fate could be. It seemed as soon as his quest began, it was brought to an abrupt end. The Princess, dead. And her illness even explained the Queen's odd behavior-perhaps all those expeditions and her own distance from her people was brought on by this illness?<br/><br/>But almost immediately after he thought it, he threw those thoughts away. The evidence didn't add up. The Queen had been behaving strangely since before the Princess's disappearance. And besides, if the expeditions had been seeking a cure, why hide it? Just say "The Princess is sick and the only cure is an extraordinarily rare ingredient deep in some ancient place", and you'd have people lining up to go and find it.<br/><br/>No, this was all wrong. Even the illness couldn't be trusted. A funeral, so shortly after the Princess's death? No, such an event would be a lavish ceremony, with thousands of spectators and nobles from all across the continent. That was just how the funerals of important people went. If a funeral could be done so quickly...then that meant two things. One, the Queen wanted it quiet, and likely private, or two, they had been planning this for months and completely ignoring any attempts to heal the Princess. Neither option looked good.<br/><br/>Another, worse thought crossed his mind-the Princess might actually be just fine, but this talk of death from illness might just be a cover to make her disappear, down in the dungeon forever...and stop people like Dean from seeking her.<br/><br/>Perhaps he was being unfair to the royalty. Such was a hallmark of the Tears. They did not trust nobility on word alone. Still, he rose to view the document that "CID" had left. He smirked. They were of one mind, the two of them. He returned to the viera and the adventurer, now rudely joining in. "I'll certainly be joining them. This whole situation's like a rotting onion. Peel off one layer, and what's underneath still stinks." His voice was thick with anger, but he kept himself controlled. For now. "Still, many questions are unanswered. I could do with a few friendly faces around me...if you wish to assist."