Coronascend

Eyes as bright and beautiful as the sunset, yet as fierce as the eternal flames: The Jewel of Golden Flames and Dawning Sunset.

"Fine, Carrot."

Dolffie put the map back in his hands.

"You'll be my first side stone."

The boy nodded as he accepted the map. Though Dolffie wasn't sure what would come of their little deal, he didn't care, his mission was to become the Crown at any cost, and for that, he needed twelve jewels, loyal or not, he didn't care, as long as they made him shine.

The boy looked at the map and saw the red dot inside the Iron Fortress with the initials, their first destination was going to be one hell of a journey.

"Dolly .B. Dolffie, that's my name." Dolffie finally introduced himself.

The boy hesitated before answering, "Just...keep calling me Carrot."

Dolffie asked no further questions, which surprised Carrot a little, but he didn't mind.

His eyes then returned to the map and he confirmed, "Our first journey is to the Iron Fortress of Bogo, is that right?"

"Yes, my next jewel is there."

"What if...the person says no to becoming your jewel?"

"Violence is always an option."

Dolffie nonchalantly and confidently walked away, completely in the wrong direction. The fortress was to the east and he was heading north. He really did suck at directions.

Carrot wasn't sure how someone as seemingly stupid as him could steal the Eye of Land and Sea from the Doppio Island. His gaze shifted to his strange tattoo, and he mused, "But perhaps there is more to Dolly .B. Dolffie than meets the eye."

----

After chasing Dolffie and getting him to start walking towards the right destination, Carrot planned: "If we walk at a moderate pace, conserving some of our energy, it should take us about two weeks to get to Uki Village, the first and smallest Eastern Bogo Island village, then another four to five days to get to Ora Village, and about a few hours to get to the Iron Fortress itself".

Beside him, Dolffie barely listened as he munched on the chilly-dried fish he had bought from one of the street vendors a few minutes ago. He was lost in thought before Carrot nudged him, his eyes showing a hint of a frown, "Pay attention."

Dolffie just looked at him with a dumb but unreadable expression, then at the map, then back at him and asked, "Why will it take us more than two weeks to get there?"

Carrot nearly tore his brain out in annoyance before explaining again, "Because, in case your humble Crown hasn't noticed... We're walking! And before you ask about getting a carriage or some form of transport... you should know that the people on this island are very stingy and distrustful of outsiders, so there is no way they will lend us any of their things unless we pay them a ridiculous amount of money!"

"Wow... you got some salty experience," Dolffie remarked nonchalantly before going back to munching on his fish.

Carrot sighed before muttering annoyedly, "Yeah, and I've been living here for two years and none of them would even let me get a job."

Eventually, he led Dolffie to a small outdoor bar with only a few villagers, who gave them unwelcoming looks, but they didn't care and sat down at the most secluded table in the corner.

Dolffie was a little unsure as to why they were there before Carrot laid the map on the old wooden table, placed empty cups and spice jars on the edges, sat down in his chair and then looked him straight in the eye and asked, "We know how long it will take us to get to the Fortress, but we need to know and prepare for what we will do during the journey and once we arrive, and also prepare for surprise disturbances and/or delays, so what was your original plan?"

Carrot looked at him expectantly, while he just looked back at him with a dumbfounded expression. He waited a few more minutes for Dolffie to explain, only to be met with a silence that quickly became awkward. He sunk his face into his palm before gritting his teeth and glaring at Dolffie.

"You have no plan? So you were just going to barge in and smash your way through the entrance of the fortress?"

"Well... yeah, violence is the solution to just about everything."

Carrot sighed, holding back tears.

"First of all, violence only makes things worse most of the time, and secondly... in order to get in and out of the Iron Fortress safely, you at least... NEED A PLAN!"

The villagers turned to them with annoyed and judgmental expressions as Carrot raised his voice, but neither he nor Dolffie cared, and they were too distracted.

"Listen Carrot, punching my way into the fortress is the plan."

The fact that Dolffie had the confidence of someone who could run an entire empire while saying something as stupid as that made Carrot question his decision to become his jewel, and how painfully late it was to turn back.

 But perhaps Dolffie wasn't the real Storm of the Calm Sea? When his gaze returned to the map, he knew it must be true, for the map of land and sea was the only map that could adapt to locations and have a sense of self.

 Dolly .B. Dolffie was the Storm of the Dolly Sea... unfortunately.

Carrot sighed before explaining something he never thought he would have to explain...to an adult to make matters worse, "Punching your way in and out of the fortress will NEVER work because firstly...it's a FORTRESS, and secondly...it's an IRON fortress, and thirdly...it's HEAVILY guarded by the Rebellion and also houses some of the WORST criminals of ALL the Dolly Clan."

"The Iron Fortress of Bogo may be on a tiny, remote island, but I promise you, the people here can rival those on the largest islands. And now that the Rebellion has interfered and managed to take over the fortress, it is practically impossible to get in with a plan, let alone get in and out without one."

Dolffie listened patiently to Carrot's arguments, his eyes darting between him and the map. 

This whole thing really was turning into one hell of a mess before it even started.

Firstly, he didn't know about the Rebellion's takeover of the Fortress, which meant that it was recent and word hadn't spread beyond Baby Island. Secondly, Carrot was right about the security, although no matter how many of the Rebellion there were, he could still easily beat them all; the problem is that word would get to Falcon before he got to his target. Falcon would easily guess that he was there for 'him' and would have all the prisoners moved out of the Fortress by teleportation magic, meaning Dolffie would have to go on another hunt for A.D.S. 

He clenched his fist as he thought about it. Falcon was becoming more and more of a pain every day.