DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem was created by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. Therefore, I don't own squat! Only the OC is my own.
Now what say we get another chapter off the ground?
Also, cheers to for giving Chris/MyUnit his/her own character slot!
And yes, I've changed the title of this story. I figured that this is more about how a tactician's legacy lives on through the many different worlds Fire Emblem has to offer.
CHAPTER 20
Back to the Desert
DATE: June 13
TIME: 5:39 PM
LOCATION: The edge of the Khadein Desert, 2 miles south of Khadein's school of wizardry.
It was one heck of a conflict, but after that messy encounter with the emperor and his forces, we finally made it to the desert of Khadein. It's very fortunate that everyone was accounted for once we got on the ship…
As a sanctuary for aspiring mages, those that wish to harness the power of magic are expected to train here vigorously.
Now, I'm not particularly familiar with the theory of how magic is supposed to work, but from what Merric told me years ago, it sounds something like this:
The secret to sorcery lies in the practice of sealing the hidden powers of nature into books and staves, and using particular words and incantations to harness this power from said books or staves.
Evidently, it is extremely dangerous for the untrained to try that at home. I can attest to that…
Well, it'll be another half hour before we reach Khadein's academy, so I guess I'll write down another little history lesson here to pass the time…
Several centuries ago, a wise and powerful sage created this academy that we're going to. It was here that he sought to teach people what he knew and the ideals he believed in.
Unfortunately, though he might've meant well, the magic he taught to everyone was used not to better people's lives, but instead was used for combat and warfare. One could imagine the kind of destruction that it would bring about after these spells were mass produced in large quantities. Obviously, this greatly disappointed the sage, and so he was never heard from again…
Personally however, I really think he might not have thought that plan through when he spread his teachings. One thing that my father and grandfather told me often was that as long as there are people in this world, war will forever be a distinct possibility in the future. All this sage had done is hand them new weapons to wage war with…
Excuse me for sounding cynical.
In any case, one interesting theory was that this sage who created this prestigious school was actually our old friend from the previous war… the legendary White Sage himself, Lord Gotoh. Of course, given his low opinion of mankind at the time, it's no surprise that anything that would lend any credence to this theory is essentially non-existant. I guess I'll have to ask him myself.
In this day and age, the only ones left who wield the power of magic now are a few high ranking sages in this city, and even then they're more likely to only be using the basic Fire spell and Heal staff. Those who use higher-level magic don't seem to be very abundant.
I guess that is simply the will of the creator of this city for it to be this way.
Phew… my wrist kind of hurts now from all of this writing. Sure hope this doesn't affect my sword arm too much…
-Chris
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(Michalis POV)
It was a very long flight to Khadein from Medon…
That boy, Marth… as much as I hate to admit, has humbled me with his prowess as a commander. I had been watching him and his friends combat Hardin's forces… maybe he might have what it takes.
Regardless of that though, I was eventually able to ride ahead of them before they could notice that I was tailing them. Spotting a village to the east of Khadein's academy, I descended from the sky and dropped my sister, Minerva, off here…
"Minerva…" I said to her, snapping her out of her lapse of attention, "Take refuge in this village until Marth gets here. I may not have a high opinion of him… but I will admit that he has proven to be a truly heroic individual. It'd be best for you to aid him."
"But… what will you do next, Michalis?" she asked me, "You should join us, if that's possible…"
I shook my head, "Sister, I've already told you before that our paths are our own now, and they will never cross again. I have no intention of joining in that prince's little squabble with Hardin. My only concern is Maria. I must find her and bring her back to Medon as soon as I can."
"You… you've really changed, brother…" Minerva replied, "No… now you're back to the man I looked up to and admired. Maybe… maybe you really were just under Gharnef's influence…"
Hmph… she still doesn't understand.
"It wasn't that at all, Minerva." I clarified, "Akaneia was getting too powerful in my eyes. It was my own idea to bring them down, and it its place, elevate Medon to be the greatest of this continent's kingdoms."
At her confused expression, I sighed and continued, "Don't you get it? That is why I initially allied with Doluna to destroy Akaneia… but I wasn't going to stay as their ally. I was then going to join forces with General Camus of Grust to bring down Doluna. But that whelp of a prince and his men… they completely ruined my plans when they defeated Camus…"
Minerva only frowned and narrowed her eyes in disbelief…
"Is that the real reason you killed our father?" she began, "You fool… how could you not see that it was a ploy by Gharnef to stir up distrust between you two? For all of father's strictness toward you, he still thought of you as his own son. It's still a pity that you couldn't understand…"
I simply put up my hand to silence her, "I'm not the fool you're making me out to be, sister, so spare me the lecture."
Heaving a sigh, I continued, "It was a wonder that I wasn't slain by your axe, but somehow I just knew you were holding back. Even after all I had done, you still didn't have the heart to kill your own brother…"
Minerva was silent this whole time…
"Despite this, I could feel the reaper coming to claim my soul… but then I awoke to see Maria in tears, praying to the gods above for me to recover. To see her do all of this for me, despite everything I had done to her and you, it… changed me. I'm usually not one to believe in higher entities, but… when I looked upon our youngest sister… I could've sworn I had seen an angel before me."
Suddenly, I could see several mages and other soldiers forming up outside the village. Another battle is about to begin, it looks like…
As I mounted my wyvern once again, I told her before leaving…
"I have to leave now, Minerva… and find a way to rescue Maria from that man. It's the only way I can ever hope to atone for my crimes."
And with that, I took off from the village, never looking back…
Minerva… I hope you understand.
XXXXXXXXXX
(Marth POV, 14 minutes ago)
The sun, though now in the process of setting, was still beating down on us heavily as we took a short break from marching in the sands…
"Hah…" I could hear Chris mutter as he finished another sip from his canteen, "I don't care what Merric says about the climate here… I'm never going to get used to this heat."
"I hear you, Chris…" Rickard nodded, "This desert sun's really something else."
"At least everyone is accounted for now." I told them, "Now the problem is what we should do now that we're here…"
"Sire…" Jeigan suggested, "There is still the matter of that mission that Wendell has told us about."
"The Starsphere shards…" I heard Chris mutter, "Do we know how many we have?"
"Hm…"
Looking inside my pack, I counted each one…
"We have 8 shards so far… but there's still 4 more out there."
"Well, at least we're making good progress on collecting them." Wendell noted.
"Yeah… but I still can't really see how this is going to help us take back Altea again." Chris piped in, as he looked through his spyglass to scout ahead with Jeigan. I tensed up when they both stopped scanning the area and focused on the academy's palace.
"Um… Sir Wendell?" I heard Chris nervously ask, "Why are there a bunch of people coming out of the citadel?"
"It could only mean one thing, Christopher." Jeigan answered for him, "Get the troops ready… it looks like Khadein has decided to side with Akaneia here!"
My eyes went up in surprise…
"What? I thought Khadein was neutral on this matter! What's going on?"
Wendell looked down disappointedly…
"You seem to know something, Lord Wendell." Chris noted, "Can you tell us what's happened?"
"I know Merric well… he'd never do such a thing." The sage replied, "But… oh, Ellerean… when will you ever learn?"
So… this Ellerean is the one responsible for launching this attack. If that's the case, then…
"I see…" I replied, then called everyone to arms, "Everyone! We make for the temple at once! Avoid needless battles if at all possible!"
And with that, we moved out to the academy, hoping to end this struggle quickly.
XXXXXXXXXX
(Chris POV)
Wisely remembering that horsemen were not really recommended in a place like this, I decided to have Luke, Rody, and Cecil stay back and guard the convoy, while Gordin, Ryan, Julian, Feena, Palla, Malliesia, and Linde followed me to the east. If Lord Marth was going to get to Khadein's academy temple, then he'd need the bulk of our forces to stand up to whoever stood in their way.
"Uh… captain?" Ryan questioned me, "H-How come we're going this way again?"
"He seems intent on the shrine…" Julian noted, "Maybe we'll find something there again?"
"Well, you're half-right actually…" I told the former thief, "During my scouting, I could also see a village to the north and east of the shrine we're about to search. The citizens there need to be warned of what's happening."
But then, another voice began to sound off…
"Get away from that shrine, you defilers!"
Great… enemy mages approaching.
"Incoming!" Palla signaled.
A few mages, led by a seemingly reluctant red-haired sorcerer wearing a monocle… this shouldn't be too hard, I hope.
"Julian! Search the shrine quickly! We'll handle these guys!" I called to the thief.
"On it!"
With that, all of us charged forward, hoping to take down every foe. One mage, a Fire tome in hand, raised his hand to shoot a ball of flame at us, but Palla was quick to toss a javelin in his direction. The javelin pierced his chest and he fell over as his life ended instantly. Another mage was chanting a Thunder spell and was about to fire it, but Gordin and Ryan were faster on the draw as the brothers perforated the mage with several arrows. Linde was matching wits with yet another mage as she countered every bolt of Thunder magic with her own, with sparks flying everywhere as their bolts impacted. During that little light show, I managed to get behind the mage and run him through on my blade.
Now, all we had to do was defeat this sorcerer…
"It's over, sorcerer." I told him, "I'll only warn you once. Turn back now, lest we take you down along with these people."
He only shook his head, "I'm sorry… but I cannot. If I don't follow his orders, I'll lose all that I hold dear to me…"
Suddenly, he raised his hands, and muttered an incantation…
"Please don't hate me for this… Ice of the coldest winters, rush forward! Blizzard!"
As he finished the words, several jagged ice shards icicles raced forth, carried by a sub-zero wind originating from his hands! We quickly dove out of the way, though Ryan did take a couple of shards to his arm. Malliesia was quick to act on healing him fortunately…
"What are you saying?" I asked the sorcerer, "Who put you up to this?"
"What good would that knowledge do you?" he cynically replied, readying another page of his Blizzard tome.
"Look, maybe we can help you." I quickly told him. While I wasn't fond of being out in the desert, that Blizzard attack REALLY wasn't a good way to cool off.
The sorcerer looked at me in suspicion, before finally lowering his tome and answering my question…
"Well… if you must know, it was a man with a massive axe. He was probably in his late 20's if I had to take a guess, but he also had on a demonic looking mask of sorts. He had this strange power about him too…"
A knowing look crossed my face as he told this description. It was HIM again…
"Let me guess… his power involves creating replicas of himself?" I asked.
A surprised look crossed his face as he replied, "Yes! That's exactly what it was! How did you know?"
I looked away as a frown crossed my face. How many times must these assassins get in our way?
"Let's just say we've got a little score to settle and leave it at that." I flatly told him.
"Hm…" he thought aloud, "Well, if you seem to know that man, maybe you really can help me. Let me join you from here on."
Wow… didn't expect it to be that easy.
Well, never turn down help when it comes to you, I guess. I shook his hand and replied…
"Good to have you with us. I'll vouch for you when we meet up with Lord Marth again. By the way, my name's Chris. What's yours?"
"Oh, I'm sorry…" he apologized, "I never introduced myself… my name is Etzel. I'm merely a traveling sorcerer in pursuit of knowledge, but…"
Before he could speak further, I heard Julian come back.
"Hey, Chris!" he called, "I've got some things you could probably use!"
Hm… a new pair of boots. Those could be useful…
Hey! It's another Starsphere shard!
I grinned at this find and told the ex-thief, "Excellent! That's another shard in our possession! Keep up the good work, Julian."
"No problem." He grinned back.
We were fortunate that the immediate area was cleared away of any opposition, so my team (along with our new comrade Etzel) marched forward to the village. In the meantime, I continued speaking to the sorcerer…
"So what were you saying, Etzel?"
He replied, "Like I said before, I was just a sorcerer in pursuit of knowledge. I was once married and lived in Altea for a time… and at that time… I was happy."
Why is he looking down?
"But after Gra stormed Altea, my wife Ursula was slain during the fighting. Now all I have left to remember her by is the ring she was wearing…"
My heart sank as I heard this. So Lord Marth wasn't the only one to lose a loved one.
"I… I see." I hesitantly replied, "My late liege King Cornelius, that's Lord Marth's father, also lost his life after those traitors turned their blades on him."
"How do you know this?" he questioned, and I briefly told him that I had served under the prince's command during the War of Shadows.
"Hm… interesting."
As we continued onto the village, he continued his story…
"As far as how I came to be here, I fled to Khadein after recovering my wife Ursula's ring. During my time in this desert city, I decided to take up a teaching job here at the academy, just so my sorcery skills didn't get rusty."
He sighed heavily at this next detail…
XXXXXXXXXX
(FLASHBACK STARTS NOW, 5 MONTHS AGO)
(Etzel POV)
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the theory for how the Glower spell can tear through even the most concentrated magic defenses. Any questions?"
The many students gathered before me were silent. It seems they understood the lesson…
"Very well, then. Continue your studies on your own time, but don't be afraid to ask any questions if you have any. You're all hereby dismissed for the day!"
As the student body left the classroom, I was the last one to follow them outside. That evening, I had my supplies gathered together and was ready to depart for the night, but a voice coming from behind another room caught my attention…
Peering through the key-hole of the door, I could faintly make out one of Lord Wendell's students. A blond red-cloaked mage was speaking to a female sniper and a tall man wearing a demonic mask…
"Okay… I've already finalized the alliance with the empire." The mage said, "What else do you want now?"
It was the masked man who spoke next, "I'd like to use this place as a base of operations. We need more than one place to operate from if we hope to achieve our main objective."
"You still haven't told me what that is…" the mage replied, but the sniper silenced him from speaking further.
"You've no need to know that." she responded, "What we do is our own business. All we wish to do here is house this prisoner."
Huh? They're bringing in a battered man… a blue-haired general in white armor. He looks to be in his early 30's if I had to guess.
"The emperor decided to leave this traitorous man in our custody." The masked man said.
"Alright… do what you will. Use the basement in the back to hold him if you must."
I had heard enough by that point. I needed to see Lord Wendell… and quickly!
Sadly, I didn't get very far before I heard the door open, and a bowstring get pulled back…
"Don't move." The sniper warned as a black cloud erupted in front of me, taking the form of that masked man.
"Uhm… ah…"
"Did you really think you could get away with learning our plans?" she mocked, "So foolish…"
Agh! What the-
I found myself grabbed from behind by the original masked man while his clone made for my bag! My eyes widened as he stole my late wife's ring!
"Hey! Give that back! You can't take it from me!"
"I'll take whatever I feel like taking!" the berserker's copy shouted back as his fist slammed into my stomach, knocking the air out of me…
"Now, why don't we come to an understanding?" the sniper spoke, "Now that you know what we plan to do here, YOU are going to help us now. If you do that, then maybe we'll give this ring back… maybe."
"And if… I refuse…?" I gasped out
The false berserker didn't reply. Instead, he set the ring onto the floor, and hefted his axe…
No! He wouldn't!
I struggled in futility as the clone brought his axe down, while the real berserker tightened his hold on me… then I stopped when his axe stopped just short over my wife's ring.
"Do we have your attention now?" she mockingly asked.
(FLASHBACK ENDS NOW)
XXXXXXXXXX
(Chris POV)
Huh… so that's why he had to fight us…
"I see… so that ring is truly precious to you, isn't it?"
"It is…" he told me, "That's why I have to get it back."
"Well, you can leave it to us. That masked man and sniper are actually assassins."
"Assassins?"
"Yes…" I responded, "They were planning on murdering Lord Marth before we set out for Grust. This was before Altea was branded a traitor by the empire, mind you."
"Huh… so you and the prince have been tracking them down on your travels, have you?"
I only nodded at this question.
It was only a couple of minutes later that we finally made it into the village. Judging from afar that the fighting was beginning to die down, I figured securing this place shouldn't be a problem.
"Okay… everyone, make sure the people are safe."
With that, we fanned off and told everyone to get to safety before any more fighting erupted here. There was still one other person who was outside, however…
Wait… that crimson hair and armor… that axe she's holding…
Apparently, I wasn't the only one surprised…
"Christopher? Is that you?" she asked, shocked to see me here.
"Yeah, it's me… but what are you doing here, Lady Minerva? We were worried that something bad had happened to you since we couldn't find you after beating Rucke back in Medon…"
"It was my brother… Michalis, who saved me." She explained.
My eyes widened at this…
Michalis was still alive? And he saved her when he could've just left her to rot?
I was utterly dumbfounded at this…
"Unbelievable… not only was he still alive, but he also saved you as well…"
"It's true…" she said, "It was our youngest sister, Maria, who helped him recover. He told me himself that her gentleness as a healer is what changed him…"
Another thought had occurred to me at this point…
Now that Lady Minerva had mentioned it, I was pretty sure I could see Michalis' chest rising and falling, though it wasn't that noticeable at the time…
"I remember now…" I suddenly said, "He was still breathing when he had his eyes shut… your last attack wasn't a fatal blow. I'm probably mistaken, but… deep down, you still wanted to believe he could change, didn't you?"
She never responded to the question, but she didn't need to. The look on her face and the fact that she looked down ruefully told me that I had hit a bull's-eye on that last statement.
"I get it now…" I noted, "In the end, he was still your brother through and through. I guess the bond between siblings can't be broken that easily."
"Yes…" she said, "But now… what will become of Medon? I've proven myself to my people that I am unfit to serve as queen… does that mean it'll fall into ruin like Grust now?"
I shook my head…
"You've no need to fret, Lady Minerva. Lord Marth already arranged for its reconstruction, so I think your kingdom is in good hands now…"
She seemed relieved to hear this, so I asked her, "So, um… would you care to join us again? Altea has been overtaken by the empire and we could really use more help in dealing with Hardin and his forces…"
She nodded, "Of course, Christopher. I'll offer my aid to you and your companions once again. It's… it's what Michalis would ask of me…"
"Great!" I grinned, "Palla and Catria will be pleased to hear this!"
For a moment, a fond smile came to her face at the mention of her former subordinates… but then, I noticed something glowing in her pack.
"Uhm… Lady Minerva? What's that in your bag?" I asked, pointing at it.
"Oh, this?" she asked as she pulled out…
Excellent! We're really collecting these Starsphere shards now!
"I cannot tell what this is supposed to be." Minerva admitted as she held out the shard, "During the trip to Khadein, Michalis gave it to me and told me to keep it safe…"
"Well, it's great that you've held onto this shard." I told her, and at her confused expression, I added, "We've been collecting similar pieces all around the continent. With this, we now have 10 out of 12 shards of the Starsphere."
"Starsphere? Is that true?" she sounded amazed.
Briefly, I explained how the sacred orb split apart after the Starlight magic was created…
"I see… then it's imperative that we find them all?"
I nodded, checking to the west to see that the fighting was coming to a close as Lord Marth's forces were now homing in on the academy temple.
"Looks like sire's almost there. We'd better hurry over there…"
"You're right…" Minerva said as she mounted her wyvern, "Let's move!"
With the village now secured and Palla and Catria now reunited under their former commander, we gathered outside and made to the west, where the temple was…
XXXXXXXXXX
(Marth POV)
At last, we finally made it to the temple. It was tough making it here with all of the mages, thieves, and dracoknights… but we somehow pulled through in the end.
Now, one final obstacle stood in our way, and he wasn't too happy to see us.
"You… you rebel scum!" the sage leader shouted angrily, "Have you now come to trespass the temple!"
"Stand down, sir." I warned him as everyone drew their weapons, "I'll not warn you again."
"Never! I'll not let you fools pass!" he raged as he opened to a page on his Bolganone tome…
With a hand raised, he chanted the incantation, "Jaws of the Earth, open wide and consume mine foes in a fiery eruption! Bolganone!"
Immediately as the words finished, cracks began to form beneath us… and the air around us grew hot!
"Scatter, everyone!" I quickly shouted.
As soon as we moved out of the way, the cracks glowed red briefly, before a spiraling pillar of flames shot out of the crevasses. Fortunately, no one was hurt by this…
Bord, Cord, and Barst quickly responded with a few hand-axes, but the sage was quick enough to avoid two of them while the third one barely nicked his side. Warren, Castor, and Norne then fired several arrows, though only a few had made contact.
"Nngh… I'm not…"
Not wasting any time, I hurriedly rushed forward to stab him. My rapier fatally pierced through his robes and his chest. Before his life left him, his last words had me wondering…
"Ellerean… I… cannot agree to this… any longer…"
Flicking the blood from my blade, I then noticed Chris, his team, and…
Hey! That's Princess Minerva with him!
"I guess you didn't need our help, eh sire?" the hero chuckled.
"Chris, you made it!" I exclaimed, "And Princess Minerva's with you too?"
"Yes, Prince Marth." She nodded, "I'll be here to help you from now on."
I nodded gratefully. It was great to know we were getting more allies on our side…
Jeigan seemed pensive as Chris' forces and my own reunited back into one again.
"Hm…"
"Something wrong, commander?" Chris asked.
"Wendell did say that Merric wouldn't send Khadein's mage force after us. That could mean something bad might've happened to him…"
My eyes widened in terror at this thought.
Merric… he may be in trouble!
"I think you may be right, Jeigan!" I exclaimed, "We need to hurry and help him!"
"Well, no time like the present…" Chris muttered, "Come on, guys!"
Following his lead, we hurried into the temple…
XXXXXXXXXX
(Chris POV)
DATE: June 13
TIME: 7:02 PM
LOCATION: Inside Khadein's Academy Temple
Well, it's currently quiet in this temple… might as well continue my last entry…
As I was saying before, Khadein is an independent nation, not beholden to any superior nation. In other words, it's a neutral party through and through. (Well, it WAS anyway…)
This desert nation's system of government is set up like so:
There is a master-sage who is in charge of high priests and wizards, and laws are passed through their cooperation.
Unfortunately, Gharnef, who was the head-sage at the time of the War of Shadows, decided to ally with Doluna and brought conflict and devastation to this desert nation. The end result was the sands running red with the blood of said high priests.
In order to get back on its feet, the city decided to elect Wendell to the position of master-sage. However, just shortly after reconstruction began under his leadership, Lord Gotoh gave him the mission we're currently helping him with.
In his absence, two youths were left in charge to run things around here. One of whom was a dear friend to Lord Marth and me.
Their names were Merric and Ellerean.
Now though, it seems trouble stirred up here once again. We know Merric wouldn't be responsible for such a thing, so that only leaves one other person…
Geez… and Lord Wendell had such high hopes for him too…
-Chris
XXXXXXXXXX
(Merric POV)
I couldn't believe he'd do this…
Why is he deciding to side with Akaneia after what they had done to my country? And as though that wasn't enough, he's now housing a prisoner for them too!
Sure we hadn't gotten along very much, and he did seem to take our little rivalry seriously, but I would've thought he'd get over it eventually…
Suddenly, the grand hall doors flew open, and a red-cloaked, long-haired mage stalked towards me.
It was Ellerean… and his eyes were narrowed dangerously as he came closer.
"Merric, it's time we settled things." He flatly told me, and he pulled out his Thoron tome.
No… he can't mean to…
"W-What are you talking about?" I nervously questioned.
"Don't play the fool with me." he sneered, "You know exactly why I'm here. It's time to see which one of us is stronger!"
"Come on, Ellerean…" I pleaded, "Do we really have to do this? We both studied under Master Wendell together… so why do you hate me so?"
"I'll tell you, Merric." He replied, the hate never leaving his voice, "I was Master Wendell's pupil long before you ever came along, not to mention more powerful than you were at the time… and yet despite all of this, it was you who ended up earning the Excalibur tome!"
The edge in his voice grew sharper as it continued, "You… you must have used your influence as an Altean noble to earn that magic and the successors' position! Those things should've been mine to begin with!"
I cannot believe this… he's had it in for me this whole time? And he really seemed desperate to earn the right to succeed Master Wendell too…
"I… I'm sorry, Ellerean…" I apologized, "I never thought it went this far…"
He didn't reply, instead opting to keep glaring…
"But…" I continued, "I wasn't interested in succeeding Master. I was planning from the beginning to return to Altea when my studies were complete; because there's someone there I promised to return to…"
I looked him in the eye…
"So please… don't do this! Call off Khadein's forces and help me restore Altea from the empire's hold!"
Sadly, this failed to move Ellerean at all…
"And why should I do that?" he snapped, "Altea got what was coming to them when they betrayed the Akaneian Empire! Why would you have me associate myself with those traitors unless…"
Oh no… does he think that…
"YOU! You brought Altea's forces here, didn't you!"
"W-What! No! I-"
"SHUT UP!" he raged, "I'm done listening to your lies, Merric! It'll be Thoron that will prevail over your Excalibur this time!"
With that, he opened his tome and began the chant!
"Behold the unyielding rage of purest lightning, and fall before its might… THORON!"
Suddenly, as the powerful sparks of electricity crackled from his hands, a bright light began to surround me. I felt myself get pulled somehow as the light became too bright to see what was happening…
XXXXXXXXXX
What a wild ride…
The light was quick to fade, and it took a few seconds to get back to my senses, but when I did…
Prince Marth is here? And he's brought company too!
"Nice job again with the Rescue staff, Lady Yumina." I noticed a familiar blue-haired swordsman, Chris, praise a young golden-haired cleric. Said girl just huffed indignantly and looked away, though I thought I could see a faint trace of red in her cheeks… heh.
"Merric!" the prince exclaimed in relief, "We got here as quick as we could. Are you alright?"
"I… I am, sire…" I replied, "But… what are you all doing here?"
Chris briefly explained the situation, "We came here to escape from the empire's forces. They chased us out of Chiasmere, so we hoped to seek refuge for the time being…"
Jeigan continued, "But since Khadein's forces decided to attack us, we assumed the worst had happened to you."
"Well, thank you for your help. I thought he had me for a second!" I nodded gratefully to them.
"Where is Ellerean now, Merric?" I heard Master Wendell call me.
"Uhm, he should be in the grand hall right now, master." I answered, "But I'm certain he might come our way soon."
"I see…" he replied, then turned to Marth, "Prince Marth, I'll speak with him myself. I'm still the master-sage of Khadein, so I shouldn't be in any trouble if his forces come by."
"Alright, but be careful."
Falling in with Prince Marth's ranks, we went down the west end of the temple, and several mages looked ready to strike at us… until they noticed Master Wendell among our forces.
"L-Lord Wendell? You've…"
"Stand down, everyone." He ordered, but they seemed to be reluctant to do so…
"But Lord Wendell! We're allied to the empire! If we go against our alliance, Khadein will suffer…" one of the soldiers exclaimed
"Did Ellerean tell you to do this? To side with Emperor Hardin?"
The soldier hesitantly replied, "…yes."
Master… his eyes…
I've never seen him look so angry…
"Bring him here at once. Now."
"A-At once, Lord Wendell…" he sputtered before moving in the direction of the grand hall.
It took a few minutes, but then I could hear more voices getting louder as their source got closer to us…
"Look, I'm not changing my mind unless he really is here! Now, this better not be a lie…"
Fear gripped me as I hear Ellerean step closer… but then, he gasped in surprise upon seeing Master Wendell.
"M-Master Wendell! You've… you returned?"
"Ellerean…" master began, "That's enough. Call off everyone right now!"
Without a second thought, he immediately dismissed all of Khadein's forces. Thank goodness…
Wendell once again addressed Ellerean, "Now… it's plain as day that you still don't understand why I passed down Excalibur to Merric rather than you. Do you know why?"
"Why, Master?" the mage asked, "Why wasn't I chosen?"
"It is simple…" our teacher answered, "Because while you are indeed a powerful magician with few peers to match your skills, you only cared about being the best out of everyone. In doing this, you've made no room for a caring heart in your own self."
Ellerean still didn't seem to understand, and so Master Wendell sighed as he continued explaining…
"Listen, my pupil… I had already known about Merric's plan to return to Altea, and so I decided when the time was right, you would be the one to succeed me… but do you not realize what you're doing? Your actions are no different than what Gharnef had done when he seized control of Khadein!"
At that last statement, I could clearly see Merric getting subdued at this analogy.
"M-Master? You… you're comparing me to the Dark Pontifex, Gharnef? I… that's…"
"Hush, Ellerean…" Master Wendell silenced him before continuing, "I'm not finished. When Lord Gotoh was still the ruler of Khadein, Gharnef and Miloah were his two most talented students. But Gharnef's heart was too weak to undertake the role of successor, so the Aura magic and the Khadein leadership was instead passed down to Miloah. When he heard this, Gharnef was driven into madness from his jealousy and so he stole the Darksphere from Lord Gotoh, and from its power crafted the dark magic, Imhullu."
Ellerean listened intently, but I could see the dread with where this conversation was going.
"Do you see now? Initially, Gharnef was a noble person with a strong sense of justice… but because he could never get over his jealousy, his heart was easily corrupted by the powers of the Darksphere. I've seen how you act, Ellerean… and it frightens me so, because I fear that you'll eventually tread down the same road that Gharnef himself traveled…"
"Master Wendell… I…" he couldn't believe what he was hearing. I figured that he must not have thought of his actions from that perspective…
"That is all I have to say, Ellerean." Master Wendell finished, "You are indeed a talented mage, but you've still got much to learn."
And with that, we brushed past the still shocked mage and made for the grand hall…
XXXXXXXXXX
(Chris POV)
Man alive… Lord Wendell really gave Ellerean quite a lecture. I still wonder if it will sink in though…
As our forces rested in this massive hall, I turned to the prince…
"If only all our other scuffles ended this peacefully…"
"Indeed…" Marth replied, "All of this fighting has really worn us down…"
Suddenly, I could suddenly hear footsteps resounding from outside the room as a certain mage came into view again…
"Master Wendell! Please wait!"
Huh? What's Ellerean doing here again? I tensed slightly as my hand made for the hilt of my blade.
Fortunately, my fears went unfounded as Ellerean looked down shamefully in front of Wendell…
"Master… I thought about what you've said…" he began, "I… I'm so sorry. I realize now what I've done was wrong… but what can I do to atone for my mistakes?"
Wendell looked down in thought for a few seconds before answering, "You can begin by lending your strength to Prince Marth and his friends."
"I understand…" he nodded ruefully.
Merric and Etzel then approached the mage…
"Ellerean…" Etzel began, "Where is the masked berserker now? Is he still here?"
He nodded, "They're in the basement of the temple. The only way we can reach them is through the secret passage behind the throne."
"Ah, here it is…" Merric noted, then pulled down one of the torches…
Hey… so it's actually a lever? Part of the brick wall suddenly slid away as it revealed a stairway leading down…
"Are you going to confront that man?" Ellerean asked us.
"We are." Etzel answered, "He has my wife's ring, and I must get it back!"
"If what Etzel said is true, then that prisoner he has is in trouble. We have to help him!" Jeorge offered.
Finally, I added, "He's not getting away this time. I want him to pay for trying to kill Lord Marth and my friends…"
"Alright… well, allow me to go first." Ellerean said, "It's a bit of a maze down there…"
One by one, we followed behind the mage. He really must be serious about changing if he's leading us to this snake…
XXXXXXXXXX
DATE: June 13
TIME: 8:05 PM
LOCATION: Khadein's Temple Basement
Ellerean, having been changed by what Wendell had told him, graciously offered his assistance. Ordinarily, I'd be a bit skeptical about him wanting to help us, but if he's really offering to take us to Roro…
Well, no use dwelling on it now. He's got a prisoner with him… supposedly a traitor to the empire. Perhaps he'd be willing to give us a hand…
Of course, we'd have to defeat Roro first if we're going to help him. Let's give it our all!
-Chris
XXXXXXXXXX
It was a pretty long walk down the stairs as we followed Ellerean to the bottom. He wasn't kidding when he said it was maze-like down here…
We stopped when he looked up at some kind of diagram on the left wall of this corridor…
"Here it is… our only holding cell." He noted, pointing at the center of the picture…
So… the diagram's really a map!
Ellerean opened the doors, and walked in first, while I decided to peek behind the crack in the door to see what would happen…
A tall man with a demon's mask soon appeared from the right hallway. He was a perfect match for Etzel's description…
It was indeed Roro, though whether it the real man himself or only a copy remained a mystery to me.
"So you're showing your face down here again, are you?" he asked, "What do you want from me?"
"I… I wish to see the prisoner, Sir Roro." He calmly replied.
"Hmph." He grunted, then opened the cell, dragging a beaten white-armored man from inside.
"Ungh…" the man groaned, "What… happened…?"
"Sir Horace?" Ellerean asked him, "Are you feeling alright?"
"What's this?" Roro questioned, "I would've thought you didn't care about this prisoner!"
Ellerean remained silent…
Wait, why is he looking… YOW!
I quickly backed away from the door as a hand-axe quickly slammed into its wooden surface, sending splinters flying…
"Damn! He knows we're here!" I shouted, "Everyone, get ready to attack!"
Kicking open the door, I drew my sword as Bord and Cord got the man named Horace to safety…
"So, you're turning your back on us, mage?" he thundered.
"I am…" Ellerean stated, "I'm done associating with you and the empire!"
"So… that's how it is…" he said, "Then in that case…"
He raised his axe, ready to lop the mage's head off! There was no way that he could cast a spell in time…
Reacting quickly, Barst and I threw a hand-axe in his direction. He had to stop his swing to get out of the way…
"Your fight's with us, Roro." I growled, "You're not getting away again!"
"Well well…" he mocked, "You want to finish this here and now, don't you?"
I said nothing to this remark…
"Today will be your last day on this world, boy! I'm finishing what I should've done a long time ago! But first…"
As expected, several replicas of the berserker emerged from pillars of black smoke. Everyone readied their weapons…
"Let's see you face my brothers! We'll crush you all!"
I had my eyes on the true Roro as I sneered, "You can try!"
XXXXXXXXXX
(3rd Person POV)
A chaotic struggle was quick to erupt between Marth's companions and Roro and his clones.
Ellerean unleashed a mighty blast of Thoron at one of the clones, fatally shocking him into oblivion, while Yubello worked up the courage to work up a chant for his attack…
"Scorching flames, seek out mine foe and incinerate! Fire!"
Several balls of flame spread out from his hand as they slammed into three more of Roro's copies, badly burning them enough to stun them. Merric finished the job on two of those three clones…
"Winds of the strongest hurricane, race forward and shred all in thine path! Excalibur!" he cried out. In seconds, several large wind blades conjured from his hand and shot towards the two clones, shredding them into an unrecognizable mess…
Surprisingly, even Feena was holding her own against the third clone. The dancer moved with such grace as she stepped aside from Roro's slow swings. Upon seeing an opening, she landed several cuts on the clone, felling him with a final thrust to his neck.
Roro sneered from behind his mask…
"Ha! Do you truly think you can triumph against me? My brothers are limitless!"
Immediately, several more copies emerged from the black smoke, and the fighting continued once more. Luke and Rody were struggling as one of the clones was wildly swinging his axe in an attempt to hack away at the two cavaliers. Arran, though fighting valiantly, could feel the weakness from his illness setting in and so was forced back by another copy of the berserker.
Marth, through all the fighting, could see that the clones were drawing the fight to a stand-still. If it kept up, they'd all be driven to exhaustion and would eventually get overwhelmed…
'He's trying to drag the fight on…' he realized.
The original Roro, who was currently locking his axe with Chris' sword, quickly found another blade thrusting at him…
"Chris! Everyone!" Marth called, "Attack the original one! The clones will stop coming if we defeat him!"
The berserker let out an amused laugh, "Do you really believe it will be that easy? Die!"
The real Roro gave a hard swing with his axe, and Chris and Marth were forced to duck to avoid getting their heads separated from their bodies. Chris responded with an upward swing of his blade, but the berserker backed off at the last second, leaving only a glancing cut on his chest-plate.
Elsewhere, the archers (led by Jeorge) fired several arrows into the fray to hamper Roro's and his replicas' movements. This made things a little easier for everyone, as Navarre finished off one clone, Sirius ran another down on his sword, and Bord and Cord double-teamed yet another… but even so, more clones were still getting conjured by the berserker's arcane power…
"Ungh! There's just no end to them!" Kain grunted as he fought off the clone.
"Well, we can't quit now! We need to keep buying time for Lord Marth and Chris!" Catria shouted back as she sidestepped another clone's axe. Neither she nor her sisters were particularly skilled with swords, but at least they had learned from Caesar and Radd back in the previous war…
Marth and Chris continued to try and double-team Roro, but the berserker continued to elude their attacks.
"Ha! Is that all you've got, you meddlesome pests?" he taunted.
Suddenly, another voice sounded off once again…
"…of purest lightning…"
The true berserker turned to the source of the voice, and his eyes widened in horror as to what was coming next…
"…fall before its might! Thoron!"
In seconds, Ellerean (who had now finally found an opening from all the clones he and the rest of the mages had to contend with) charged his Thoron spell in his hand, until the electricity reached its limit. With one final push, an extremely powerful bolt of lightning struck Roro directly in his face! The berserker let out a blood-curdling scream of pain as the electricity crackled through him. Chris quickly wasted no time in taking this opportunity and gave a good hard swing at the berserker's neck. The end result was his head rolling onto the floor as the rest of his body fell lifelessly to the floor, blood pooling around his corpse…
The remaining clones suddenly stopped fighting and fell unconscious as they looked upon their original's fallen body.
XXXXXXXXXX
(Chris POV)
Whew… that was rough…
Wiping the sweat from my brow, I sheathed my blade as I stared upon the berserker's headless corpse. It was a long, trying battle, but at last we had done away with one of those assassins.
"That settles that…" I muttered, "Now they're down one leader."
Bending down to see if he had what I thought he did, I searched his pack and pulled out a small ring…
This must belong to Etzel, who was coming in from behind.
"Did he have the ring?" he asked me. I simply nodded and handed it over…
"Ah… thank you, Chris. I don't know what I would've done if it were lost…"
Then Jeigan also approached, "Well, we've defeated one of the assassins, but I'm certain they will notice this soon. We should head back upstairs now, but first…"
We approached the man, Horace, that the berserker was holding prisoner.
"Sir Knight… are you the one they call Horace?" Marth asked him.
"I am, sire…" he replied.
"I see…" the prince continued, "…but what are you doing here in Khadein?"
He looked down, "It was… the emperor's doing. I was one of the few officials to object to the attack on Altea, but… Lang was higher on the chain of command than I was, so my pleas fell on deaf ears."
Horace, seeing that we were still listening, continued, "My objections seemed to ire the emperor, so he had me sent to Khadein to have me executed…"
"Wait a second…" I stopped him, "You mean to tell us that this assassin we've slain was really going to be your executioner?"
The general raised an eyebrow, "He was an assassin? Then… oh, how could he do this?"
Marth sighed, "Hardin… have you really aligned yourself with these cutthroats? Do you really want us dead that badly?"
None of us could think of an answer as we trudged back upstairs…
XXXXXXXXXX
Night had fallen by the time we got back upstairs.
We were feeling weary from all of the battles we had faced up to this point. Now that Khadein was once again neutral on the matter, we were free to stay in this area for the time being before setting off once again.
Of course, the problem was that we had no idea what to do or where to go now…
"Well, we're here now… but what are we to do?" I questioned the prince, "We can't return to Altea as we are now… and challenging Hardin would be equally foolish…"
"…arth… Prin… th"
Hey… I know that voice!
"Lord Gotoh?" Marth called out, "Where are you?"
Suddenly, a familiar apparition appeared on the throne. Sure enough, it was Lord Gotoh, the legendary White Sage himself…
"Ah… can you hear me?"
"We can, Lord Gotoh." I told him, "It's… good to see you again, even if it's through an illusion."
A small smile graced his aged face, "And you as well, lad… but if you are here, then it must mean that you require my assistance once again."
I scratched my head, "Er… yeah, something like that."
Marth then asked the sage, "Lord Gotoh… there are some things we need to ask of you. Do you know the reason why Hardin has changed so suddenly, and how he has obtained these powers of invincibility?"
The sage looked down gravely, "It is an arcane power, Prince Marth… and the source of that power is coming from the Darksphere. That is what is giving him protection…"
"Huh… he WAS holding a black orb of sorts when I last saw him." I noted, "But where did it come from exactly?"
Gotoh's image pondered for a few seconds before finally responding, "It seems this information will have to be revealed to you now, though I was hoping it wouldn't come to this point…"
We all stayed silent as he began to explain…
"This world has 5 sacred orbs in existence, and all of them contain a mysterious power. You have already seen the orbs known as Lightsphere, Starsphere, and Geosphere… however; there are two more that you have yet to see: the Lifesphere and the Darksphere."
At the mention of the last orb, his expression turned even more serious…
"The Darksphere… it contains powerful abilities for its opposition to the Lightsphere. It significantly raises one's courage and mind, while also relieving them of suffering. In battle, it can either invade a single foe's mind to stop them from attacking or it can conjure a black energy to defend against multiple foes…"
"Er… wow." I replied, "That's pretty powerful…"
"Indeed it is…" the sage agreed, "But with that power comes a major price. The Darksphere is said to react whenever the one who possesses it is overcome with anger, jealousy, or other negative emotions, and over time… their very soul will be consumed by the orb."
By the gods… this is intense!
To think something like that would be capable of warping even one's very soul. No wonder Hardin spouted off that nonsense about destroying this world!
"But that still doesn't explain how he got this orb…" I pointed out.
Gotoh only shook his head, "I'm sorry, but even I do not know how he obtained the Darksphere. However, the fact remains that his heart has… become consumed by its power."
Marth, though he was acknowledging what was being told, was still in disbelief over what had happened…
"But how can that be?" he questioned, "I know Hardin… he's not such a weak willed man. I would think he would be happy to be wed with Nyna, so why would he be jealous?"
I looked down at that question, for I had a sinking feeling inside me. There was only one reason I could probably think of, but I hoped to high heaven that I was wrong about it…
As for Gotoh, he merely replied, "Marth, you must understand something. Mankind's emotions are not as simple to comprehend as you might believe. There is likely more to his ascension to the throne than what you know now…"
Marth couldn't formulate a reply as he heard this.
"In any case, you and your friends have no hope of triumph as long as Hardin possesses the Darksphere. There is but one way to combat his power, and it lies in the power of the Lightsphere. I am in possession of the orb, so if you want to defeat the emperor, seek me out."
Upon hearing about the Lightsphere, I could see a flicker of hope light up in the prince's eyes once again…
"Is that true? Is it possible to save Hardin with the Lightsphere?"
The White Sage pondered briefly before replying with, "It will all depend on if Hardin's soul has not been consumed entirely. If he is truly as iron-willed as you claim him to be, then perhaps there may be a chance."
"That's great!" Marth exclaimed, "We'll be coming for the Lightsphere, but… where are you exactly?"
"You will find me at the Temple of Ice Dragons, far to the north and east on this continent. However, you and your companions must listen carefully, Marth," Gotoh told us, "The road to reach me will be fraught with peril, and you and your friends may not survive the journey. Are you sure you want to find me?"
"Um, how is this any more dangerous than what we're dealing with now?" I questioned.
"I'll tell you, Christopher…" he replied, "Legends say that only one man has ever survived the journey to this place. Do you know who that is?"
I thought about the answer to that question…
It's been a long time ago, but grandpa and mom once told me about how there was a frozen sanctuary far to the north and east, just like Gotoh described… but they also mentioned…
No way…!
"You mean it's true? That he was the only one to make it there?" I exclaimed.
As though he knew exactly whom I was speaking of, Gotoh replied, "That is correct… the only one to ever make it to the Temple of Ice Dragons… was the great hero of Altea himself, Anri. That is why your liege must prove himself of equal caliber to him. If he and his companions can make it there safely, then I will allow you all to borrow this Lightsphere."
We all stayed silent as we pondered this offer…
If what Gotoh says is true, then we could be in for one hell of a journey. It'd probably be much harder than the travels we faced in the War of Shadows…
Still, we can't just sit back and do nothing. This continent will fall to darkness, and the world would soon follow if we don't defeat Hardin…
Gotoh's voice silenced my thoughts, "So I ask you again, prince Marth. Are you and your forces absolutely certain that you wish to undertake this journey?"
"We have to, Lord Gotoh!" Marth told him, "If there's no other way, then we must do this! We'll do whatever it takes to obtain the Lightsphere."
I added, "You said it yourself, White Sage. As long as Hardin has the Darksphere, we're stuck. So how are we to reach you?"
"Very well…" he nodded, "I can see you are all serious about this task, so I'll tell you at once. You must first head north, into the Marmotord Desert, then meet with my contact in the city of Thabes. He will guide you the rest of the way…"
"We'll head out as soon as we can, Lord Gotoh." Marth responded, "In the meantime, please wait for us!"
"So be it… and may fortune smile upon you all during your travels."
And with that, Gotoh's image quickly flickered out of existence.
I sighed, "Man alive… this is much bigger than we realize."
Jeigan nodded, "So it seems, but what Lord Gotoh said was correct. We should try to obtain some supplies here in Khadein before we head out on this journey."
As we looked around, I suddenly noticed one of our compatriots was missing.
"Er… Julian?" I asked the thief, "Where's Rickard? Wasn't he with you?"
"All he told me was that he had some business to take care of…"
Suddenly, the doors to the throne room opened again, and Rickard himself was coming through them. Flanking him were two unfamiliar faces: a bearded man looking somewhere in his early to mid 40's and a young woman just a few years older than me.
"Rickard? Where have you been?" Julian asked him.
"That's easy, chief!" he grinned, "Since I figured we were gonna be on another big adventure, I decided to enlist some help from some old friends of mine!"
The bearded man then spoke up, "So which one of you guys is prince Marth?"
The prince stepped forward, "That would be me. Can I help you two with something?"
The woman answered, "The names Malice, and this big guy here is my old man Dice. Do you want us to lend a hand?"
"We could use all the help we could get in this mission," Marth replied, "You're welcome to join us!"
"Now hold on there, prince…" the woman, Malice, cut him off, "You want our help, you pay our fee first! 10,000 gold up front."
"What?" I exclaimed, "You're insane!"
"Hey, you want our help, you pay up." The man, Dice, bluntly retorted, "So what'll it be?"
Marth sighed as he told me, "Chris, it ought to be best if we hire them. We need more people in our ranks if we ever hope to be victorious here."
I conceded, though I still wasn't too fond with the idea of paying such an insane fee. That money could be better spent getting supplies…
"Alright, fine…" I said, "But you two better be able to pull your own weight around here."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Dice grinned, "We're plenty tough ourselves."
"Well…" Jeigan noted, "If we're really going to go on this journey, we need to get more supplies. We'll spend tomorrow mapping out a course and purchasing equipment, so we should take a rest here in the temple."
With no further discussion, we parted ways in the temple to look for rooms to stay in.
XXXXXXXXXX
Given that it was getting pretty late, I didn't feel like lounging around the temple, so I decided to just stay inside my room. With nothing left to do for the day, I simply wrote down all that had happened and blew out the candle, intending to sleep for the night.
We had learned a lot about what our current circumstances are and what we needed to do in order to defeat the empire.
To think… in order to be victorious, we need to re-enact Anri's legend! This was going to be quite the mission…
Well, there's no other option before us. If we're to reclaim Altea again and defeat Hardin once and for all, we've got to do this…
On the bright side, the regions we're traveling through are said to be inhospitable, so maybe those assassins will stop trailing us…
XXXXXXXXXX
Chris' Personnel Observations
NAME: Etzel
OCCUPATION: Sorcerer from Altea, now a Khadein resident.
NOTES: Seems to really revere his late wife, which is why he always has her ring in his possession. Battle-wise, he's pretty talented in the arts of sorcery.
-XXX-
NAME: Minerva
OCCUPATION: Dethroned Queen of Medon.
NOTES: Still a bit on the intimidating side, but she seemed to have mellowed out after the last war. She's still pretty good on her wyvern…
-XXX-
NAME: Merric
OCCUPATION: Mage of Khadein and one of Wendell's pupils.
NOTES: A good friend to Marth and me, he's a specialist in wind magic. Although he was initially slated to be Wendell's heir, he turned it down for other reasons.
-XXX-
NAME: Ellerean
OCCUPATION: Mage of Khadein and one of Wendell's pupils.
NOTES: An excellent mage that specializes in thunder magic. Although he's not quite as bitter as he once was, he's still chooses to view Merric as his rival.
-XXX-
NAME: Horace
OCCUPATION: Former General of Akaneia.
NOTES: I haven't seen him in action yet, so I can't really comment on him.
-XXX-
NAME: Dice
OCCUPATION: Some wandering mercenary from parts unknown.
NOTES: The only thing I can say about him is that he's really looking to make a fortune, which may explain why he asked for such a massive fee.
-XXX-
NAME: Malice
OCCUPATION: Daughter of Dice, and also a wandering mercenary from parts unknown.
NOTES: Like her father, she's also looking to make money. We'll see another day if she's got what it takes to remain with us.
END OF CHAPTER
Well, one year has passed since this story was first written, and now another chapter is complete!
As always, if anyone has any reviews or commentary, I'll be listening.
Until next time, farewell.