FE Newbie: So actually I didn't know there was a D&D Rakshasa, but looking at their wiki entry I'm already getting ideas for a new dream sequence! So yeah they'll now also be appearing at some point. But to clarify what I meant before, I was referring to the Hindu Rakshasa and Rakshashi demons, bloodthirsty incarnation of violence and wrath, sometimes associated with the deity Asura. I'm doing my own take on the idea of a Rakshasa that… well, I'm not gonna spoil any surprises, but it's one of the things I already have written and I am IMMENSELY happy with how it turned out! TBH pre-FE Varric probably IS insufferable. You said yourself why the enemy seems so weak: Varric is an actual strategist at this point. I'll quote Sun Tzu: ""If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Varric knows himself and he knows the enemy; the result is that everything goes perfectly. If you're worried there'll be no tension, trust me when I say you don't need to worry about that at all. Varric won't always know both himself and his enemy, and certainly won't always know those things while also being able to completely blindside the enemy.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to give my Beta a nice old fashioned BEATING.

(Beta Reader's Note: What did I do this time?!)

(AN: missed SEVERAL grammatical errors… again.)

Totally didn't somehow forget about Guy last chapter and subsequently spend about a third of my time working on this chapter trying to explain that away. Starting to see why the games have a limit on how many units you can bring…

As the Noblewoman and General stood opposite each other in the clearing, both Caelin and Laus soldiers treated the battle as already over, treating wounded and disbanding the ranks.

"Why do you seek peace, young woman?" the general asked. "I am your enemy; my commander lies inside this very castle which he took from you."

Lyn remained calm and composed, and Varric watched in both interest and bewilderment as she spoke with a sort of conviction he'd never heard from her before. "You had the chance to kill our soldiers, yet you chose to barricade them in instead. You had the chance to burn the town to the ground when the townspeople helped me escape and find a hold out. You did neither of these things, and it has not gone unnoticed." Lyn finally looked the commander dead in the eye. "I know you are a man who values life and a man who knows he is on the wrong side. I once fought such a man, and I not only see him in you, but I saw him in Bauker as well. So I make you an offer: stand down without further resistance and I swear on my honor that my men will not harm you. I cannot make the same offer to the soldiers within the castle, but if I can at least spare the lives of the soldiers in these fields, then I will do everything within my power to do so."

There was a long silence after an exhale, and as the tension mounted between the two, Varric remained unmoving until Eliwood spoke to him. "I take it you never considered diplomacy."

Varric jolted in place before turning. "Why would I? They're the enemy, and not just that but they specifically instigated all of this! They have the castle taken hostage for gods' sake."

Eliwood sighed. "I've long figured out that, while no harm is meant by it, you don't understand the importance of honor and loyalty in this world." He looked Varric in the eyes. "Those who fight often don't truly have a choice in their battles; those who abuse their power like Darin force the hands of those who pledged loyalty not to a man, but to their homeland. Try to understand that."

Suddenly there was a rumble as Bernard finally began to move, his layered armor getting the attention of many as it broke the silence. He turned to face his men, both armed and unarmed, and held his weapon aloft. "LISTEN!" He called, before gesturing with his lance towards Lyn. "We have been granted mercy by this fair woman! Tend to the wounded and gather your weapons, I ask that you prepare for one more battle!"

Lyn became apprehensive. "Excuse me?"

Bernard looked back at the noblewoman. "Lord Darin has formed a covenant with a dark organization; they will no doubt come to collect on their investment." he raised his weapon, eliciting a roar from even the most exhausted of Laus's soldiers. "I PUT MY TRUST IN YOU!" the general bellowed, "GUARD CAELIN AS IF IT WERE YOUR OWN HOME!" With that, Bernard planted his lance in the ground, marking the entrance to the castle, and leaving himself unarmed.

"Where are you going?" Lyn asked as she signaled Chloe, who had already begun instructing what Caelin soldiers were outside the castle to aid those from Laus.

Bernard didn't turn as he entered. "I plan to ask Bauker to see reason one more time… I'm sorry, but this is something I must do."

All the while, Varric stared in blatant confusion and disbelief as the two sides that were enemies just moments ago began to break all rank and tend to the injured and the weary without regard for the possibility of an attack by the other side. There was a familiar chuckle behind him.

"Your understanding of combat is well honed, but your understanding of the battlefield is still quite green!" Hannah said with a toothy grin. "I'd stop gawking and start preparing if I were you. You never know what waits around the corner…"

"What are you-?"

Varric was cut off when Matthew ran up to him. "Varric, where's Guy?"

At that Varric paled. "Wait, he's not back?" Internally he began cussing himself out. "I positioned him to take care of reinforcements, he should've only had to deal with a few enemies, not to mention he had extra vulneraries!" The tactician shot to his feet. "Get Priscilla and Erk, we'll-AGH!" Immediately Varric buckled over in a mixture of fatigue and exhaustion induced pain. "Dammit…"

"Hey, you alright?!" Matthew cried, alarming several others as Varric's vision blurred.

"I'll take care of it!" Priscilla said before quickly preparing her staff. "There… there's nothing wrong physically…"

Varric held up a hand as he got to his knee. "Explain later, find Guy now."

"Uh, I think we can go ahead and change that to 'help Guy.'" Lowen called from his vantage point.

Without prompting, Dorcas hauled Varric up onto his shoulder, giving the tactician a similar viewpoint. "...oh crap." Varric murmured.

"Discretion is the better part of valor. Discretion is the better part of valor. Discretion is the better part of valor…"

Guy repeated the mantra to himself as he continued to evade the onslaught of assassins and myrmidons, a sizeable number of bodies still lying at the point they first began appearing. Suddenly a shadow surged forward, out of the ground and narrowly missing Guy's torso, but distracting him enough to give a spy a clear opening.

THUNK.

Before Guy could even curse himself, an arrow lodged itself in the spy's heart.

"MOVE IT!" Rebecca called, before a volley of light and electricity caused the entire frontline to halt. The moment they did so, Guy broke stance and made for the party in full sprint.

"And so it begins." Hannah announced with another grin.

"Cleaners." Chloe growled through clenched teeth.

Varric turned to the surrogate general. "What?"

Oswin readied his weapon. "I'd heard rumors...the Black Fang's execution squad. They aren't the type of organization to tolerate failure or desertion."

Guy didn't stop sprinting until he'd reached Varric, panting. "Assassin's behind… flanking raiders-" he was cut off by a whack across the head from Serra.

"Let me heal you first, dummy!" She surveyed him before blinking in surprise. "Huh...he's just exhausted? How did he get out of there practically unscathed?!"

Guy shot a glare towards Serra as he stood back up. "I did what our tactician instructed, that's how."

Varric sighed in relief. "Yeah, good thing you listened then."

Chloe raised her weapon. "ALRIGHT LADS, ROUND 2 LET'S GO!"

There was a roar as the Caelin soldiers readied themselves without hesitation, but their attention was drawn to a certain lord as she stood on a rock perch. "All of you, forget about these ones; guard the town first and foremost!"

After a brief pause, the soldiers redoubled their warcry at their lady's word. Lyn turned to Varric. "Can you pick someone to support them?"

Varric immediately nodded, before calling out. "Marcus, Lowen, Guy!"

Without even needing instruction, the three broke away.

"A strong leader indeed…" Oswin observed with a smile. Before glancing at Hector. "As brave as you with half the recklessness."

"HEY!"

Before the blue lord could retort, Varric signaled for everyone to converge. "Serra and Priscilla, I need you at the ready at all times! Priority one is healing!" He turned to Florina. "They don't have archers, so take your time in the air and pick them off one at a time; play it safe first and foremost. Oswin, Kent, Sain, and Lyn? You're our frontline."

"Understood!"

Next Varric turned to the archers. "You two take shots from as far as you can, and Erk will position himself just further up to keep in range. Axemen? You remain in the backline with them, against sword and dagger you're inherently at a disadvantage, but a throwing axe is a throwing axe. You'll also be able to defend the ranged fighters if anyone slips through."

Lastly he turned to Chloe and Eliwood. "You two are the variables; go wherever help is needed near you, don't worry about keeping any strict formation." He exhaled and looked up. "EVERYONE GOT IT?!"

Hector pounded his chestplate with his gauntlet. "LET'S SHOW THEM A REAL SWEEP!"

Despite the triumphant roar, Varric was biting his thumb nervously. "Just hope exhaustion doesn't catch up with us…" he muttered, surprised when Oswin placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think we're alone in this." He advised before running for the frontline.

"What the fuck is he?!"

"DEMON!"

"FALL BACK, FALL-GACK!"

As Guy removed his blade from the brigand's lung, he turned to face the others. "You flatter me." He replied deaspan, turning his blade on the shaking but numerous raiders.

The makeshift leader brandished a swordreaver with a grin. "You lot, watch how it's done!" He announced with a malicious chuckle. The raiders began to crowdaround only for a rain of javelins to fall.

"TO ARMS!"

Guy turned in surprise as a roar from behind him signaled a company of Laus soldiers with weapons in hand surging forward, taking out the Myrmidons with ease in the absence of their axe wielding allies.

Varric looked around in bewilderment as purple joined green, Caelin and Laus side by side as the factions fought tooth and nail against the assassins.

"I told you we wouldn't be alone." Oswin suddenly said from behind, causing Varric to jump and swivel around. He saw the knight's exhaustion had fully caught up with him, but there was a faint smile on his face. "There's a saying, you know," he continued. "The enemy of-"

"-my enemy is my friend…" Varic finished.

Oswin simply smiled and nodded as the tactician watched in contemplation.

"That's the last of them!" Chloe cried out, eliciting a roar from both the Laus and Caelin soldiers. The Legion had already begun to take a much needed rest, while Lyn and Chloe looked around for their tactician.

"Great, FANTASTIC!" Varric screamed in his mind, gritting his teeth in an unconscious snarl as he scrapped plan after plan. While the group had mostly been resting, he'd instead been alone, going over formations. "How the fuck am I gonna deal with two Generals?!" He snapped aloud, before there was a cough behind him. Immediately Varric nearly snapped his neck, immediately spinning around to see Chloe, Lyn, and Eliwood.

"Varric, please hear them out. We can tell you've been avoiding all of us." Eliwood said bluntly. Varric started to talk back, but at the sight of what was clearly a degree of guilt on Lyn's face, his expression softened.

"…ok." He responded, his voice barely audible.

"Varric, I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause you trouble." Lyn began, apologizing right out the gate.

Varric sighed and put his head in his hands. "No, it's not your fault. It's just…why would you do that? Why would you spare him?"

The noblewoman looked at Varric, and to her surprise, there was no malice in the tactician's face. "He truly doesn't understand… it's not wrath, it's genuine confusion." She thought

"Varric, Listen." Chloe commanded, snapping the tactician out of it, her own voice going quiet. "I don't know what your world is like, but in this world there's no such thing as a war where there aren't good people on each side."

"Varric, she's right…" Lyn said softly. "I understand how you feel, and it's your role to always be thinking about to protect us, not how to spare as many as possible." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That being said, there are certain decisions that won't be up to you. I will place my trust in Bernard, and while I can't make you do the same, I will not allow you to strike him or his men down while I do not will it."

Chloe grimaced as the tactician darkened. "Look, kid, you can be told who your enemies are, but that doesn't always mean you know-" the tactician raised his head, and for once the berserker stopped short.

Varric looked Chloe dead in the eyes, his expression hardened over like stone. "I do know." He replied coldly. "I've seen it time and again. Bernard could be an honest person, but he will raise his weapon against us in the end. I know that Bauker is a good man, but I also know that won't cause him to hesitate for even a second in striking us down." Varric stood and continued speaking, not even caring about who he was speaking to. "There are many, many good men who we'll have to raise our weapons against. I've seen it play out again and again, and even now there are enemies I dread not because of their cruelty of villainous nature, but because I know they're good people who ended up on the wrong side." He turned and went back to his notes, his back to both women. "I won't go after Bernard, as you've requested," he began in the same steely tone, "but don't try and tell me that I don't know a thing about an enemy I've faced a hundred times over. Your story is far from the only one I've seen, I've seen a hell of a lot more worse scenarios than something like Bernard or Bauker."

Chloe stood there stunned silent, while Lyn simply sighed in silence as Varric turned back to his plans, head in hands. "…Thank you for adhering to my request." She replied formally before Varric heard the sound of departing footsteps.

Varric finally loosened the tension in his shoulders and sighed himself. "…Gods almighty, now what the hell am I gonna-"

As a hand placed itself on the tactician's shoulder, he jumped to see only Chloe had left, and Lyn was at his side, smiling in spite of earlier words. "Despite our exchange, I just wanted to say… it's good to have you back, Varric."

Varric softened a bit and finally smiled, albeit wearily.

"...I told you I'd be there, didn't I? Now go catch up with the others." He placed a hand over hers. "You guys need to rest while you can; this is my part."

"Lady Lyndis?" Chloe called, to which Varric nodded before the noblewoman headed back towards the main group.

As Varric finished gathering his things, he rushed forward only to immediately trip over himself with Dorcas keeping him from faceplating onto the soil. "I'm fine… I'm fine-" Varric began.

"Knock it off, boss." Dorcas said, cutting off the tactician's reassuring. "We can all see how much that display earlier took out of ya."

"Marcus!" Eliwood called, and without anything more Marcus nodded and rode up to Varric.

He extended a hand, which Varric reluctantly took. "Instruct the others as you would normally; I'll guard you from any threat." Marcus instructed.

"LET'S GET A MOVE ON!" Hector bellowed, to which the entire legion rushed forward as one into the castle.

AN:

A certain game has given me a lot of ideas about how to handle the psychological aspects of a typical fire emblem setting. Let's just say… there can be no bravery without madness.

Me: Finally decides to stop playing FE heroes

Nintendo: DEPLOY EMERGENCY MEASURES

"Introducing Summer Lyn!" MY HEART-

….and then -atk Berkut c-blocked me after I had gotten all the way to S I X PERCENT

So… college starts again about a month, and i've updated this story like twice over the course of the break. I'm legitimately wondering if college and the stress it brings will actually drag my update rate back up. Like I've said before: this story started as a creative outlet for anxiety and I channel my anxieties and stressors to help me write as a way of coping. I was just re-reading this story a couple of days ago and realized I was getting ready for 12th grade AP exams when I first started uploading these chapters. Can't express enough how happy I am that not only have I not lost an ounce of my determination to see this through to the end, but that so many people are along for the ride.

I'm not writing any less by the way, i'm just writing Fire Emblem a whole lot less. Something something way in over my head, something something Persona 6.

Nerd: Hey, asshole! You forget you got me here with ya?!

AN: YOU'RE THE REASON WE'RE BOTH IN OVER OUR HEADS SO YOU BE QUIET! ...and update your frackin YGO story already. I wanna get back to working on that too.

Nerd: I'M TRYING! WRITER'S BLOCK IS A BITCH!

(If you read this far, maybe check out his surging tides fic? Update schedule for it is nonexistent cause we keep writing stuff that takes place far beyond where its currently at BUT THAT JUST MEANS WE HAVE A LOT IN WAITING so its not gonna die, not if I have a damn thing to say about it. Chapter 6 got no feedback which was disappointing for both of us, cause its his story to begin with, and as for me it debuts one of my characters. It's nice to take a break from deep fully 3 dimensional characters to just ham it up the way only yugioh can.)