Author's Note: And we're back after the greatest author's block in my writer "career", seriously, this thing has been in the making for over three months! And the only way it got to see the light of day was because this is a present, albeit a belated one, to Jade… so thank him I guess. Now, to wait for the Smash Demo to play with Ike, Robin and Shulk! Pity that Tiki/Lucina isnt' there.

Radiant Fantasy

Act 2: The Leonhart Rebelion

Chapter Twenty-One

Another Heaven

Part 2: The Crying Empress

"D-Daughter of the Empress?! The hell did you wake her up for then!?" Michael blurted as he scrambled back as fast as he could away from the humanoid creature in front of him. Nimbus didn't react as he thought she would. Instead of being insulted or angry, she rolled her eyes.

"You seriously didn't tell anyone who your insider was?" she demanded to know, Lex raising his arms as defensively as he could.

"Look, the resistance was already suspicious of me and Dad as it was. I couldn't just spout your name carelessly," the orange haired young man told her while looking at both her and Michael apologetically.

"You could just have lied about my "occupation". Name would be the absolute minimum you should share!" Nimbus exclaimed, smacking Lex's shoulder with quite a bit of force, as the man nearly fell to the side due to the impact.

"Normally, I can do that just fine but if they kept pushing the subject I'd just end up giving two different versions of the same story and they'd be onto me before you knew it. So I just used the sigil card," Lex explained whilst he rubbed his sore spot around his shoulder.

"You're hopeless… Guess it's up to me to catch you up to speed, right?" Nimbus asked Mike from the corner of her shoulder.

"Yeah well… I didn't even know the Empress had a daughter, that's how blank I am in the subject," Michael explained, being surprised when Nimbus took it as if she had expected it.

"That's to be expected. My "parents" don't see me as their daughter and I don't see them as my parents," she explained, the prodding looks of Michael pleading for more info, but the subject seemed a bit too touchy for her to just spill. "Look, long story short, the last ten years of my life were spent going in and out of different laboratories, with the quick visits to the capital just to have Shinryu check if I was still "usable". Meaning he wanted to see if I suddenly didn't drop out of this state," Nimbus pointed out, raising her clawed hand to give both her and Mike a full view on it. "Before you ask, yes, I was born this way. Apparently I don't have enough human blood in me to get an actual human form."

"Wait… you have human blood in ya?!" Mike exclaimed, receiving a knuckle sandwich in return for his prodding.

"I don't look like that much of a freak! Anyway, my past hardly matters for what we have to do now. I'd reckon Shinryu already knows of your little "entourage", so we'd better blow this popsicle stand!" Nimbus exclaimed, getting more than a strange look from her peculiar choice of words. "Look, just follow me, okay?" she told the duo before jumping through a nearby glass window into another room and taking into a sprint. Mike looked back at Lex, who just shrugged his shoulders and took off.

"Where are we going anyway?" Mike asked after sometime of rushing after the gold bolt and quite a few guards thrown towards him after having been unlucky enough to turn the same corner Nimbus was turning.

"The Maenad Germination and Storage Center of course," Nimbus explained, finally readjusting Michael's mind. The plan was back on its tracks, just with one strange addition it seemed.

They quickly arrived at said facility, one much similar to the one we had seen before. As the name implied, it was just a gargantuan room filled to the brim with test tube-like "pod" depicting various stages of the small, human-shaped weapons of mass destruction that were the Maenads. The growth pods were so numerous they had formed a labyrinth-like structure, which, along with the strange, violet lightning, only made it all the harder to navigate around the room.

"They stepped up the production," Lex commented, his normally confident expression wavering just one bit while he examined the sheer quantity of Maenads, following his informant through the room. "These could fill in for a small army by themselves," Nimbus nodded in return, explaining:

"That's because, initially, they simply took my DNA and remodeled it to fit into the almost ancient Maenad code that they had back in the time where the last war happened. Unsurprisingly, that took a long time to actually accomplish, it took them a while to understand how to make the production semi-reliable," Nimbus gasped for a moment as her Manakete-like tipped ears twitched, slit eyes locking onto what looked to be a test tube to the northwest of her.

Before any of the male duo could follow her vision, she had already shot herself in that direction, dashing faster than anyone that the two had ever seen. At the same time, a teenager-looking Maenad was circumventing the test-tube, apparently on patrol. In the mere moments that it took the Maenad to make visual contact with her enemy and for her brain to process the solution, Nimbus had forced her palm right into, and to Michael's shock, through her sternum, destroying her chest cavity instantly. As if that weren't enough, Nimbus used her free right hand to punch the Maenad's neck, crushing her trachea and guaranteeing there would be no healing spells coming from that thing's mouth. Showing no mercy, Nimbus quickly moved behind her and snapped what was left of her neck, leaving her to fall dead on the ground.

"I think the explaining can come later. Why did you bring us here Nim?" Lex asked her, even him being slightly phased by how merciless the girl in front of him had been. It just didn't match up to what he knew of her.

"Long story short, find a Maenad with a teal-blue stripe of hair around the left side of her forehead. I don't care if we're able to easily destroy this facility, as long as Shinryu has that one, that means nothing," Nimbus looked dead serious about this, and while the curiosity on the two men built up, the surprise encounter with a Maenad had reminded them they could be busted any moment, which lead them to separate in order to find the Maenad Nimbus had mentioned.

Turns out, this wasn't the greatest quest to find a needle in a haystack, as it didn't take much for any of the parties to notice a large change in the tone of light to come from the opposite their respective directions as they progressed through the room. In mere minutes, the trio had already regrouped in what looked to be the dead center of the room, united in front of what could only be described as a floating sphere of the same material as the pods, somehow being held up by a cross of luminous bounds that came from either side of the ceiling and floor. Inside it, curled up in a fetal position, was clearly a mature Maenad with the appointed stripe on the left side of her forehead.

"That was easier than expected… now to get her down from there," Nimbus thought aloud, Michael's curiosity finally getting a hold of him.

"What do we need this one for? I mean, why is she so important we are risking our asses just to be sure she gets eliminated instead of relying on the near foolproof plan we came with? Nimbus looked back at Michael, her expression much more shaken than he would have thought.

"This Maenad is the model for all other Maenads. She's one of a kind in that sense," Michael and Lex nudged her to go on, the golden girl realizing she would need to at least share the info with them if she was not to raise suspicions. "Remember when I said it took them a long time to make a Maenad adapted from my DNA? Well, that problem was theoretically easy to fix. They would just need to find a way to create a "medium", or better yet, a "blueprint" for a Maenad with my DNA. Said "blueprint" would serve as the genetical map towards the DNA extracted from me, meaning they could make the process of creating Maenads fast and automated. Not only that, but the DNA wouldn't need to be extracted directly from me, they could just copy her's," she explained, to which Lex's brain cogs quickly disputed with:

"That just means that any Maenad can turn the process into an automated one. Why do we have to take care of just this one? And why were you in a test tube if they can just copy your DNA from this one?" Alexander pointed out, impressing Michael as to how fast he had seen through the holes in Nimbus' story. The young woman proceeded to take another deep sigh. Something seemed to be really hitting her.

"They don't have my DNA fully comprehended and they need a lot of spare DNA in case this one fails. You just came in a little before I became… disposable," she explained, the first of the holes filling itself up, but the change in order of the answers in relating to the questions seemed to be purposeful when it came to Nimbus. "As for why they need this one and not just any other… it's because she was able to become my friend," looking up to the floating capsule, Nimbus didn't stop to give any of the two men time to question what she meant by it, she didn't think she would be able to start talking about it again after shutting up. "That Maenad developed free will. That's the reason why it's so valuable…"

"Free will? Well, isn't that just a gain for us? I mean, think about it, that means that, even if they clone her, the other Maenads won't be mindless drones, they will be able to be convinced to turn on Scales if he treats them as bad as he does to us all!" Michael exclaimed, taking the situation purely at face value.

"I'm much more worried about the fact that she… developed a free will, emphasis on the developing part," Lex said as he scratched the lower side of his chin. Nimbus nodded in return.

"Exactly. Free will is, usually, a negative for a Maenad… but the ability to evolve is not. The capability to evolve makes them… well, nearly unstoppable at best, invincible at worst. Think about it, the Maenads are already the best science could ever create in terms of biologically enhanced living beings. But that's their problem, they are static. They are "perfect". Now, imagine them being able to learn the moves of the ones they killed, being able to learn about new tactics on their own. Being able to act on their own accord. You just need to manipulate them into serving you and they are no longer dependent on humans, it just makes them that much scarier," putting it that way, Mike started to understand the urgency of taking the Maenad down, but he still couldn't help but have two words haunt him. Free Will.

"Still, that's a hell of a gamble. From what you told me, if that Maenad was your friend… that means that they can end up having to deal with things like revolutions and dissent, as it's proven that they are able to feel things at least almost like humans do," Lex said, the young man trying to decipher what would push them to such a bet.

"It's not a gamble," Nimbus' eyes were nearly hollow by now as she looked at the ground, whatever spunk she seemed to have even after being captured and trapped in a test tube had vanished by now. "They have something in place to make them take advantage . They call it "The Creator". It's essentially a program that acts as a sort of "collective consciousness" to all the Maenads. I have no idea how it works really, but it's like they pull the strings on what they think and feel and can give them instructions whenever they want, and basically have an eye on all of them at all times. Again, no specifics, there's just so much I can get from playing dead inside a tube,"

"So they'd give them all free will and ability to evolve… and would use the Creator program to keep them on their cause. If any of them started acting strangely, they would either kill her or bring her in for analysis before doing it. That it?" Lex questioned, to which the girl responded with a nod. "Well, I guess this one really has to go then,"

"Wait a second!" Michael interrupted, putting himself between Lex and the Maenad. "Wouldn't it be better for us to just blow up that Creator thing? I mean, if we're lucky, we can get them to side with us!"

"The Creator program is not handled here. It's probably back at the capital to ensure it's as secure as possible. Shinryu knew of the danger the Maenad facilities were under," Nimbus explained from the side, the passivity in her voice angering the young man that had just blocked Alexander's shot.

"She's your friend! You said yourself! Are you really going to let her di-"

"Are you telling me that you KNOW she's not under The Creator's influence now? Are you sure?! Because I'm not! You think it's easy for me to do this?! No, but do you think that, even for a second, I'll risk the last chance we have on this world to try and see if she isn't? Of course not! Now don't waste any more time, the guards can get here any mi…" the sound of guns cocking and charging stopped Nimbus' rampage cold. "Damn it all…"

"Should have just shot and ran…" Lex cursed under his breath while Michael stayed as still as he could, not out of fear, but trying to come up with a valid escape plan, which didn't seem to be the easiest of things to come up with at the moment as they were completely surrounded by some understandably angry troopers, probably having had to dealt with the monster rampage Lex had caused. Still, the same man asked himself how had they dealt with them already… they didn't seem to have any elite soldiers to disable Ultima or anything like it. The other option was impossible. It would require someone with a "higher up" blood in the command chain than he had. But he had half of Shinryu's blood in him. There were only a couple of people that outranked him, and one was standing just by his side.

"Stand down and hand over the girl. We promise you a fair trial under the eyes of the Lord Dragon," the captain of the squadron demanded, his mouth probably unable to handle more manure than he was spewing at the moment. It didn't trick anyone and they were pretty sure he wasn't even trying to. The snide, sick smile of satisfaction he had only showed that much.

"What about this…" Nimbus told them, raising her hand and stepping forward. "You stand down and I won't kill you all. I mean heroes don't exactly kill unarmed men, so you should be lucky if you drop everything you have!" the guards thought she was bluffing, Michael thought she was bluffing, Lex was just silent about it. Almost as if he was wondering if this was a good idea or not.

"Incapacitate the subject," the now slightly distraught captain told the man to his side, adding a corporal message to aim for the areas that wouldn't immediately kill her, ergo heart and brain. Nimbus didn't move as the man slowly began preparing his gun and taking aim, down right to the moment where he pressed the trigger. A gold blur appeared just in front of her as the bullet left the gun but never hit the target.

"I was thinking you wouldn't believe me…" Nimbus said, raising her hand and opening it to show the bent and nearly destroyed bullet resting on top of her palm. "Now, about the "drop the weapons" part of the deal. Are you more receptive or…"Nimbus began, crushing the bullet in her hand and leaving the dust to fall from it. "Are we just going to have to do this the hard way?" the guard's formation became a mess as ones started backing off, dropping their guns in the process, while others just started readying their shots, all while the commander and scientists shouted at them that they could not kill the "specimen" as it was one-of-a-kind.

It was then that it hit Lex and Michael, it was the time to strike back! They readied their weapons, Lex unsheathing his sword and taking out his handgun while Michael took out a strange cube and prepared to jump into the fray. Until…

"T-the lady has arrived!" Michael looked into the place where the sound came from in confusion. Lex stopped dead cold and looked at the entrance. Nimbus was seething.

From the darkness first came a pale violet light that slowly intensified until one could see a humanoid body slowly making its way towards them.

"So that's why the beasts stopped listening to me…" Lex cursed, shaking his head and trying his best to keep his calm.

The figure was getting closer and closer, making it obvious the light was coming from it, most specifically her hair, legs and arms. The time it took it to reach them looked like an eternity, the guards seemingly even more appalled than the heroes. Michael finally realized just what was coming. Who was coming. It was a figure he had seen far too many times as he grew up.

When it did arrive, or better, she, Nimbus groaned hatefully:

"Mother…" as she stared at the now clearly visible figure. It was a human that looked to be on her mature years, age didn't matter if she were to be Shinryu's consort. Her face, unlike Nimbus', was very much human for the most part, with two major differences. For one, much like Nimbus, her eyes were slit, however her slits were much more reptilian then Nimbus' vaguely felyne eyes. Three streaks of silver crystalline substance ran down her face from each of her eyes like tears, reminding everyone who had ever laid eyes on their empress of tears. It was why Mike had always known her as nothing more than "the Crying Empress". Her hands and feet were clawed, just like Nimbus, albeit in a violet hue that was reflected on her flowing, lavender hair. Silver scales coiled around her arms and legs in flaming patterns that finished just before her dress. Her pristine white dress that extended from her shoulders till her waist, when it opened in a V-formation with a black, flaming pattern, only seemed to accentuate how beautiful yet terrifying the woman in front of them were. And, much like she was nothing more than a pet, she wore a choker that almost reminded people of a collar.

"Nimbus… it has been far too lon-"she spoke in a melodically enthralling tone, her words coiling around the speechless mob of people and turning them into less than puppets before her. Mike and Lex cringed and shook their heads as they heard the voice, instantly deducing that it had to be laced with some sort of charm spell.

"Don't even start with that! You left me to rot in a lab for fifteen years just because I didn't have your precious' dead daughter's space bending magic. You're not my mother, don't address me as if you were!" if words could catch on fire, Nimbus' mouth would be a sea of flames with each and every word that came out from within it. Nimbus' apparently cool and optimistic exterior had finally crumbled, not for the stress of the escape, but for the rage inside her. No one there could blame her. A parent that had not only ignored her but sentenced her to be little more than a sample in a laboratory just because she could have not emulated her younger sibling.

"You have the right to find our methods extreme. Yet we must put our needs in front of our wants. What you have done here was instrumental to our rule and you have made us nothing less than delighted at your contributions." The Empress talked just like any mother would when she explained her child why the world was harsh. The love that seemed to come hand in hand with those words both confused and sickened the trio.

"You're right… you're absolutely right. The needs of the many are way heavier than the wants of the few! And that's why we're here. And why we'll never be some… thing that I call a Mother," Nimbus blared, assuming fighting stance, which immediately was met with the guard's taking aim at every part of her body again. Lex signaled Michael to stay still, because they were expendable, unlike Nimbus.

"And this is how you intend accomplish it? Betraying your own blood? With no regard about peace?" again, it was disturbing how serene and how thoughtful the tone of the Empress was. If they didn't knew the atrocities she had ordered, that she had committed… they would think she was truly trying to help her daughter understand what was the greater good.

"Making the mother of all omelettes here, Mom- can't fret over every egg!" Nimbus told her mother, more than apparently thinking she was gaining sway in the argument. Still, one had to wonder where her confidence was coming from, as their situation was still hopeless.

"Ah yes… however. Is your cause just or is that just what you tell yourself? A strawman for your want to get your revenge against the world that oppresses you?" the Crying Highness questioned, for the first time being accusatory and negative towards her spawn. Nimbus chuckled.

"Really, even if I took out the heroic intentions that you seem to be discrediting, nothing would change, I'd still do this. I prefer to live or die outside a test tube than be a vegetable for six out of seven days of the week and a prisoner on the off day. At the end of the day, saint or demoness, this outcome hardly changes," Nimbus told her at the same time Lex and Michael heard a cracking sound all around them. Michael tried to examine the surroundings, Lex went into deep thought and nodded to himself.

"Ah… so that is your concern," the monarch said, combing her hair with her crystalline claws whilst she looked over the trio beneath her. "What if I told you that your… cooperation with our investigation is soon becoming unnecessary? Would your rage be justified if we were to welcome you back into the castle a daughter proven worthy of her legacy, hail you as a heroine of the realm even? You cooperation has given you father the last piece he needed for the puzzle that he alone constructed. I'm certain that there is nothing but pride in him for you, the girl that, despite being born crippled, became the princess he so desperately wanted!"

Nimbus expression turned unreadable, something that distraught Michael. He knew nothing of this girl, and she had just been offered her dream, without having to fight either. For all he knew, she would just walk right back into her mother's arms.

"What about them?" this shocked the entire room. "Can you guarantee their safety?" she asked, looking at Michael and Lex, nodding briefly at the latter.

"If you so desire, they could be your guards… or playthings, whatever your heart desires." The Empress told her, extending her hand towards her daughter. Michael, uncertain how to take this, was caught by surprise by Lex pointing at the sphere with the back of his hand. The cracking sound intensified, causing the gears in Michael's head to finally start turning. The Empress then walked towards Nimbus as the girl slowly walked towards her, the two meeting halfway through. "Come with me my child. I can make your life into your own personal heaven." Some expected Nimbus to take the hand. Some expected her to slap it away. Some didn't know how to expect.

No one expected her to laugh.

"You really don't understand me, do you? Your idea of heaven is my hell mother!" she exclaimed, extending her arms, with it coming the sound of a thousand breaking glasses. Nimbus then closed her two limbs, entwining her fingers as, in complete synchrony with her movements, all the fluids that had been kept in the Maenad's pods tidal wave'd through the guards, leaving them disarmed and distraught, while somehow avoiding Lex and Michael, before encompassing her parent in a spherical prison of the watery substance. Just as that happened, Nimbus shouted: "Run!" while roundhouse kicking the sphere away, her feet somehow not going through he fluids, which shot the prison and the prisoner into the darkness ahead.

Lex started shooting down every guard that was still armed or standing, leaving Mike to take the job he had assigned to him. "Taking care of the Maenad".

Which was exactly what Michael did. Jumping into the glass, the cube in his right hand project a saber of light that cut through the sphere like butter… before cradling the Maenad into his arms and jumping off in the direction of the entrance. Nimbus shook her head at the behavior and Lex cursed, but they had no time to argue. They had to fly like the wind. And they did.

It took a while for them to catch up to Michael. He could be the slowest runner, but the three were running at full speed through the facility, none of them knowing full well what kind of powers the Empress could demonstrate.

"Mike, the hell did you do back there?!" Lex asked, for the first time in this campaign truly irritated at his partner, who was running around with the equivalent of a biological nuclear bomb.

"I… followed my gut. We can't stoop to their level. I won't at least. I won't deny anyone a second chance. Nimbus got hers, this Maenad will get hers too!" Mike exclaimed with all the conviction he could muster up, making Lex interiorize that he was not going to change Michael's feelings on this. Especially when they were a purer version of his own.

"Just know that this is all on you," Nimbus told him while taking the lead, making a turn they were not aware of to cut some distance. It was at this point that Lex's communicator rang:

"Yes dad? Took you a while. How long…? Five minutes?! Are you insane?!" it didn't take a genius to realize what had just happened. By the time Lex had put down the phone, he really didn't need to talk. "This thing blows up in five. How long until we get to the hatch Nim?"

"At this speed… three-four minutes." Nimbus told him with an awkward smile.

"Great... better not get caught by anything then," Lex replied with a tip of his humor returning. They were not being chased by anything and that continued to be so for at least three more minutes. It was then that Lex realized how much he had jinxed himself.

"It's just around this corner! At the end of the hallway!" Nimbus told the duo just as they turned said corner... only to be met with just about every creature that Lex had used, the Empress sitting on her throne on top of Ultima's crest.

"You really should have taken my offer while you could, Nimbus. It would make tough love unnecessary!" the Empress exclaimed, her mind commanding the beasts to attack with no hesitation.

"I should have called this… stay with the plan everyone! We barely got a minute left!" he shouted, Nimbus and Michael nodding. What they were doing was nothing less than insane. And maybe that's why it was bound to work.

They recklessly dashed towards the hordes of enemies crashing upon them, taking care to never be at a distance from Nimbus, who they were sure the Empress did not want to kill, hence protecting them from any magical blast that she may have wanted to throw, either from her own conjuration or Ultima's. Knowing the patterns through many battles, either by war or by training, it was easier than one would think for the trio to dodge, weave, kick, shoot and slash their ways through some of the monsters until they realized how close they were to the enemy herself. With that, they all confirmed their wants with each other before using Ultima's jaw as a leaping stool towards the Empress, who erected a flaming pillar to detracted any attacker from reaching her.

Only, they weren't attacking her, were they?

By the time she had realized she had been played, she swiftly erupted from her pillar of fire and flew into the room, her expression finally turning into a cold flame.

"You truly think I would be dissuaded by so little-"

"Reflect Bomb!" the Carbuncle cried out, hundreds of small prisms of light he had set up for this moment erupting into a blinding light show that claimed the Empress' vision for a few moments.

"Great job bub!" Michael congratulated with a pat on the small Esper's back. This was more than enough for Nimbus to do her thing and simply destroy the elevator's tunnel the one that led directly into the bottom of the Lake. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been nearly as dangerous, as this was an elevator meant to lead people from a submarine into the facility. That had not been the case with Mike, the only thing on the other side of the tube was the unforgiving lake. He had even destroyed this elevator's first security hatch, just to make this plan even easier to execute.

A torrential amount of water suddenly spewed forward from the tunnel, somehow circling around the trio and the Esper before taking the Empress and all her creatures with it into the dark depths of the facility. At the same time as the Empress' first scream of rage radiated into their ears, Lex had opened up the second elevator located right next to the broken one, the one Mike had entered from and they all hoped aboard it.

Using Carbuncle's barriers, they were able to leave through the other end and float their way up the lake as they were pushed by an unknown upward current that more than countered the funnel effect that Nimbus had created, nimbly escaping the massive whirlpool that had been born from it. Moments later, the chaotic chain of blasts from the explosives planted in the facility became their propulsion engine, rocketing up and away from the lake, even going as far as crashing tens of meters from the shore.

By the time they got themselves together and out of the Carbuncle's barrier, Michael took note that over half of Lake Avia had emptied.

"Think she's dead?" Michael asked, receiving two very much blank looks. "Yeah, it wouldn't be that easy, would it?"

"Better yet, where's your father Lex? Wasn't he the one that armed the bombs?" Nimbus posed a valid question, to which Lex had to check the phone for an answer.

"He told us to travel separate to attract less attention. He'll meet us at the Mila Sprout," he told them as he closed off his case. Nimbus took this as a sign to blitz out of there and raised her hands upward into the skies and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing there?" Michael asked, yet again confused about her antics.

"Getting us a ride!" Nimbus simply told him as something descended in their direction.

Present Time, Border of Dalmasca:

Much and yet nothing had happened since the last time we left our main heroes. Ike's group, or should I call it army now? In any case, they had finally organized all the supplies and transportations necessaries to begin their invasion of the Ivalician Kingdom. For Ike and Elincia, this time had been spent doing little more than training and studying their new found troops, while Shin and Terra had dedicated their time not only to training but to spending quality time with their daughter and temporary adopted one. Iris had been down ever since she had learned about her parents, but it wasn't grave or more than barely noticeable either. In short, nothing of mention had happened in the last two weeks.

One of these weeks was spent in the Rosa Brilhante, the stolen flagship that had become the vanguard for this operation. Esthar's Lagunarok was far too easily detected as an invading ship by any of the populace, so were any of the other ships they had taken, even the Alexandrian one brought by Eirika, as such, an advanced party had been sent in the Rosa, mostly the same one that had reached Esthar in it, Ike's very much enlarged Greil's Mercenaries basically. Their job was to scout ahead and even try to make peace or gain allies with some of the populace, with the Lagunarok following three days behind.

Due to this last clause, the small border village between Ivalice and Esthar, Conde, had become a place of interest for the heroes, who had disembarked from the Rosa a few miles away and sent a small party containing only Elincia, Nasir, Titania, Shinon and Gatrie towards the village. At first, Ike and Soren were considered for the first two spots, however, the uproar they had caused not even a year ago made them too much of a risk.

"Remind me again why we are walking into an enemy village without even bringing the Queen of the entire Realm along!" Shinon grumbled loudly as they approached the entrance to the village.

"Will you be quiet before anyone hears you Shinon? We do not need to become the prime suspicion of the countryside." Titania reprimanded, having the expected effect on Shinon. Zero-to-none.

"Yeah Shinon, take it easy! We get dibs on the ladies too!" who else but Gatrie could have said that?

"If you really need to know Shinon, it's because travelers are much more prone to being able to listen to rumors that wouldn't circulate through officials. And we should evaluate the opinion of the public on the runaway Queen before showing her like a trophy. Who knows how big of a bounty she possesses?" Nasir explained, the thousand year old dragon laguz tactician coldly laying down the situation as always.

"Quiet down everyone, the village is just around the corner," Elincia told them all as she straightened her cape up.

"Pft, fine," Shinon spat back, still not used to taking orders from anyone but Greil. Not even his Queen.

What they found inside the village was not like they had expected it to be. The village was in not destroyed or anything, nothing had signaled any struggle, and nothing was unmaintained. However, it was a complete ghost town. No markets were opened, no windows were visible, not a single soul walked the brown soil of the human encampment that was Conde.

"What do you think happened here?" Elincia was the first to ask, Titania giving her first guess:

"Maybe the villagers were taken away by soldiers?" to which Gatrie and Shinon were the first to agree with. It would make sense… yet Nasir was not convinced. Dragon Laguz's hearing was far above a beorc's, and in the utter silence of the province, he could hear footsteps echoing in wood when he neared one of the houses. Not only that, but the sound of windows creaking visited his ears from time to time.

"No. The villagers are here still. Barricaded into their own houses," the dragon told them, still deep in thought.

"Alright! Which door I break down?!" Gatrie exclaimed, readying his spear arm for some thrusting.

"We're not breaking anything down until we understand why they are doing this!" Titania told Gatrie, smacking him on the upside of the head.

"It's not because of us," Shinon told them, his gaze more alert than ever before.

"How come?" Elincia asked, slightly startled as she saw Shinon reach for his blessed Double Bow.

"Too clean, too fast. They would not have been able to react to us that easily. No, they are hiding from something else. Something… bigger," Shinon whispered, tensing his arrow just a bit as he looked through his surroundings.

"Like wha-" As soon as Gatrie talked, the most bone-chilling, thundering roar that any of them had heard ever since they had faced Dheguinsea, the Black Dragon King, echoed throughout the skies of the village, followed by the sound of thunder and the crackling of fire. Powerful wings beat on the horizon as an eerie light appeared atop the forest near the village, overshadowing the sunlight.

"What in the name of Ashunera was that?!" Titania cringed as her Urvan was slung immediately into battle position. Nasir's expression was unreadable, yet, it was shaken. And it took a lot to do so.

"That, Titania, is a Dragon."

Next Chapter:

The plight of a Village, the tears of a mother, the thundering roar of a dragon. Dalmasca's catastrophes number in much more than a single war.

"That thing has taken everything away from us!"

"My daughter has not returned from the forest…"

"How about we go on an adventure?!

Next time, The Throneless King

Post-Chapter Note: Nope, not going to give you Nimbus' magic or the Empress' identity right off the bat. Time to use that head of yours guys and guess! Don't worry, I won't bite, guess away. But yeah, this chapter FINALLY got them out of that cursed city… which gives me just what I need to take this plot away from the stagnation it was becoming. No more sitting around and flashbacking. It's time for the real thing. Onwards to Rabanastre! HURRAH!

Don't forget, any review is appreciated and only makes this run faster!