1Chapter 1: Prologue
Firedude: Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've made a post in the fire emblem section. Er... if some of my fans are wondering why I discontinued Seven Mythical weapons, I can explain. I did my very best, I've been trying to attempt writing the next chapter I really have, but after taking my mind off the story for so long I can't get back into the swing of it... I'm sorry. But, I'm back into fire emblem again and I want to redeem myself with a story equally as awesome! I can only hope it lives up to my previous story.
Disclaimer: I do not Own the Fire Emblem Franchise or any of its characters.
Firedude: Here I go! Ready? Set? On with the show!
It was night before their triumphant return to Lycia. The camp was lively and everyone was busy. Many of them sat about the camp laughing, drinking and singing away carelessly, you wouldn't have known how grim their experience had been up until then. Bartre and Wil argued loudly with each other, clearly drunk as Rebecca and Karla tried to hold them back. Sain, pretty drunk himself was hitting on Farina and offering her to go off with him to his tent. Being that she was just as drunk as him gave heavy consideration and was leading towards the idea. Kent and Fiora, their two voices of reasons were not stepping in, due to them being off alone in Kent's tent as well. Hector and Dorcas were dead locked in the middle of an arm wrestle, a small crowd forming around them cheering. A lone man in an emerald green cloak was off in his tent laying down on his mat, starring up at the ceiling, a long pipe sticking out of the corner of his mouth. He gently puffed on the end of it, savoring the tobacco's flavor. He heard his tent flap open and close swiftly and someone rush in and place something down next to him. "I found it lord Mark!" He glanced over to Canas as he motioned towards the stack of books he had placed next to him.
Mark sat up on his mat, peering over at the stack of books and raised an eyebrow. "Well? ...Which one is it Canas?" Canas adjusted his monocle and let out an embarrassed laugh. "Well that's just the thing my lord. I'm sure the information you're looking for is in one of these books... the only problem is that I'm not sure which one it is." Mark's jaw dropped, he placed down the long wood pipe and took a good look at the books. "Canas... there has to be six books here and they've all got to be over five hundred pages!" The druid began to slowly back step towards the tent flap and replied, "Yes... I'm sorry about that sir I'll help you look through the books for the information... right as soon as I get an ale!" He shot off into the camp towards one of the kegs with out another word. Mark let out a sigh and smiled, "Whatever... that man needs a drink anyway." He mumbled to himself as he ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and ran a hand over his clean shaven chin. "Well it can't be helped I suppose..." He stashed the books away into a leather bag and looked out into the camp. "Practically everyone is drunk, now is as good a time as any."
He slipped out of his tent and snuck through the camp over to Eliwood's tent. "Lord Eliwood, I-." Mark's eyes widened and he leapt a foot backward, face bright red. He calmed himself down and took another step forward, opening the flap a little and cleared his throat. "Er... my lord, is it alright for me to come in now?" There was some grumbling from inside the tent before he called, "Yeah, come in." Mark took a step inside, glancing between Eliwood who was sitting on the edge of the bed wearing only a pair of pants and Ninian next to him, wearing the bed sheets to cover herself. Mark gave her a quick nod, too embarrassed to say anything. She nodded in reply too, also too embarrassed. Mark then look over To Eliwood, "Um... I wanted to speak to you if that's alright." Eliwood scratched the back of his head and replied, "Yeah, sure... Ninian..." She smiled at Eliwood and kissed him quick on the lips before getting up and going off into another part of the large tent to get dressed. "I'm sorry about that my lord... I bet it's been a long time since you've done that." Mark laughed at this but Eliwood just glared at him. He took a seat in the nearby chair and leaned back in it.
"You're lucky though, she's a nice girl." Eliwood smiled and said, "Yes, she's amazing, you're lucky too though." Mark remained silent, face emotionless and starring off into the corner. "I don't know what you're talking about Eliwood..." He raised an eyebrow and replied, "Mark, you know what I'm talking about." He looked over at him, his expression almost to the point of glaring. "No Eliwood I don't... she's got to get me out of her head. She can do a whole lot better than me." Eliwood frowned and added, "Mark... is there something wrong?" Mark sighed and said, "Nah... I just gotta get out of here." Eliwood smiled and gave him a nod. "I figured you'd be leaving us soon, I won't hold you back." Mark gave no expression and continued, "I have a request though. When you address the people when you get back, you are not to mention me." Eliwood's eyes widened and he rose to his feet. "What!? Why not!? None of this would've been possible if not for you! You deserve every bit of praise as the rest of us!" Mark starred off again and replied, "I have my reasons..." Eliwood glared down at him. "I won't tell, as long you give me an explanation." Mark stayed silent. "Look Mark, I won't tell, but you just need to tell me about it..." Mark got up and scowled at Eliwood. "No." Eliwood glared back and replied, "It's not a big deal Mark, just tell me... you know what, each of us has talked about our past at one time or another, but you've said nothing."
Mark remained silent before walking towards the opening of the tent, before turning back towards Eliwood. "It's my business and mine alone Eliwood... its your choice whether or not you wish to speak of me... it was just a request. I will now take my leave mi'lord... good bye sir." He then walked off into the camp back to his camp. He finished backing his things away and looked at the large bags he was going to try to carry off into the night. "Man... there's no way I'm making it far..." He gave a sigh and walked back off into camp. 'I guess that means I gotta ask him for help...' He thought to himself as he found the blue haired merchant in the middle of a drunken song with Marcus and Lowen. Mark sighed and pulled him away from the two without them noticing. He pulled him off to his tent and began to splash water onto his face. "Come on Mer, time to sober up." Mer shook the water from his face, but Mark kept pouring it on him. "Lord Mark, please! I'm sober!" He coughed out as some of the water spilled down his throat as he spoke. Mark smiled a little and said, "I'm sorry, I need you though." Merlinus raised an eyebrow and looked around. "Lord Mark, I had no idea you were like that. I always doubted whether or not you were completely straight but-." Mark smacked him upside the head and said through clenched teeth. "That's not what I meant idiot! I need you to get your horse and cart and drive me somewhere!"
Merlinus looked over towards his cart and nodded. "Surely my lord! Allow me to inform Marcus and the others that we'll-." Mark grabbed him and pulled him back from walking away. "No! Merlinus this is secret!" Merlinus gave him a confused expression, then looked between him and the large bags nearby. "Lord Mark... Are you running away!?" Mark dragged the bags behind him as he pushed him along quietly towards the cart. "I just need to get going. Tomorrow, some people of ill repute are going to find out I'm still alive when Eliwood tells everyone I was the tactician. I need to get a head start before they come after me." He tossed the bags in the back of the cart and sat up front next to Merlinus. "Well... if you believe its for the best my lord." Mark gave him a nod. "I do..." Merlinus looked off down the road. "Where to then sir?" Mark shrugged and leaned back into his seat and replied, "Any nearby town please..." Merlinus nodded and silently whipped the reigns and they road off into the night. A couple hours later, they were passing by a small town when Mark raised his hand to signal him to stop as he sat up. "My lord... this town is small and dirty, certainly unfit for a man of your repute."
Mark pulled his bags out of the back and said, "Well Merlinus, until tomorrow I'm just some plain old tactician. I'll have a repute once Eliwood makes it back." Merlinus frowned as he watched him drag his bags off to the side. "So... this is really good bye?" Mark sighed and looked up at the merchant. "We'll meet again sometime, but for now yes. I'll see you around." He said smiling up at Merlinus. "Well then, good bye lord Mark." Merlinus then whipped the reigns on his cart and turned it back in the direction of the camp and drove off. Mark watched him disappear into the distance before walking back over to his bags. He grunted as he dragged them off to the inn and up to an available room. He let out a tired huff as he laid there on the bed. "Man... I need to start working out." He sat up and pulled one of the bags over to him, pulling it open, taking out one of the books Canas had given him. He began to skim through it, hoping to find something on what he was looking for. He paused for a minute, looking up from his books and over at the bags. "One... two... three... four!?" He glanced over at the bag of books on the bed and that one made six. Mark leapt up from his place sitting on the bed and pulled a knife from his back waistband. He threw it at one of the bags and it stabbed into it. A loud yelp escaped the bag and Mark glarred over at it.
"Those bags were heavy! But I remember only packing three!" A grumbling came from the bag. Guy opened the bag from the inside and pulled the knife out of his arm with a grumble. "You didn't have to throw a knife my lord!" Mark glared at him and yelled, "You didn't have to make me drag you this whole way either!" He glanced over at the other bag and pointed at it. "And whose in that one!?" Guy kicked it lightly and said, "We're caught, just get out." There was a long silence before the bag opened and Legault climbed out. "I should've known, Guy is much too clumsy to pull something like this off." Guy glared at him as Legault just smiled and bowed. "Thank you sir, it was one of my finer moments." Mark sat back on the bed after he took the knife back from Guy. "So, why are you two here?" Legault sat down on the nearby chair and smiled, "I was bored to be honest, the war is over now and I feel I should start searching for more Black Fang refuges. You travel around a lot, so I figured the best idea was to go with you." Mark sighed and glanced over at Guy who was polishing his sword off on the floor nearby. "And you? Don't you and Priscilla have something going on?" Guy frowned and placed down his sword. "She's a noble, I'm a nomad. It'd never work out. But Legault right, you travel so it'd be a good opportunity for me to search for more opponents." Mark growled and gripped his hair tight.
"God dammit! I don't wanna be stuck baby sitting you two!" Legault glared at him and shot back. "Hey! You know us! We're grateful for everything you've done for us throughout our travels, we won't be any trouble." Mark sighed and tossed each of them a book. "Well then, you're welcome to stay, but I'm putting you two to work." They gave him a skeptical expression before opening their books. "What is this?" Guy asked as he looked at the text. "Books on dark magic throughout history. Read it through until you find it talking about something called The Children of Diablos." The two looked at each other then Mark. "Mark, aren't they some kind of sick cult?" Legault asked as he watched Mark start to read. "Yes, they're old acquaintances of mine." Guy gave him and amused expression. "You're kidding right? The cult's been non existent for a century." Mark let out a small laugh and replied, "Just because you haven't heard about them for a century doesn't mean they're not there." Legault and Guy looked at each other again and then said simultaneously, "They're still alive!?" Mark nodded as Guy continued, "Why do you need to know about them though!?" Mark shrugged and replied, "Well, once Eliwood tells everyone I was the one who helped them out, they're going to be coming after me." Legault smiled and said, "Well you're not going to join them again right?" Mark remained silent for a minute before replying, "They're not coming to recruit me, they're coming to kill me." They starred at him wide eyed as he continued, "I'm going to have to look up the best way to defeat their leader if I hope to survive." Legault laughed at this and said, "Now I know you're bull shitting us. Their leader is the devil himself." Mark looked up at him with a completely serious expression.
"Exactly." There was silence in the room now. "Mark!? Kill the devil himself!?" Mark shrugged with a goofy smile. "Yup! If I don't want to die I'm going to have to. I would appreciate the help of you two if you're willing to follow me." Guy got up to his feet and began to pace around the room panicking. "St. Elimine help us! We're following a madman!" Legault sat back into his chair as he looked at the expression on Mark's face. "You're completely serious aren't you!?" Mark nodded solemnly, ignoring Guy's panic on the other side of the room. "Well, I'm in." Legault said simply as he started to read. "What!? Legault are you mad!? There's no way we can fight someone like that!" Mark smiled at him and said, "Come on, I thought you were after more worthy opponents?" Guy rolled his eyes and answered, "Yes! But the devil!? That's suicide, not a challenge! And a few seconds ago you were agreeing with me on how absurd the idea was!" He said to Legault. Legault shrugged and replied, "Mark has not steered us wrong yet. If he's confident we can win, I'll follow him into battle." Guy's jaw dropped and he fell back onto the floor again. "You... You do have a point there Legault... Mark, I'll come, but you need to answer one thing for me." Mark nodded as Guy got up the words. "You were planning to do this alone weren't you? You're only asking us to come along because we snuck here. Why not just get everyone else to help you too. You know they would agree to it after all you've done."
Mark starred out into space for a minute before answering, "I don't want them to think differently of me because of my past. Even when you two find out the truth you may leave me, despite you giving me your allegiance now." Guy sat there before replying, "You've never cared what anyone has thought of you before until now though... wait a minute, it's not everyone else you're worried about, you just don't want her to-." Mark looked over at him and cut him off, "Yes Guy, that's exactly it, alright?" Guy sighed and shook his head. "You're a crazy fool in love... I know how that feels though so I can sympathize..." He smiled and said, "Alright Mark, I agree with Legault, I trust you." Mark smiled and nodded to him. "Great, then start reading, we've got a long road ahead." As the three continued their studies, Mark thought to himself with a sad feeling deep inside of him. 'Don't worry... I'm going to resolve this all quickly so I can come see you again... I promise...'
Firedude: There you are, A short first chapter, but it's just a prologue so don't worry. The chapters to come will be longer. Flaming is welcome, just please review, your feedback inspires me to keep writing. Thanks for reading.