A/N: Lookies! A new random, spur-of-the-moment one-shot! Oooh, I am tired! Tired! Hey, if anyone wants to be nice, could you please visit my friend's and my webcomic? It's shounen-ai... (http:threeroads . keenspace . com) Just... take out the spaces. Thanks in advance, if anyone does visit.
Disclaimer: Guess what? Fire Emblem doesn't belong to me.
Warning: Besides a rather (probably) overly-used title, this story also contains shounen-ai. 'Cause I can't live without it... And it's Raven/Lucius, 'course. I love them.
Choices
"Lord Raymond?" The golden-haired monk blinked, brushing away a few rogue strands of his self-proclaimed master's hair with a delicate hand. "Lord Raymond, are you not feeling well?"
For a moment, crimson eyes stared at him blankly, before their owner shook his head; not a disagreement, merely clearing his mind. "I'm fine, Lucius."
The young monk's cerulean eyes rove to the ground, stayed there, half-veiled with lashes of spun sunlight. "My lord, you are being curt with me again, refusing to tell me what is on your mind. You are worried about something, and it is causing you great stress and grief. I can read the signs in your face."
Raymond turned away with a snort, angry at both himself and his beautiful companion. "Perhaps you read wrong, Lucius. I am fine. Whatever I feel is of no concern to you."
"No, you are wrong!" Lucius could only stare at the back of his lord's head beseechingly. "Lord Raymond... Anything that concerns you likewise concerns me. You know that, my lord. When I made my vow to House Cornwell..."
"House Cornwell is no more!" Spinning around, eyes flaring with bitter fire, the mercenary glared at his unnecessarily devoted friend. "Get that through your head, Lucius. You have served Cornwell; Cornwell no longer exists. I am not your lord. I am a homeless, wealthless mercenary." With a sigh, his temper deflated, leaving behind someone who held wisdom beyond his years, someone undeniably weary... "Leave me be, Lucius. From here, we go our separate ways."
"No..." Crystal tears were unseen, displayed for eyes of deep garnet that refused to spare a glance. "Lord Raymond..."
"Raven," interjected the harsh voice. "How many times must I tell you? I am Raymond no longer."
"Always, you will be, to me..." the flaxen-haired acolyte insisted stubbornly. "You are the last of Cornwell, Lord Raymond. I will serve you till my death."
Silence. With a sharp turn, the flame-haired mercenary strode out of the tent. "Then serve the ghosts of Cornwell. But leave me. I am Cornwell no more."
"Never..." A whisper not heard; better that it was not... "I serve you, my lord, whatever you are."
"'Blood is thicker than water.' Isn't that right, Priscilla?" A stone skipped across the surface of a lake as the wind blew in false serenity. "You knew what I would choose, in the end. My little sister, my last family... What choice have I?"
"Lord Brother?"
In the predawn calm, two figures sat side by side behind a curtain of willow branches, facing a tranquil lake whose glassy surface was broken only by infant waves and skipping stones. Silhouettes leaning against each other, they looked to be more than what they may truly be.
"Lord Brother," the soft, feminine voice ventured again. "Brother Raymond, will you really come with me?"
The moment of hesitation was barely noticeable. "Yes."
"But what about them?" A delicate frown formed on scarlet brows above gentle green eyes. "What about him? Is he coming with us?"
The hesitation was longer this time, as if Raven was forcing himself to speak. When he did, his voice was filled with rough anger as it had been in their tent, hours ago. "He stays here with them. They warm to him, not to me."
"But would he not want to come with you?"
The mercenary's crimson head shook. "No. He may wish to, but he would not. His self-felt obligations to them are too great."
"But how he must hurt…"
"He will heal." Curt, harsh, angry. Raven tried to force himself to believe. "He is strong inside. He can survive this, and come out stronger. And when he does… He will no longer be mine, but theirs."
Eyes of clear emeralds glanced into his through the morning haze. "And if he does not, Lord Brother?" The pale head beset by dark garnet hair shook slowly. "If he does not heal, Lord Brother, what would you do? If you are forced to choose again…"
"Enough!" The mercenary looked away. "Do you not wish for me to come with you? Is that not what you want, Priscilla? You requested that I make my choice; I have chosen you. What else would you ask of me?"
Chastised, the young maiden looked away. "Then let us be off, Lord Brother."
The tension drained from Raven's body, as he slumped into a defeated stance. "Yes, let us. The faster we leave this accursed army with its accursed memories, the better. Before dawn strikes, we must be leagues from here."
The golden sunlight breaking over a sky of lily-covered sapphire… Your hair of ripe wheat, your skin of life-giving milk, your eyes of deep ocean…
Goodbye, Lucius. You don't need me. You're much better off without me. I keep you from them, from your true and gentle nature. Now, you are freed from the ghosts of the past…
As the two figures flitted off in the shadow before dawn, one glanced back many, many times, as if committing everyone and everything to eternal memory.
It was not the taller.
"What's this, Lord Brother?"
"Hmmm?"
Priscilla held up an ornate dagger, glimmering in the light of the mid-day sun. It seemed crafted more for ceremonial purposes than functional, but its rune-etched blade was still sharp as though fresh from the whetstone.
Raven could not move.
"More memories, Lord Brother?" the young troubadour asked in concern, gently brushing a hand against her brother's forehead.
Ruby eyes closed. "Yes."
More memories, more pain. You cannot understand, Priscilla.
Slowly, the crimson eyes opened, gazing into those of verdant forests.
Or maybe you can. Have you any memories, too painful to relive, too precious to abandon?
"What is this dagger for?"
"I don't know why I have it," Raven confessed. It as not the answer to her question. Slowly, the response drew out of him. "It belongs with him. I gave it to him when we joined the little rag-tag hero army. So… you know… if ever he was captured, instead of betraying us, he could…"
He shook his head.
"But perhaps it is better this way. I would not want that to happen to him, no matter what. Even if he were to betray us, even if he were to kill us, I would rather that he lived."
"Lived in pain, my brother?"
"Pain?" The mercenary was confused. "He would live to take revenge!"
"He would live knowing he killed those he cared about!" Priscilla declared in return. "Lord Brother, revenge is not all there is to life. I tried to tell you that. Lucius tried to tell you that. And I bet, if he really was captured and forced to fight against us, he would try his best to right all the wrongs afterwards instead of committing more!"
"But I am not Lucius…" The voice was soft, anger replaced by something more desperate, more human. "I am Raven. I have no such feelings. And he… He has never gone through such a thing as this."
"Are you sure, Lord Brother?"
Startled, the mercenary glanced at her, his voice sharpening again. "What do you mean?"
"People do not get their strength from nothing, Lord Brother. You know that. Please remember that."
The only thing she saw in return was a blank stare. "Don't they?"
"Lord Brother, who is your choice…?"
Amidst bustling tents, a flaxen-haired beauty sat in silent stillness and wept. The people around him understood him, pointedly looked away from him. They knew his pain.
No one stopped him as he suddenly stood up, leaving without a word. They knew where it was that he wished to go. They knew his instincts would direct his feet.
In a small clearing, two figures met, embraced. Gold melted into crimson, a flame burning in the light of the sun.
"My lord…"
A small offering of a smile. "In the end, I still chose you…"
Lookies, have I managed to confuzzle everyone again? ;; (And lookies, two updates in one night!)
Also, forgive me if there are some weird things happening with the fics. For some odd reason, non-letter symbols are not formatted correctly when changed into HTML. Oo