Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, but Blake is mine.

This is just a drabble made by my own senseless imagination.

Vanessa meets a dark-blue haired assassin somewhere I don't know and the story stitched itself miraculously.

Sorry for the unnecessary mistakes and errors.

Thanks for Patinator for coming up with a name for Valter's wyvern. It was cool. xD

Just read, and review, of course.

When everything you believe is true, nothing is.

Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones

Orthoclase

War is senseless. Killing is worthless. I hate to say this but I wish I was not a soldier. I wish I was living a life of peace and solitude. But, somehow, all my regrets have vanished when I decided to fight for the good; to fight for the existence of all living creatures.

I betrayed my hometown and switched sides. I came from Grado, the power-hungry country ruled by a demon—King Lyon. Under him are the Imperial Three: General "Obsidian" Duessel, General "Sunstone" Glen, and General "Moonstone" Valter. Have you ever wondered why are there only three generals instead of representing the four founding pillars of the holy insignia?

It was because I ran away. I am the fourth general of the Empire of Grado: General "Orthoclase" Blake. I am the empire's stealthiest assassin, the killer machine. Why did I leave my post, you ask? It was because I realized I have been fighting for the wrong side.

Prince Ephraim welcomed me in his troop whole-heartedly and it seems that General Duessel betrayed Grado as well, leaving Valter by the throne, since Glen has been killed. But even though I was accepted in the troop, I wanted my identity to be hidden from prying eyes. I blended well in the infantry, camouflaging myself beneath the normal mercenaries and assassins.

I found out that ladies partook in the war as well. Prince Ephraim's twin, Princess Eirika was here, as well as Princess L'Arachel of Rausten and Princess Tana of Frelia. The Princes were fighting too as Prince Joshua of Jehanna and Prince Innes, Princess Tana's elder brother, of Frelia. They socialized well with people of all ranks, and did not care about their own autocracy. More than a dozen of high ranking soldiers from Rausten, Jehanna, Frelia and a commanded the troops; snipers, sages, paladins, great knights, Pegasus, wyverns, and all.

Ours was a very strong army that was not like the others, for people here relied on the bonds that they all were tied to. They used their love for their nation and friends to show their real strength. All they wanted was peace, and we shared a common goal.

Among the thousands of soldiers and joint forces, one Pegasus Knight caught my attention. She was the younger sister of Syrene, the 9th battalion commander of Frelia's Pegasus Knights—her name's Vanessa. She was very beautiful and as she gracefully danced with her Pegasus, Titania, she took my breath away. Her shiny emerald locks swayed with the wind, as well as her translucent sea green eyes mirrored light and her smooth strong limbs made her movement as fluid as water.

As I watched over her, I kept my silence. Never did I get the urge to talk to her nor talk about her for mine was an emotion that cannot be expressed. I am an assassin. I am a killing machine, and I despise my existence. But secrets cannot be hidden forever and she eventually found out what I was doing for the past battles: killing every single enemy within her 20-meter radius. It was a ridiculous plan, I know, but through this surreptitious doing, I could protect Vanessa willingly. But she found out, after a while, that nothing was able to strike her or even get close.

Then one night, after I ate with Heroes and Mercenaries, Titania came with Vanessa on its back. Our sleeping quarters were on a separate lodge, for we are prohibited to go to the main castle where the royalties were resting. It would simply mean disrespect. When Vanessa came and looked for me, my whole body tensed as I went out to meet her. She had never looked so beautiful since I saw her and that made my black biotic heart turn crimson.

"You protect me from every danger," she started out seriously; her translucent emerald eyes piercing my soul. "You save me from death even though you are merely a stranger to me."

I almost lost my composure at that time. "You noticed…"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, I should have told you, Lady V—"

When I spoke out, her eyes glinted with alarm and I realized that I must have said something wrong. I wanted to ask her why all the sudden panic, but my throat was filled with sawdust that I could barely react. It troubled me to see her frantic face in deep thought, and I wanted to ease that dread out of her. I opened my mouth to say something sensible this time, when she interrupted me.

"Vanessa. Call me Vanessa. My sister told me you are a high-ranking officer in Grado—you were one of the generals. I should be calling you Sir Blake from now on. I came here to send the message that Prince Ephraim wanted you to stay in the main castle."

Thrill and compassion filled me my name escapes her lips. It was nostalgic.

"I would prefer Blake much better, Vanessa."

All the tension in her face drained away, and I was relieved to see that.

Her melancholic voice rang in my ears once again. "Thank you, Blake."

That was how we shared our first conversation; it was short, but definitely worth the time. After that, you all know the rest, of course. I transferred to the main castle, and made a whole new circle. General Duessel and Cormag, Glen's younger brother, were happy to see me, just like the others.

Prince Ephraim gave me the 12th and 13th troops to lead. I made new comrades, such as Knoll the Summoner, and Prince Joshua the Myrmidon. Joshua was not like the other royalties, for he spent his existence as a normal person; he never wanted to be treated differently. The three of us became the best of friends, and the bonds of brotherhood bound us forever. We called our legion the 'Triumvirate', and we swore never to let one die.

As the battles passed by, so did the regrets. With each passing day, I learned to live through my own way. I spent every moment with Vanessa and my comrades, cherishing the opportunity given to me. I begun to see the beauty of life, I learned to treat myself as a human and with the painful loss of my sister, Gabrielle, who was killed in war, I had moved on.

I continued to protect Vanessa as we fought side by side, never leaving her at any critical moment. My loyalty to the troop had been well established, and I had made my circle of friends even bigger. A lot of pairs were present, as they have been connected by duty and love. There was always Prince Ephraim and Princess Tana, Prince Innes and Princess L'Arachel, Princess Eirika and Seth, Gerik and Tethys, Colm and Neimi, Franz and Amelia, Knoll and Marisa, Joshua and Natasha, Gilliam and Syrene, Artur and Lute, and many others. And somehow, as I saw how they shared the war torn battlefield, I was filled with courage to fight for their happiness.

But protecting the remaining Sacred Stones was a very intricate task indeed, especially with dragons and demons as your enemy. It was a long and perilous journey, but in every war, in every fight, people die.

I tried to save him, but Knoll was the first to go. One of my best friends, the unspoken voice of our Triumvirate, Knoll; I could not believe I missed the arrow that had struck his once beating heart. I could not believe that I let him die and break our promise of living until the end. I shook with fury, and without hesitation, I stabbed the Sniper that killed me without end until Garcia and Dozla had stripped me off the corpse. Although I was filled with bitter resentment once again, tears did not find their way out of my eyes. The funeral trudged in, agonizingly; Marisa was on the verge of insanity, and so were Joshua and the others. The rest comforted those who were crying, while I stood with Vanessa, not a tear had dropped.

Days passed by and I could not take it any longer, I broke down and wept for my lost friend. The grief over his death was too heavy for me to bear and too sharp to be held in place. That was when she came in again—Vanessa disregarded her personal emotions, as Knoll was a close family friend of hers, and attended to my inconsolable state. Because of her, for the second time, recovery became fast.

When we challenged the Empire of Grado again, the battle became harder without Knoll around. And when I planned to avenge his death, I became reckless. I killed every enemy within my sight, not caring whether I'll be noticed or not.

That was the biggest mistake I've ever done.

When I turned around to glance at Vanessa and check if she is safe, the sharp end of a Silver lance met my sight instead. The lance had passed through my chest and blood spilled on the floor. I lie on my back, my eyes were focused at the sky as my body endured the pain. A dark shadow blocked the light and I tried very hard to see what it was.

He looked down on me mercilessly, a coy smile on his face. His eyes were black and not a white space could be seen. And when he spoke, I heard the sound of death.

"Traitor." It was Valter; his dark blue, serpentine wyvern, Leviathan, shook the ground. "Never did I think I would see you here."

As he plunged the lance deeper into my chest, blood came out of my mouth. I shook my body and tried to reach for him, but not an ounce of life was left on me. I groaned and everything started to get blurry,

"Die and rot, Blake." He said as he pulled the strongest kind of lance out of me.

Everything was very slow and silent, making the pain unbearable with each passing moment. When I blinked, silence was replaced with ear-piercing sounds; wails and screams. Maybe they figured out that I was dying or that I needed help badly. The spectrum of light swirled on top of me endlessly. My body, frozen with pain, had become numb. Blinding light filled my sight, together with L'Arachel's staff over my body. She was trying to heal me and I hoped that she would succeed. After a few seconds, the swirling of colors stopped and the light had faded in the background—I could finally see.

"V-Vanessa… I could n-not heal h-him…" L'Arachel's voice rang in my ears, mixing with the noisy sounds of crying. "…I'm s-s-sorry."

Numbness crawled out of my body and I could only continue to bear the pain on the huge gash on my chest. Perhaps, Valter's Silver lance was enchanted with a charm that would not heal the wound it caused; I learned that from Saleh, the resident Sage. I groaned again, unable to carry the heavy weight on my life. I was going to die in a matter of seconds, what is the suitable thing to do?

Vanessa came into view. Tears streamed down her face as she shook my shoulders violently. She was saying something I could not understand; perhaps the life on my ears had died out first. All I could comprehend was the moving of her lips to form a word I had known since birth.

"Blake!" She said; her warm had over mine. I wanted to answer her but time was running out for me.

Everyone wanted to save me, back then. They all called out, even Joshua. I wanted to tell them I am sorry because I was not able to do anything right.

I am sorry because I was not able to save anyone, let alone, myself.

As I sprawled on the floor, unmoving and dying, I counted the last seconds of my existence. I reached for Vanessa one last time. Her face was warm, soft and smooth and her emerald green eyes were wet with tears. I wanted to wipe the tears out of her face… I wanted to make her frown vanish and be replaced with a warm smile… But I have no strength to do so.

Even with my traumatic past, my present turned out to be the best. I learned how to love and how to be loved. I found out that I can be normal, after all. I can be human and feel all earthly emotions I was granted. I have discovered my own reason to live: it was to live for the happiness and contentment of others, and not for myself alone. I smiled as I lay on her arms.

I know I am going to die happy.

"I protect you from every danger…" I laughed quietly as I gathered the last of my life and pulled her down into a hug. "…while I cannot even protect myself. I am very lucky to have you, Vanessa. Please do me a favor and protect yourself when I am gone."

She never let my hand go even through the end. I whispered in her ears for one last time.

"I love you."

Why try so hard to keep on living? In the end, nothing else really matters…