This is a typical FE fanfic, with all the FE elements that you know and love. It is set in the period of time between Sealed Sword and Blazing Sword (Overused, yes), and ill be creating fiction using 'taken for granted elements' such as the creation of the continent, which was explained in FE Path of Radiance but not here. I'll also be hoping to exploit any gaps and between the two storylines, that is, if I can find any. Do comment if I wrote anything that would not tie in with the original storylines, I'll then be able to edit.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Answers at Arcadia
The sun was blazing overhead, cooking the earth and all that thrived on it. The heat brought by this terrible weather had caused droughts all over the land, and it was best felt in the desert wastes of Nabata.
For miles and miles one could see nothing but giant mounds of golden sand, each grain baked by the sun. But somewhere in these plains, hidden, safe from the eyes of the layman soldier, was the great city of Arcadia.
An oasis.
Arcadia had been protected by this ruthless desert since the end of the Scouringand soon it was a myth to the rest of Elibe. Most agreed it was an impossible land conjured up by the old storytellers lying for some gold. Few said it was a possibility. Fewer still whispered tales of the sages thriving in the sacred land.
Which was why most of the Koeur villagers had thought that he was mad, trying to go where nothing but scorpions existed. He knew better, of course. He had already been there once already and had indeed been highly unsatisfied when his companions had to leave so early. He had kept this to himself all these weeks after the Great War, but he could wait no longer, Arcadia was, after all, his only hope of returning home.
"I know, but I really have to go Arcadia. It's the only effective way for me to get the answers that I need. Staying here long term is not what I plan to do."
"You really have had too much to drink. Must speak to Old Dave about allowing you into the tavern. What this crap about Aaa-"
"Arcadia." The young man supplied.
"Now don't you talk. I will get you a towel, look how hot you are," The other man, significantly older than the former, put his hand to the young man's forehead, then muttering something about young people these days.
"When I was your age I had to help out in the farming," The old man added, "how could I possibly have had time enough to think of going on these stupid journeys."
The young man, who had been deep in thought, suddenly turned. He had a determined look on his face, eyes shining bright, a set jaw reaffirming his decision.
"Gennou. I know you mean well. I cannot thank you enough for these days, taking such good care of me. I cannot thank you enough just for giving me shelter. But I have to go. Staying here in Caelin will be of no good to you or me. It is impractical for you to feed another mouth, I'll only add you your burden and you really can't afford it, can you?" he said, voice deep and clear, or even a little cold.
The old man looked sadly at him, his eyes positively misting up now.
"All right then… How can… can I stop you anyway."
"Thank you. And may the goddess bless you"
It had been 3 months now, since those words had been uttered. It was probably the first time he ever did truly thank someone. Remembering this brought sudden angst and pain to his chest.
He sat up, legs crossed beneath his lime green robes. He felt extremely tired and sleepy, despite his rest just a few hours before. His once long shadow had now been reduced, the sun at its hottest. He undid a belt buckle on his robe, allowing it and his orange cape to fall just to his hips. Instantly, he felt the hot sandy winds of Nabata on his skin, but hot or not; wind was indeed a respite to the stuffiness under his layers of garments.
Out in the desert for weeks now, his face was now a mess. A little stubble had grown from his pointed chin; and he now sported a very thin mustache. His face, once clean, pale and smooth, was now much tanner and all sorts of spots erupted from his face, a result of improper maintenance of facial hygiene. Forgivable, considering his present situation. His hair, which was originally long, now grew to ridiculous lengths, such that his hair band can no longer be seen, shielded from sight by the other strands that have grown since the start of his journey.
He missed his friends, the ones he had called family. It had already been a year since he set foot on this mysterious world of Elibe. He feared for his friends and wondered if they were alright, no, if they were even … alive.
He felt around his leather pouch and found, intact, the four tomes he had safely hidden. Looking deeply, he sought for, and found the one he treasured the most. Emitting from that particular tome was a darkness that loomed about the area. Though guarding a treasure worth countless times more than life itself, he carefully edged the tome back into its place. Slinging the pouch across himself, he stood up and trudged carefully, once again towards the path North.
- - - - - - - - - -
The room was pitch-black and nothing about it told of a living being currently inhabiting it. If walls had ears, the four completing this room couldn't have heard anything from within. But to the hundreds of thousands of mages and sages inhabiting the city, the magical power stemming from that room could not have been more prominent. Such was its power, that if all the mages gathered their magical energy and compared it to that of the room's, it would have been a single fly trying to compare to a ferocious canine.
And just then, two eyes flipped open from within the room, sending ripples across Arcadia. The sole man inhabiting the room stood up in complete darkness, and then walked steadily to the door, as though he could see, when no light reflected to his pupils. The large figure opened the bolted metal gate, into the face of a gigantic waterfall.
As he walked through the waterfall, it seemed that the stream of rushing water made way for him, spilling to the side from an invisible boundary that enveloped the man. And he walked, into a chamber that was adorned by sapphire tiles and streams, where more water flowed freely from ditches cut into the flooring.
"He is here," said Lord Archsage Athos.
- - - - - - - - - -I tried to do a good cliffhanger ending, ya, but I don't know if it's good, so please comment to let me know. I have already got chapter 2, wrote them both, then separated into 2 chapters, but I want to know if anyone really is reading b4 releasing it, so please R&R.
Thanks for reading