Tactician's Journal: Last Entry before leaving Pherae
As my last entry I plan for this to be strictly personal rather than strategic. It has been one year since the defeat of Nergal and the dragon. I have been given residence at Castle Pherae and while I have come to love those whom I traveled with, I want to see my family. I especially miss Dad. Eliwood's Ascension ceremony is a few days away. I plan on leaving after to search for the time portal I traveled here through. I'll make my way back to Sacae and the plains where Lyndis first found me. It should be nearby there, I can only pray to St. Elimine that it is still open.
I haven't quite yet decided what I will do if I don't find anything. Maybe I'll roam around Elibe as a traveler; I could join a small mercenary force. Maybe I could return to Lycia and see the old ways of my people as they truly were. (Ha ha, 'truly were'. Looks like I picked up some of my friend's speech habits.)
This has been such an amazing experience for me. I've lived above ground for 3 yrs, I've been able to walk and travel in broad daylight I've woken up to the sun shining on my face and you can feel it's warm radiance! It isn't as though we didn't go above ground but to actually live there! I could never forget these things, there are almost no words to describe it, and I can't imagine explaining it to my parents. The sea, Fargus and his ship, Davros; things I could only imagine. At home we were able to save several species of animals but here, Elimine, it's incredible. Animals that I've only read about! It's sad to know the one creature that I've hidden from all my life but have seen regularly is the one creature that shocked my friends, the dragons.
I wonder if life will be the same when I return, now that we have changed history? Will they know who we are, what we did? Has this affected my future or does it simply create a new future altogether? St. Elimine, please allow me to return to my family regardless.
My friends here have been very supportive of my decision to return home, though I haven't said much of it I know they can sense it, they are expecting it. In their quiet ways they have let me know. Lyn especially, of everyone she understands my longing to return home the best. I can't believe it's been three full years since I came here, it certainly doesn't feel like it and yet my heart feels it. It's as though my heart knows that it's time for me to go home.
It'll be hard to leave everyone here. I've met more people here than well, ever. Come to think of it, at home I've only known the same people my entire life. Occasionally some one came from another refuge but it's always on 'official business' and they left as quickly as they came. My friends here are my family away from home. I will miss them dearly but I don't believe it's meant for me to be a part of their future even if I do wind up staying here. From my first friend Lyn to those who joined our group much later like sweet young Nino, they all deserve to live their lives without the influence of someone who knows things of the future. I can only imagine that while we changed history in one way some things will remain the same and it's probably better that I don't burden them with things that they have no need to know or worry about.
As things are I still feel terrible guilt rise up in me when I think that they know almost nothing about my true life. They do not press me to tell them either, it is quite strange. At times I wish I could tell them everything and just express to them my own gratitude for the freedom they bring to so many future generations. Yet they thank and praise me for the help I gave to them, if they only knew that this was my assignment. A mission I was given in a war that has been ongoing since this time. A war that is possibly no longer occurring. Now, the actions of my friends will determine the outcome of the future, and if I return to my future, no matter how it has or hasn't changed, I will continue to know more about them than they ever knew about me. I suppose I shouldn't dwell on such things but enjoy the time that I have left with them.
I will go to the Ascension ceremony, enjoy the festivities afterward, wish everyone the best, and quietly make my exit. I would rather remember them in a happy and joyous occasion than through the tears of a goodbye. My ongoing wish and prayer for my friends, dear Elimine, is for the peace in Elibe to last.
May the Lycian League prosper forever.
So ends my account of the war against Nergal and the return of dragons to Elibe.
Author's Note: So this is a little something I've had saved up for over a year now. I did a little revision because I noticed some discrepancies with some of my ideas. The whole idea to this was that the tactician is actually a traveler from the future, a future in which Nergal was not stopped. They had some advanced technology and were able to send someone back to aid in the defeat of Nergal, they just weren't sure if they could bring that individual back. As I said, it's not completely foolproof in terms of certain ideas clashing, but at the time I thought it would be a cool idea for a backstory on the tactician.