Hi all, I decided to write this because, for me, one of the biggest mysteries in Fire Emblem has always been the tatician from "The Blazing Sword" or as some may know it, "Fire Emblem US" (The first english fire emblem). Where did s/he come from, what was his/her purpose and why did s/he so readily offer his/her assistance to such a small band of travelers twice when his/her skills were great enough that s/he was sought out by every militant nation on the continent? This is the story of Mark, and his continued duties after the war with Nergal had ended.
To begin with a simple prologue to our story, which is in fact, the epilogue to the story of three young nobles. Note that this goes on the (impossible) assumption that Eliwood was the games protagaonist, all troops were recruited and they were all strong enough to be able to fight the dragon with everyone and all Kishuna missions were done. In other words everything that could happen, did. (I know it's not at all factual, just go with it.)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything featured in Fire Emblem, it all belongs to intelligent systems.
"Mark, are you alright?" Lyn knelt beside me, rubbing my back as I held my head in pain. This was nothing new to me, I was used to the rush of visions, however, these were painful, numerous and painful. As the pain subsided, I rose to my feet and looked at the corpse sprawled before us. Jaffar, Matthew and Legault checked the man to ensure he was truly dead, of course even if he was, I doubt he'd stay down for long. The great sage Athos approached and knelt beside the corpse.
"My old friend... I am sorry that it had to come to this in the end." Athos said this, but he knew as well as I did that the fight wasn't over. The many people around us seemed content to believe that Nergal's last words were empty threats made in desperation, but we knew better. I could sense it, just as he could and it seemed that our young friend Nils also noticed something. Ever since his death, the quintessence that Nergal had collected had been flowing somewhere. It had been flowing into the back chambers of the temple we were in. It had been flowing... to the dragon's gate. Athos glanced at me and Nils gave me a look that reminded me of a frightened puppy. I nodded.
"We aren't finished yet." I said authoritatively to the small army. Nergal left us a final gift, we have to move, quickly." I run into the back chambers with Athos and Nils close on my heels. The rest followed us as quickly as they could. "I knew it." I said as I arrived at the gate. It had been opened by Nergal's quintessence and pulled three enormous dragons to face us.
"Dragons!?" Eliwood screamed. "H-how?"
"Nergal, using his final breath opened the gate. He decided that... if he can't have the world then it can die."
"That Blackheart." Hector muttered under his breath
"Perhaps... not so much. All the same, we must stop them here."
"But how are we supposed to take on three dragons?!" Lyn exclaimed, unconfidently.
"We have no choice in the matter, I will guide you, so prepare yourselves." Everyone drew their weapons, fully prepared to give their lives in this fight.
"Stop." A hollow voice hovered over us. "The girl's powers will aid you." Without warning, Bramimond, the umbra mage of the eight legendary heroes appeared before us. "Everyone lend me your power." He said as small streams of energy flowed out of each of us and into Bramimond. "With this power, enhance the force of necromancy and return the girl to us." A circle of light appeared before the man and Ninian, an old ally of ours once killed by Eliwood, appeared within.
"Where am I?" She asked frightened.
"Your powers are necessary." Bramimond responded. "These children are lost, help them return to their home."
"My power? No... I can't."
"You must, with it you can stop these children and let them return home. We need your strength." Ninian took a deep breath.
"Alright, I will." Ninian took a step forward and raised her hands. "Please calm yourselves and return." Two localized blizzards appeared aroudn the fire dragons causing them to collapse and be sucked back into the dragon gate, however, one still stood, angrier than ever. Ninian collapsed.
"You must handle the final dragon, I will care for the girl." With that, Bramimond and Ninian disappeared. I wasted no time.
"Eliwood, prepare Durandal. Hector, Armads. Lucius, we need the force of Aureola and Nils, you must give Nini's grace to Lucius. Great Sage, please aid us with the strength of your fire. Everyone else, prepare your strongest weapons, this will be the hardest battle of our campaign." They wasted no time. Their weapons were ready within seconds. Ok, Lucius, get us started with Aureola. Hector follow with Armads. Eliwood, Lyn support Hector and attack." They followed my orders, getting greatly burned by the dragon's breath in the process.
"It's no good... if I let up for a moment the dragon will finished someone off." Then an idea dawned on me. I turned, scanning the troops for a certain scholar. Finally I saw him, waiting behind the others in his thick robes. "Canas!" I yelled. "Do you still have that tome of Luna!?"
"Yes, I do." The monocled man said as he produced a very worn tome.
"That's it. I'm trusting you to use Luna and finish that dragon."
"Of course... as you wish." Canas ran towards the dragon as fast as he could before it could recover from the continued strikes of the dragon-slaying weapons. Throwing his heavily sleeved arms into the air, he cast the exceedingly powerful elder magic. The fire dragon let out a terrible shriek as the swirling blackness flung itself into it's body. The dragon collapsed and we watched as it was sucked back into the dragon gate, as the previous dragons had been before. I finally released my breath. Suddenly a surge of pain ran though my head, it felt just like it had when Nergal died. I should've known better than to stay so close to Athos, the now broken man who Eliwood held in his arms. Lyn and Hector quickly took up positions around him as he gave a prohecy. I struggled to my feet and tried to stagger away. Athos' visions were too much for me. I was grabbed from behind by someone and dragged to the front gate of the dragon's gate.
"Thank you." I said.
"Your welcome." Bramimond's hollow voice answered. "Your power, it is both a blessing and a curse."
"It's usually not that bad, but when people have lived as long as Athos and Nergal then it's just too much for my mind to handle."
"Indeed, and in truth, this ability has no practical applications."
"I agree, however I have understood the thoughts, fears and happiness of people, even if only before their death. I, personally, believe this is a valuable gift."
"Mark, was it? I have believed that you were an intelligent young man, but more and more you force me to question who you are."
"Don't think on it too hard, there isn't much to tell. I was a warrior's son, but never suited to combat, so I decided to try my hand at being a tactician."
"I am the Umbra mage of the eight heroes. I no longer exist as myself, I am but a mirror of the person in front of me, and as such, I know when you're lying to me."
"Talking to myself really becomes disturbing after a short while."
"It is time I return to the shrine of seals. Fargus awaits you on the shore of the island. Goodbye, young tactician." Bramimond disappeared into thin air, leaving me alone."
"There you are." I turned, looking back into the shrine to see Fiora, one of the Ilian pegasi mercenaries, coming towards me. "We've been looking for you, Athos has passed away and the lords wish to speak with you."
"I see, thank you Fiora." I walked with Fiora back to the inner gate where Eliwood, Hector and Lyn awaited me.
"There you are Mark. Athos is dead, he gave us a prophecy about the fate of the continent... however, it is not our battle to fight."
"For now, we're returning to our homes." Hector added in, "It's time to begin rebuilding what Nergal destroyed.
"For the time being, Mark, I wish for you to be my guest in Pherae."
"It would be an honour, lord Eliwood."
"Then let's go, it's time we leave this place behind, hopefully forever." The large group of warriors were quick to gather and we all left the gate.
"My lords! you're alright!"
"Rest well, Merlinus, we're leaving now."
"Yes my lords." With old man Merlinus rejoining the group, we were at last complete. We headed to the shore where Fargus awaited us.
"Mark!" Eliwood called as he entered my guest chamber. He was wearing robes of pure white, today was his coronation as the new marquess of Pherae, in place of his late father. "How are you today?"
"Good, my lord. However I must inform you that I will be leaving after the ceremony."
"Must you truly?"
"I'm afraid so, your majesty. I have been here for too long, it is time I returned to my travels, as my father wished for me."
"I see, I will miss you. Please promise that you'll stop in whenever you're passing by."
"Of course, my lord."
"Please, stop calling me lord. Call me Eliwood, we've been through too much together for you to continue as such, even in private."
"Very well, Eliwood."
"Eliwood, are you here?" Both Eliwood and I turned towards the door as my oldest friend, Lyn of Caelin, entered.
"Lyndis." Eliwood greeted her happily.
"And hello to you as well Mark." I nodded in greeting.
"Good to see you again Lyn. Are you here for Eliwood's coronation?"
"Well, yes but... I have requested that Caelin be assimilated into Ostia, Hector has promised to treat them all well."
"Why would you do that?"
"Well... I intend to stay in Pherae." A smile crossed my lips.
"I see... congratulations to you both." Eliwood smiled, embarrassed.
"Thank you Mark, but there is one last thing... we've talked it over and, we would like you to be godfather of our first child and give him or her a name."
"I see... I accept, of course. It is an honour. As for names, if it is a boy, name him Roy and for a girl... Lilina."
"Roy and Lilina... beautiful names. Thank you Mark, you don't know how much this truly means to the two of us."
"It was an honor receiving the request."
"Where will you go, Mark?"
"I may say goodbye to Rebecca and Dorcas, afterwards... I will most likely head north. There is someone in Ilia whom I wish to meet with."
"I see. Lyn stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. "Be safe, the people are Sacae are honourable, if you're ever in trouble you can seek aid there."
I couldn't help but smile at Lyn and wrap my arms around her as well. "Thank you."
I stayed as far as the coronation, but slipped out shortly afterwards. I'm not particularly comfortable with long goodbyes and decided to make myself scarce.
"Mark!" someone called out to me as I snuck away from the castle. I turned to find Ninian and Nils coming towards me.
"Is something wrong you two?"
"No, we just wanted to tell you that we're going back to Valor. We're going through the dragon gate, to the world of dragons."
"Perhaps that is best, but... are you sure." I had directed this specifically at Ninian, who seemed to be struggling with the decision far more than Nils. She turned back to Pherae castle, longingly.
"Yes, I'm sure. Staying any longer, would only bring me pain. Seeing him dancing with Lyn back there was almost too much." I smiled, slightly, and hugged them both.
"Aenir would be proud." I whispered to them. "Fargus and Dart are likely still in Badon, go now and I'm sure you can find them." The two took each other's hand and left together, towards the port of Badon in Ostia. "I wish the best of luck and all the happiness you deserve in your new world!" I called after them. They turned and waved one last time, before continuing on their way. And with that, it was time for me to be on my way. My first stop was a mountain in Ilia to the north. to see an old woman named Niime.
Well, that's that. I'm not sure where this story will end or what's going to happen... I just wanted to put my thoughts about the tactician down on paper (or in files in this case.) Well review and thank you for reading.