Mourning of a lost soul
By Mr-Mikul
This is for the people that grieve at Lloyd's death at CoD. I'm one of those people; this story kind of reflects my feelings as Lloyd throw's his life away at the end of the Chapter. Critiques would be appreciated. Now updated with less errors in grammar (fixing them is as painful as Serra talking) and just looking better hopefully. Do review if you read it and find the story interesting.
For my Reviewers!
Minuit Chanson17: Lloyd wanted to die the moment that he saw Linus dead; to quote Lloyd: "Wait for me brother; I'll be joining you soon. And I'll bring you their corpses as a gift. Which makes Lloyd creepier than Karel is, IMO. In this story, he can go without regrets, knowing that Nino is safe for now.
Secret Deviant: Thanks for pointing out all the errors that I have here, I'm going to do my best at removing them and deepening the character depth for Mark. I don't know much on how to deepen the drama, but I'll see what I can do. Let me know how I'm progressing with removing bad grammar and everything related. And thank you very much for pointing everything out!
Disclaimer: I didn't create Fire Emblem, so I don't get the pleasure of owning it.
And let us begin the story.
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Location: Bern, Shrine of Seals
The previously tranquil and heavily guarded secret of Bern had not witnessed a battle since the end of the scouring. The one currently playing out was intensifying as Mark had instructed Lyn's Legion and company to make a push towards the Shrine of Seals. That was an easy task now that the Black Fang had started to run out of seemingly infinite reinforcements.
Mark, from the view offered to him courtesy of Florina and her Pegasus, noticed that his plans to take the shrine were working, and that he had formed a gauntlet from their campsite towards the shrine.
Canas, the Scholar and practitioner of dark magic was easily holding off the wyvern knights flying in from the east, with help from the niece he never knew he had, Nino.
The Lords Eliwood, Hector and Lyn were slowly making their way towards the shrine. Hector was recklessly forcing his way through, Eliwood with him, while Lyn covered them, taking out any strays with her bow.
Along the other side, the mariners Dart and Geitz, along with Karel were making short work of the snipers that would have surrounded the lords making their way into the shrine.
'It's the bonds of friendship and family that's helping the team fight so well.' Mark pondered. 'Because the teams I've created care for each other and don't want each other team member to die, that means that they are more determined to succeed than the Black Fang. And as such, we are going to be victorious here. That just leaves the guardian of the shrine itself now. And that itself may be hard to deal with.'
Mark knew who was guarding the shrine. Lloyd, the infamous White Wolf. Lloyd had declared his intent to slaughter the whole group, in order to avenge the death of his brother, Linus. Mark didn't want the Lloyd to die, because Nino had suffered too much already, finding that Sonia was her uncaring step-mother, that she had murdered her true parents.
'Nino must not suffer what I've had to suffer in the past. She doesn't deserve all this. She's not going to lose the last of her family.' Mark forced down the painful memories of his past, which this battle was threatening to bring back to his conscious mind. Quickly finalising the plan that he was thinking about, he reluctantly asked Florina to pick up Nino and make for the shrine. If Lloyd would stop fighting, it would be for Nino, he hoped. Nino, wanted to get Lloyd to put down his sword and stop the madness from continuing. And so did Mark.
Florina instructed Huey to land just in front of the shrine, where the lords were waiting. With doubt and fear in his eyes, he began instructing the lords of his last hope to stop Lloyd from fighting.
"Lyn, Eliwood, Hector, I wish to try and stop Lloyd from fighting us, I want to save Nino from losing the last of her family because of this war. I will go with him and try to reason with him." Hector promptly exploded;
"Are you mad?!? Lloyd is the strongest of the Black Fang! He want's us all dead! You'll be cut down without a second thought. Don't throw your life away here Mark; you're no good to us dead."
Eliwood simply said "I agree with Hector, you'll be cut down before you can even tell him your name. I understand how you feel about protecting Nino, but this isn't a wise choice here, my friend." Mark knew that the lords would be against this, but pressed on with his plan.
"I won't be going alone, Nino talked to me before the battle started, and she want's to try to talk to him. I'm going to give her that chance, and Legault will be there if we need to get Nino away in a hurry. I've got this all planned out. She won't be hurt. Lloyd won't hurt her." Hector objected again;
"So you're willing to throw away your life, and risk her life as well, just to try and stop that psychopathic lout from fighting? I'm starting to think you've gone mad! You're NOT going to do this Mark! Only fools try something this suicidal."
"And YOU'RE an idiot who doesn't know what's happening around him! Try losing your entire family to an Etrurian inheritance dispute between two counts; as well as watching your sister die in the burning wreckage of a mansion; before saying that I'm flaming suicidal!" Mark held Hectors glare, resolve apparent in his stance. "I just want to spare her from that kind of pain." Hector was about to keep yelling when Lyn cut in.
"Shut up Hector! Mark hasn't let us hasn't let us down yet, and he wouldn't take this chance if he didn't think he could pull it off. I trust you Mark, we'll be waiting to get you out if anything goes wrong, just be careful ok?"
"When have I ever been reckless with the people that I guide in battle Lyn?" Mark grinned slightly "I may have been working with you three lately, but thankfully Hectors recklessness hasn't rubbed off on me. Not yet." Hector grinned at the mention and shot back;
"And I think that you've gone as soft as Eliwood, but you don't see me being a bleeding heart because I take you're orders."
"We'll see Hector; Lyn told me of how you tried to comfort her in Bern, I reckon that you'll be a weeping willow in a fortnight's time at this rate." Mark commented with a smirk on his face, while Hector flustered slightly, but sobered up quickly "If you'll excuse me Hector, I have to make sure that Nino doesn't lose the last of her family."
"Just get back her alive so that I can kick your butt about me being a softy, you hear." Hector said with a touch of concern.
"I will, let's go Nino." and with that, Mark and Nino slowly made their way into the shrine.
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Lloyd Reed, Last of the Four Fangs, was pacing near the throne, lost in thought of his fallen brother, as well as the news that his father was murdered by Sonia. There was nothing left for him in this world, all he wanted was to die, and be re-united with his brother and father. He only hoped that Nino had somehow survived. Not that he had long to live, the group that had murdered his brother were almost at the Shrine, where he would avenge his brother with his dying breath.
"Linus, it won't be long now. I'll be bringing the gift that I promised" Lloyd muttered as he heard some footsteps at last, thinking that it would be the guilty party, but it wasn't who he expected at all. Almost dropping his blade at the shock of the unexpected visitor; he spoke;
"Nino! What are you doing here? And who is this person doing here with you?"
"L-loyd, his name is Mark; he helped save my life when Ursula tried to kill me and Jaffar, he's been a friend of mine since then." Nino was on the verge of tears already.
"She's right; I'm Mark, leader of the group that you've been pursuing. I mean you no harm."
Though his voice was calm the look in Lloyd's eye's betrayed the truth of how he was feeling.
"I don't believe you Mark, your group was the last to see my brother, and he was dead after that. It appears obvious that your group was responsible"
Mark's voice was starting to rise in frustration. "Then why would be bother saving your foster sister if we were the evil people that Sonia said that we were? She'd be a hostage if we were here to kill you! And then we'd kill her too!"
"All that matter's is that I believe that your group are responsible for my brother's death. Nothing else concerns me." Seeing what Lloyd had planned, Nino began weeping, and was openly distraught.
"Lloyd! Don't d-do this… please. Come with us, p-p-please, I don't want you to die. I don't want to be all alone" sniff Mark could only lend Nino an arm to support her. Lloyd's face softened at this, regret and sadness showing through.
"Nino, you must get out of here, I have nothing left to live for, no purpose for being alive. You must go on. I will go see Linus and Father soon, and I don't want you to be here when I go." Mark spoke, a bit of desperation creeping into his voice.
"Come with us Lloyd. We need all the help we can get. Nino would be happy too. She's missed you Lloyd, and she's been worried that you hated her for leaving the Black Fang." Lloyd's voice broke as he started grieving the loss of his father and brother;
"It hurts, losing my family, as well as the Black Fang falling apart. Everything that we worked to create, all the people that we wanted to protect and serve. It-it's all gone… I can't deal with the pain. It hurts too much… I can't go on."
Tears of anguish poured out of Marks eyes and he was unable to control the rage that he felt.
"How dare YOU! How dare you think about throwing your life away and abandon Nino! She doesn't deserve this, after losing the rest of her family; you're going to leave her all alone!?!?! SHE NEEDS YOU! Don't you care about what happens to her??? Legault won't be able for take care of her when the world is safe from Nergal! ... I lost my entire family in an inheritance dispute. I lost everything like you did, my world crashed down on me and I almost went mad with pain and despair. But after a while the pain wasn't so bad, I found the strength to go on. You can to Lloyd. Please don't leave Nino without someone that means so much to her, it will haunt her for the rest of her life."
Lloyd's troubled mind cleared, and clarity returned to him. With a slight smile he spoke softly;
"I have nothing to worry about, I can see that you'll take care of her for me, and she's got friends to make her happy. She will move on, she's stronger than she looks. Thank you." Resolve filled Lloyd's eyes "But I WILL join my Brother today, no matter how many people I have to kill. Go now, I will not hurt you or Nino, but the next person that comes in here will die by my blade if they are weak. GO! Don't make me kill you!" Lloyd stepped closer to Mark, pointing his blade towards Mark's neck. With a defeated and angry look on his face, Mark said;
"I-I understand. LEGAULT! Get Nino out of here!" Upon hearing his name called, the thief grabbed the sobbing mage and bolted. Nino tried yelling out once more to Lloyd, begging him not to die, to come with her, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. Mark then bowed to Lloyd, and then he bolted as well.
"I'm coming Linus, just wait a little while longer. Forgive me, Nino" Lloyd whispered to himself, tears freely falling to the ground.
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Mark ran out of the shrine, tears still flowing. He found Dart and Karel waiting for him. Reaching for the Swordslayer that Legault had pilfered from a dead General; Mark composed himself for a moment and said to the pair; "Lloyd is waiting to die in there, I-I... please make it a swift end Dart. Use this axe; it's our best weapon against him. Karel, he will be a worthy opponent, enjoy it while you can, just make sure that he dies as painlessly as possible" Dart simply said "Aye, Mark" and purposely walked towards the Shrine, while Karel's eye's were filled with anticipation.
Mark was crying again when the sound of fighting started, and when he heard screams of pain coming from within, he fell to his knees and started pounding the ground in anger, frustration and regret. Memories of the night where Mark lost his family flooded back into his mind. Mark realised how similar the loss that Lloyd and himself had suffered. While Mark had friends to help him pull through the trauma Lloyd was lost; before the fight started, and there wasn't anything that Mark could do to save him. All he could do was to give him a moment's peace before his passing.
Fin
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And that's the next update of 'Mourning of a lost soul'. Changing this story was difficult, as I had a fair amount to work to change parts of the story. I believe that this was worth the effort in changing parts of the story. So Read and Review please!