Chris: Greetings. Long time no see. Honestly, I just thought up the idea for this after IceBlade28 yelled at me over PM. That's...really about it. Don't expect anything groundbreaking in the area of writing, plot, or originality. The update rate for this fic, just like my others, is wholly dependant on whether or not I feel like updating it. If I have a good idea for the next chapter, bang, it'll be up within the day. Either way, Restoration will probably get an update sometime soon (I think). Now, as for the following fic, some rules apply. This fic operates under the assumption that all FE games occur in the same world, just different continents. Due to my lack of knowledge about FE's below 4, they will not appear. Also, this occurs at the time period where the main problem has been resolved in all games. Due to the fact 6 is a twenty-year sequel to 7, it will not appear (That would be silly and stupid). I believe that's it. I probably got things wrong in the story. Like I said, this is your basic run-of-the-mill fanfic with me as your author.
Now that that's out of the way, the story's waiting. I hope you enjoy reading it. I don't own Fire Emblem or whatever I need to say, so there it is. I won't be bothering with disclaimers anymore in the fic. Oh yeah, you could probably consider this fic a crossover too. I mean, it does involve other FE's...so yeah. That fulfills the requirement.
Opening – Flip the Hourglass
"Queen Elincia? The citizens require your aid." A gray-haired servant knocked on the door to his queen's room, hoping she was ready for the throngs of people asking for her help. He stifled a little grumble of anger when the door wasn't opened immediately. Elincia was a marvelous queen in all aspects, but at times she just wasn't as prompt as he would like. He knocked on the door several more times before he began to get worried. It usually only took three knocks to get her attention and she should be awake at this time.
Several minutes later, the servant finally had enough of this and he summoned guards to help assist him in the case that their queen may be in danger. Along with the soldiers, he broke down the door that led to the queen's bedchambers and he halted in surprise when he saw it was completely empty.
"Queen Elincia?! Where are you?" He shouted in surprise, unable to believe his eyes. There was a note lying on the queen's bed and he immediately snatched it up, holding it with a trembling hand. His skin paled and he fell against a bedpost, using it to hold himself up. He looked at the guards, passing the note on to them. "T-The Queen…S-She's been kidnapped."
---
"What are you going to do with me?" The green-haired queen of Crimea glared at her captors or at least tried to. Her effort was hampered by a tight, black blindfold, however, and she had to be content with directing all her anger at them mentally. She was still in a jumble over what had happened, though. She had woken up early in the morning on the insistence of one of her servants, Manfred, and was preparing herself for her duties when someone had pressed a cloth to her mouth. She faintly remembered smelling a sickly sweet scent before falling unconscious. She woke up to found herself bound and blindfolded with no idea where she was or who had kidnapped her.
"Do with you? Oh, absolutely nothing. We mean it. Your disappearance will just set forth a nice chain of events that we want to have happen. When it's all over, you will be returned safely back to your lovely castle." A voice replied. It was female, probably middle-aged, but that was all Elincia could figure out. "And while you're with us, you will be treated with the best of care. We wouldn't want the famed Warrior Queen getting hurt, now would we?"
"Of course not! She won't get a single scratch on that beautiful body of hers!" Raucous laughter was the reply and Elincia flushed. She had no way to escape, so there was no point of struggling now. She could only wait and see what the future had in store.
"Why do you need me, though?" She asked. If she was going to be kept in the dark physically, it would at least be nice to find out just exactly what the point was of her kidnapping. "There are hundreds of nobles out there who could fulfill your purpose better than I can?"
"Like who? The bishops of Begnion? Their vaunted Apostle? The non-existent king of a ruined Daein? The beast king of Gallia? The hidden dragons of Goldoa? The bird kings? Impossible. None of them can come even close to serving our purpose." The female voice replied. "While it was Ike who led the war that liberated your country, who is the figure that everyone looked towards when searching for a purpose? Whose country was it that was being attacked? Come on, my dear woman, don't think I haven't thought this through. At this moment in time, the most monumental figure in your whole continent is you. People don't care about a mercenary, they care about their queen."
"What plan do you have, though? Do you want to take over the world like so many before you who have been obsessed with power? Our land is at peace so you think that we're ready to be conquered? Let me warn you that we will not fall easily." Elincia snapped back.
"Hahahaha! Listen to yourself! Are you so desperate to think us evil that you would take on such a cliché and idiotic reason as that? If we wanted to take over your continent, we would have killed you. Now, I'm not saying we're not evil. By the general definition of the word, I'm pretty certain we could be classified as such. But our goal isn't something simple like taking over the world."
"Mistress Caitlyn, we've almost arrived." Someone said with a thick accent that Elincia couldn't recognize.
"Thank you." Caitlyn replied. "Now get up, you."
Elincia felt herself being lifted and carried somewhere. She kicked and struggled, but her captors only laughed at her efforts and she gave up. As a last act of resistance, at least for now, she said, "You're never going to get me to cooperate."
"Oh? I always like a challenge. Very well. Just so you know who you just challenged…"
The blindfold was ripped off her head and Elincia found herself staring into cunning blue eyes. Caitlyn backed away, letting Elincia have a full look at her for a while. The queen tried to remember as much as she could about the woman. It could come in handy later. Caitlyn appeared to be in her early twenties, with two white horns that barely poked out beneath her boyishly-cut gray-blue hair. A dirt-brown cloak partially covered her medium-length, blue skirt and black blouse. A belt hung from her shoulder down to her waist, filled with glass vials and daggers.
"Like what you see? You're gonna be seeing much more of it." Caitlyn smirked as she leaned in and gave Elincia a peck on the forehead. "A little good night present from me to you, eh? Sweet dreams, my queen!"
Something hit her in the back of the head and Elincia blacked out.
---
"Ike! Ike!" Mist yelled for her brother as she ran across the training field of the mercenary's camp. Dashing through the main building, she sped full speed through the hallway, eliciting an angry response from Boyd, who had been eating. She ignored his shouts and swung open the door, where she saw her blue-haired brother sitting at the desk with his legs propped up on his desk. He was currently amusing himself by flying paper airplanes. Mist stopped with a small smile, her hands on her hips. "Aren't you a little too old for that?"
"Yeah." Ike said, sitting back into a normal position. The office looked almost the same as it was before the war had started, except now there were some more decorations and recognitions of valor hanging around. Like his father, Ike preferred to keep things simple. "So why are you here? I thought you were training with Rolf."
"I was! But a messenger from Crimea came with urgent news! Queen Elincia has been kidnapped!" Mist said hurriedly, her mind back to what was important. "He's waiting at the front gate so he can explain the whole story!"
"Right." Ike got out of his seat and began to run towards the entrance of the mercenary camp, Mist right behind his heels. They found the messenger waiting impatiently at the front gate, pacing back and forth. Ike hailed him and said, "Queen Elincia has been kidnapped?"
"Yes! It happened a few days ago! One morning, a servant in Castle Crimea found out that she was not in her room and a note by the criminals was left behind. The castle grounds were immediately searched afterwards, but there was no sign of her. We tried to inform you as fast as we could, because we found this at the scene." The messenger opened a pouch at his waist and pulled out a small metal emblem. "This is the royal seal of Pherae. It was found next to the queen's bed."
"You think that Pherae is responsible for this?" Ike asked, taking the emblem in his hands and turning it. It felt authentic enough, but something didn't feel right about it. He had heard news of a war breaking out in Elibe, but that didn't have any relation with Tellius whatsoever. Any connections Tellius had with Elibe was through trade, nothing more. "That doesn't make any sense. What reason would they have to kidnap Crimea's queen?"
"We are in the dark as well. The only evidence we have is that emblem." The messenger said, taking it back. "Our assembly members are currently trying to send a peaceful delegation to Pherae and question them about the emblem. Communication will be kept through warp magic as well as relays by the Begnion pegasus knights. If there is any sign that Pherae is the culprit, then we shall declare war."
"War? We just finished with one." Ike said. "Still, if they are the ones that did it, they need to pay for kidnapping our queen. Something is still fishy about all this though…Who is going to be on the delegation?"
"That's why I'm here. They were wondering if you would be so kind as to join our investigators. Consider this a job that will be paid for by the Crimean government when this is all over. All we require is that you and your mercenaries accompany us to Elibe." The messenger said, handing Ike a rolled-up scroll. "This contains the full details of the mission. Think it over, but please give me a reply soon."
"No need to wait. We're going." Ike said. He turned to Mint. "Alert the others. We'll be moving out now. There's no time to waste on this one."
"Sure!" Mint said as she rushed off to alert the rest of the mercenaries.
"Thank you so much for your cooperation." The messenger said, truly happy. "I will go relay the news as once."
Ike watched him leave, feeling troubled. The situation just seemed so odd. There was nothing happening in Tellius that could possibly lead to a kidnapping of Crimea's queen and the revelation that Pherae had been involved was surprising to say the least. In fact, Pherae had been one of the few cities in Elibe that had offered aid to Crimea after the war. For them to come around suddenly and betray them like this was weird.
"So Ike, what's the big deal?" Boyd asked as he arrived, with the other mercenaries in tow. "You don't ask us to leave immediately unless it's something important."
"It is important. I'll explain on the way. Make sure you have all your supplies and weapons with you. We're heading for Elibe and I think it'll be a busy trip."
---
When Elincia awoke, she found out she was still blindfolded. However, she was now lying on cold stone and judging from the manacles on her wrists, she was in some sort of prison. 'Where am I now? Why have they brought me here?'
"Oh, you're awake." The voice of Caitlyn broke through her thoughts and once again, her blindfold was taken off. She saw Caitlyn sitting on a bench at the side of the cell, a wicked grin on her face. "Welcome to Beri'ah, the land of creation. Here the rise and fall of the very world is monitored and manipulated. Even the liberation your blessed Crimea was a simple pawn in our greater plan."
Caitlyn laughed at Elincia's shocked expression. "Hahaha, I knew you would fall for that. All you need to do is make yourself sound important and powerful enough and anyone will believe what you say. Either way, make yourself comfortable. Food will be here shortly and if you're a good little girl, we may even let you out of those bonds of yours. I said we weren't going to treat you harshly, didn't I?"
"I think being kidnapped is a little too serious to be made up by treating me well." Elincia shot back. She moved slightly to make herself more comfortable and looked back at Caitlyn. "Why are you here anyway? Don't you have something more important than looking over me?"
"Are you kidding me? You're a very important captive, along with several others that should be joining us shortly. Hell, I'm one of the top commanders here and I've still been tasked with watching over you. Don't think I want to watch over you. I generally give my captives that good night kiss and then my subordinates take care of them. You're really important, you know." Caitlyn replied. "Anyway, any other questions, my dear queen? You must know how happy I am to be able to answer them."
It didn't take a genius to hear the thinly-veiled sarcasm in Caitlyn's voice and Elincia felt like asking another question just because it would annoy her. "Why are you doing this?"
"Do I need a reason?" Caitlyn leaned back and laughed. "I do this because I do. Do you want me to be more specific or can we leave it that? Oh, and because I sure as hell know you are going to start thinking I have some sob past or something, forget it. My family was quite nice and they raised me well enough."
Elincia frowned. She certainly was not thinking what Caitlyn thought she was. "Why do you have horns?"
"I was wondering when you'd get around to asking that." Caitlyn said, pushing down her hair to let the small horns poke up a little bit more. "These horns are just a symbolization of my species, that's all. Don't be so surprised. You have laguz, don't you? I doubt a race of horned people is all that surprising."
"I guess not…" Elincia muttered, unable to think of another question that could result in useful information.
"Are you all finished up? Good. Your food is here." Caitlyn said, tugging the cell door open. A finely-dressed man stepped into the cell and laid a tray filled with various foods in front of Elincia. He gave her a small bow and nodded towards Caitlyn before leaving the cell. Elincia looked at the food, trying not to be tempted by the appetizing smell. She turned away from the food, ignoring Caitlyn's amused glance.
"You're not eating?" Caitlyn said, bending down to the tray.
"How do I know you haven't poisoned it or anything?" Elincia said.
"Well, if that's your attitude, I'll eat it. I'm hungry." Caitlyn quickly replied as she took a chicken leg and ripped a big bite off of it. She let out satisfied sounds as she chewed on the meat and swallowed it. She licked her lips happily and reached for another leg. "I don't know why you don't want to eat. I said we needed you alive, right?"
Elincia ignored her again and Caitlyn gave another shrug as she continued to polish off the rest of her food. With a satisfied burp, Caitlyn went back to the bench and grinned smugly at Elincia. "You're going to be hungry, you know."
"I don't care. It's better than giving in."
"That's the spirit." Caitlyn said mockingly, clapping her hands slowly. "I've always liked people like you. So spirited. It adds in a nice spice of challenge into convincing you to help us. I never use drugs or any other methods than simple talking when I want someone to help me. Feels more…satisfying, right? Still, I wonder what you do. You strike me as the archetypical heroine, you know? Always ready to give her life for her country or for the 'greater good'. You people are amusing, especially when you continue to refuse any help from the enemy, even when you're under their mercy. And then in the end, it all collapses around you and you give up. I've always wondered what it felt like to just give up after all that resistance. Eh, oh well, not like it'll happen anytime soon. Judging from your attitude, we have a long way to go."
"You like to hear yourself talk, don't you?" Elincia snapped, trying to take her mind off of her growling stomach.
"You bet I do." Caitlyn said with a fanged grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to go. If you ever need me, just say my name and I'll be right at your cell. Don't forget, if you're a nice little girl, we may even go out for a walk!"
Elincia contented herself with an angry glare that she fixed on Caitlyn as the latter waltzed out of the room. The moment her captor was gone, Elincia slipped her wrists out of her manacles. It took a little bit of magic and a lot of luck, but while Caitlyn was rambling on about herself, she had managed to break her bonds. Elincia got to her feet, looking down at her dress with a frown. She loved wearing elegant and flowing clothes, but in times like these, they were only a hindrance. Her brief time on the battlefield taught her that.
She tore her dress off at the knees, ignoring the fact that it had cost a small fortune. A quick look around the cell revealed a singular light source in the middle of the ceiling as well as one window at the top of one of the walls. She looked at the light briefly and realized it was actually a fire spell trapped in a magical orb that allowed the fire to blaze indefinitely until the magic was changed or the orb was shattered. It proved that whoever was running this operation was rich, at least. Those orbs were extremely expensive and only a few privileged people have the honor of owning one.
She turned her attention to the window and smiled when she saw that it was unbarred. Preparing herself, she took in a deep breath and tried to grasp the windowsill. Her first jump proved unsuccessful, but on her second attempt, she managed to get her fingers on the stone.
"Oh, you changed your look. I like it. It's always nice to see a little more skin."
Elincia let out a little shriek of surprise before losing her grip and falling back to the cell floor. There was laughter from behind her and she saw Caitlyn standing there, a hand covering her mouth.
"G-Geez…" Caitlyn said, interrupted by a brief bout of giggles, "I didn't think I surprised you that badly. T-That was really funny."
She opened the cell and helped Elincia to her feet, still giggling a bit. "I-I'm sorry…but seriously, seeing you trying to struggle up the window was priceless."
"I'm glad you found that funny." Elincia grumbled.
"Like I said, sorry." Caitlyn brushed off some dirt and grinned. "To tell the truth, I knew you would do it. I had hoped you would be a little suspicious about a wide open window…but eh, I guess when you've got a chance, go for it."
"So why are you here? Were you just waiting for me to try?" Elincia muttered, still angry.
"No…Well, yes." Caitlyn said with a wry smile. "Other than that, though, I was trying to stop you. You see, we have a very simple guideline here. If you escape once and are caught, you're returned to your caretaker with a stern scolding. Twice, you're tagged. Third time, you're either killed if you're unimportant enough or you're returned to your country…after a couple of modifications have been made."
Elincia was about to ask what the modifications were, but Caitlyn shook her head with a wide grin and she paled slightly. "I don't want to ask, do I?"
"Nope." Caitlyn said. "Now, since you got your manacles off, I doubt there's any point to putting some more on you. Do you think you've been a good girl?"
Crimea's queen didn't bother answering and Caitlyn only snickered.
"Like I said, I like spirit. So it's time for your walk, little missy. Unfortunately, we don't have a nice change of clothes for you, so you'll have to go like that." Caitlyn said, looking down at Elincia's bare legs. "Hmmm…Nice. I see the royal life has treated you well. I'd kill for a lover with legs like that."
"W-What?!" Elincia flushed a deep red. "How dare you!"
"Huh?" Caitlyn looked blankly at Elincia. "Oh right, sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Anyway, do I have your solemn promise not to escape? Because I so hate to fill out the paperwork for my prisoners."
"Then I'll make sure you get a lot." Elincia shot back.
"Please…" Caitlyn snickered a bit before moving and jabbing a dagger point right at Elincia's neck. Elincia froze in fear, frightened. She had barely seen Caitlyn move before the dagger was at her throat. The same smile was on Caitlyn's mouth, but her eyes were deadly serious. "I hate paperwork. I really don't want to threaten you. It ruins the experience. So please…please make this easy on both of us."
The dagger was removed and Caitlyn was back to her normal self. "So, are you ready to take that walk?"
"Y-Yes." Elincia stammered, still a little bit frightened.
"Good!" Caitlyn said cheerily, taking her hand. "Now leave the rest to Mommy Caitlyn and I'll make sure my little queen won't get hurt, mmkay?"
Elincia didn't respond again and Caitlyn took her silence as a yes as she led Elincia out of the cell. They walked down the well-lit hallway, Caitlyn chatting about how beautiful the night sky was. Elincia noted with surprise that all the cells they past were empty and didn't show any signs of previous occupants. This place was rich and well-kept. It could almost be considered a vacation resort if it wasn't for the fact it was a prison.
There were shouts coming from in front of them and Caitlyn paused. "Hold on…Why, I do believe you'll be getting two new neighbors. Hmph, Diane sure took her time with them. It's no wonder I broke up with her. She's just as slow in the bed as she is in real life."
"What?!" Elincia asked, scandalized. She rarely ever heard of two females getting into a relationship and generally it was looked down with disdain. To think that her captor was…was…like that.
"Oh, pipe down. I was kidding." Caitlyn shushed her and raised a hand in greeting as Diane came walking down the hallway, with two captives in tow. "Greetings, slow one. What hair-raising adventures have you gone on today?"
"Shut up, harpy." Diane snapped, narrowing her blood-red eyes. She wore a skirt that similar to Caitlyn's and also had a pair of short, stubby horns poking through her hair. Unlike Caitlyn, however, she had reddish-purple hair that fell to the middle of her back and her blouse was cut much lower than Caitlyn's. She wore a sword at her hip and had a clawed gauntlet on her non-sword hand.
"Release us!" One of the captives shouted, this one a young man with short, teal-blue hair. His blue armor was in tatters, but Elincia felt an aura of nobility and honor around the young man. He struggled against his bonds, forcing Angel to give the rope another tug, toppling him to the floor. "Renais will not fall for your vile plans!"
"He's got spunk." Caitlyn grinned at Diane's troubles. She pointed to the other captive, a woman with lighter blue hair and appeared to have the same grace that the other prisoner had. "I assume she's still out?"
"Yeah." Diane grimaced. "I think I hit her too hard. Well, she'll wake up when she's ready. Who's your bitch?"
"Who are these people?" Elincia asked, ignoring Diane's comment.
"It is my dubious honor to introduce Diane Argonne. That's all the introduction she needs." Caitlyn said, sticking her tongue at Diane, who promptly flipped her off. She pointed to Diane's prisoners next. "And these are King Ephraim and Princess Eirika of Renais from the continent of Magvel. I'm sure you'll have plenty of things to talk about."
Elincia felt her heart drop. She had heard stories about the valiant efforts of the prince and princess of Renais as they fought against the demons who were corrupting their land. To see that they were captured saddened her greatly. She could only hope that nobody else would have to suffer this…but as she looked at Caitlyn's face, she realized that this was only the beginning.
Caitlyn saw Elincia's sad expression and smiled, tapping her on the shoulder. "Look outside…It's a moonless night. Perfect time for evil to begin its march to victory, huh?"
Elincia couldn't help but think that the comparison was spookily accurate. She looked down at the ground, trying to regain her hope. Caitlyn laughed and tugged Elincia along with her again. "Come, sweet queen, we still have much more to see."
Chris: So there we go. Some return to the world of Fire Emblem fanfic writing, huh? Well, I hope you enjoyed it and as usual, comments, suggestions, advice, etc. are always nice so why don't you leave a good review for me. Also, please tell me what you liked or what you disliked. That helps a little bit better and makes my ego inflate a tiny bit more (unless the review says this fic sucks). Anyway, that's it for me! You'll just have to wait and see what's coming up next for the Fire Emblem world! It promises to be exciting (Not really)!