Summary: 45 deaths. All within that same horrible week.... Everyone died. Noble and kind Eliwood, headstrong Raven, insane Karel... even brilliant Mark. Everyone died. Everyone.
Genre: Tragedy/Romance/Horror/Action/Adventure. Tragedy/Romance are probably the most evident—Tragedy 'cause everyone dies and Romance 'cause that causes about half of the deaths.
Rating: R for murder, suicide, darkness, non-graphic rape, language, and blood and gore. (Some may only appear in later chapters.)
Warnings: See Rating. Plus, shounen-ai, yaoi, lime, shoujo-ai, het, slight incest. (How can you write a fic with both Raven and Priscilla and not have incest, even if it is one-sided?)
Author's Notes: Those who know me well knew well enough to expect one of these kind of fics soon. I just wanted to get my sadistic streak out so I can resist the urge to write a death scene in a perfectly good plot. That, and it's the middle of the night, I wasn't sleeping anytime soon, and I randomly decided to eat some coffee candy. Eating coffee candy when you're already pretty much an insomniac isn't the sanest idea, but whoever said I was sane?
Disclaimer: If I owned Fire Emblem, it would be a tragedy. And everyone would die.
Last-Minute-Note: The beginning is a made-up ambush at the Dragon's Gate. The next few obstacles are authoress-made, as well. But the basic timeline is right after the second to last chapter (excluding 32x "The Value of Life" on Hector) "Victory or Death." They are standing about a quarter of a mile away from Dragon's Gate in the beginning of this chapter.
----------------------------------------------------------The Nobles' Demise-----------------------------------------------------------
He looked out onto the battlefield with those clear blue kind eyes, scanning the area and frowning. "Hector, take a look... the Black Fang truly have outdone themselves this time."
A clanking of armor followed, and the blue-haired man appeared, eyeing the thousands of units ahead of them, murmuring, "No, this isn't good at all."
Eliwood stiffened as the few nomads in the front neared. "Alert the tactician! We have no time to lose!" Whatever next he might've said was cut off as he sloppily withdrew his rapier, defending himself from the nearest nomad's longbow attack.
Hector bellowed loudly, "MARK! AMBUSH!" before he raised up a silver axe, rushing in to aid his friend.
Mark turned to them from his position near Merlinus, blinking in surprise. "Ah! Lyn, go help them!" He turned to the rest of the group. "We haven't got much time to assemble strategically...." He looked flustered. "I suppose our melee units should surround the approaching nomads... I don't know if there are nomadic troopers as well, so be careful... long-distance attackers, get behind their lines and destroy them before they can inflict serious damage on our melee units... oh..." his eyebrows furrowed at the dust, "Nergal really has gotten stronger... I can't see a thing..." he sighed, then turned back at the group. "Whatever you do... remember. Trust your instinct if you cannot hear me. To follow the same orders to the death is fatal. Do you hear me?"
A few units bothered to reply in a solid, "Yes, sir!" before rushing off. Mark exhaled from his position and ran a hand through his hair.
"Mark, m'boy," he muttered to himself, "you should've gotten your sleep." [1] He slumped into Merlinus's horse, brining a whinny from its throat. "Can't see a thing... too tired to enter..."
"Ah, honorable Tactician Mark! May I have the honor of riding in?"
Mark glanced at him, then muttered, "No... we cannot risk you getting attacked... weapons will certainly break... I didn't even have time to give Hector a new axe." He realized in horror what he had just said. "No! That silver axe had barely 4 uses left! And I really don't see how he can survive with a flimsy hand axe..." -- he jumped nervously from one foot to another – "gaaah, no no no no.... HECTOR!" he cried in desperation. "RETREAT!"
He listened frantically for a reply, but the only sounds that approached his ears were the usual sounds of combat, and the eerie echo of "reat... eat... eat...."
Eliwood paused for a moment. For a moment, he thought he heard a command of "retreat." He let his sword fall to his side for a moment, wondering if it was a command from his tactician. "Lyn!" he called. "Did you hear that?"
"Yes!" she shouted back, slicing a nomad with a graceful arc of her sword. "But I don't believe it would be us... why would he surrender us willingly?"
Eliwood nodded. "Yes, I believe you're right."
He darted further into the dark and dusty hallway, squinting to make out the figures in the dark. He could smell blood. There was still battle here... this he knew. But he could no longer see a familiar face, nor hear the familiar quirks of their party, not even Serra's occasional squeal of disgust, not even Nil's cheerful flute tune.... His breathing grew heavy, looking from side to side nervously, wondering what would happen should his identity be discovered.
Suddenly, an enemy hero snapped his head toward Eliwood. "It is our target," it monotonously called. "Attack it at once."
Then suddenly, dozens of pairs of golden eyes, glinting although there was no light in the dark hallway, turned themselves on him. Eliwood gulped, holding out his rapier, his mouth going dry. "Ly-Lyndis," he rasped hoarsely, clearing his throat. "HECTOR... HELP!" He managed to scream the last line, clutching faithfully onto his rapier as though it would ensure his safety.
But this hope was short-lived as thousands of attacks, from both near and far, hurled themselves toward his direction. Eliwood attempted to back away further, to avoid the constant attack, but he felt the chilling wall of Dragon's Gate behind him, blocking his only escape. The morphs closed in on him, demonically staring him down. His attempts to parry every blow were foiled as an arrow embedded itself in his arm. He let out a surprise gasp of pain and leaned forward slightly.
This proved to be a fatal mistake.
When he looked up again, his eyes widened, and he forced himself against the wall, closing his eyes and praying for it to give way.
But this was in vain, as the fimbutvr spell quickly froze him in place.
A doll, trapped in time forever.
A doll, the future marquess of Pherae.
A doll, what would've been the savoir of Elibe.
A doll; now only a doll in an icy cage.
Hector stopped in the middle of an attack, letting the morph turn into ash while his silver axe was still imbedded in its flesh. He simply let the axe disintegrate as he quickly grabbed his nearest weapon, a small hand axe. "Eliwood! Is that you?" he roared, rushing as quickly as he could despite his armor. He chopped a few snipers in half, plowing through the dust in an half-hearted attempt to find his friend.[2] "ELIWOOD!"
Lyn found her way to his side. "Eliwood's in trouble?"
"I. Don't. Know," he grunted, swinging his axe and catching it with perfect balance. "I think I heard him call for help, though. In there." Hector pointed at the mouth of Dragon's Gate.
Lyn pressed against Hector, ducking as an arrow harmlessly bounced and snapped off of Hector's armor. "Well, let's check... just in case. I did see him go in there... I should've stopped him..."
"Don't get all sympathetic on me! Hurry up!" he roared, chopping a way through the endless reinforcements that seemed to swallow him. Lyn hurriedly followed, yelping a quick, "Hector, be careful! Your arrogance will be the end of you!" while finishing off a sage Hector had weakened. Then she nimbly followed him into the darkness.
"FIORA!" she screamed.
"USE YOUR DELPHI SHIELD!" was the quick reply.
Florina blinked, blushing and holding up the shield, only slightly marred by the shock that was absorbed by the shield. "...oh."
Farina exhaled, hovering over the nomadic trooper. "TRIANGLE ATTACK!" she cried, her pegasus gracefully swooping down. Fiora and Florina dived after her, lances thrust forward, pegasi wings arched gracefully as the lances skewered the nomad. He fell into dust as Farina cheered and grinned happily. "We should really get a raise! Hehe..."
Florina smiled bashfully, then quickly let her pegasus swoop back into the air, watching as her sisters rose as well. "What now?"
Farina wiped sweat from her forehead, replying, "I've had enough fun doing this... so yeah, what now?"
Fiora gave Farina a reprimanding glare. "Farina! Take fighting more seriously! We could be seriously hurt or killed!"
Farina gave a "psh" before diving back into the dust cloud. Fiora sighed in frustration, turning to Florina. "Florina, please do be careful... battle really is a serious thing..."
Florina lowered her head slightly, replying softly, "Yes, I know sister. But please don't tell me to stay behind! I... I'm stronger now... I wish to help Lady Lyndis..."
Fiora nodded, replying faintly, "Yes, I do believe we had this conversation before... I'll be off then." She smiled. "And don't forget to use your Delphi shield." She waved briefly, then flew off... if Florina could remember correctly, it was in Kent's direction. Florina giggled, then turned back toward the gate.
She landed her pegasus on the roof, stroking its mane. "So then, Hugh[3], where do you think Lyn would be...?" She glanced around briefly, before resting her eyes on a slim green figure accompanied by a large blue one. She giggled softly. "Ah, she and Hector are fighting together again." Her happy expression quickly dimmed slightly to regret. "Yes... I suppose they do make a lovely pair."
And then she took an unnecessary hazard. She dismounted her pegasus and laid down on the roof, head supported by her hands, watching Lyn gracefully cut sages and druids and finally enter the dark Dragon's Gate.
She looked so beautiful and right doing that, Florina decided. Lyn belonged to the freedom of Sacae, not to the confinement of either Caelin or Ostia... or a small, worn-down house in Ilia.[4]
Hector chopped down a final Hero and cursed as his hand axe split into an innumerable amount of pieces. "Well then, I can't fight anymore." He nodded to Lyn, who sliced a few opposing druids, earning them entry into the dark corridors to Dragon's Gate.
Lyn turned smugly to him, voicing a calm, "I guess you need me here after all, huh?"
Hector sweatdropped, then muttered a low, "Yeah. Whatever."
Lyn tugged at Hector's sleeve. "C'mon. We have to go deeper yet. I swear by St. Elimine that I heard him somewhere in here...." Hector reluctantly followed Lyn into the dark tunnel, somewhat embarrassed to be dragged in by a girl... even if she was a beautiful, headstrong, talented girl.
"Lyn? Do you have an iron sword with you?"
"Eh? No... why? Oooh! You want to fight?" Lyn glanced at him quickly. "But you know that Mark only equips us with the best weapons now. Kind of a loss, really, since the iron sword was so much easier to use than this silver sword." She gave a slicing swoop toward an opposing bishop. "Not that I can't handle it," she added quickly.
"'Course not," Hector muttered, trudging along in Lyn's footsteps. "And besides, your sword masteeee—WHAT THE HELL?!"
Both lords froze at the sight of Eliwood, imprisoned in ice. He looked delicate, innocent even; eyes closed, lips slightly parted and turned blue from the chill; arm limply laying at his side and rapier in no position to attack. His posture was not of grace, attack, or defense, but defeat. Hector and Lyn both fought the urge to call out and tremble.
Both stared at the frozen body. Silent. Deathly silent.
Finally, Lyn dared to speak. "Hector," she whispered, "what... how..."
Her sentence was suddenly interrupted as she abruptly lurched forward, coughing up blood. Hector, startled, turned toward her, tracing the killer lance upwards to its owner. The general put a second hand on the lance, withdrawing it with no indication of thought, feeling, or difficulty. He turned towards Hector.
Hector slowly looked from Lyn to the general's alarmingly quick charge. He dodged, skidding near Lyn, withdrawing a sword at random.
The Mani Katti.
I'm dead, he thought ironically. Unless her love comes through for me or whatever. Then again, if I expect that, I really WOULD die in arrogance, ne? Heaving it above his shoulder in an unpracticed manner. He took a few rapid breaths as he swung at the general, barely parrying his blow. The general did not stumble, but merely charge forward again, knocking Hector back, but barely denting his armor. Hector regained his balance, then ran toward the general in a wild frenzy, wielding the sword in an axe-like manner. Amazingly, the general's killer lance shattered upon his contact.
"I've done it... I've done it!" he repeated breathlessly. "I thought this stuff only happened in children's fairy tales... heh." He looked at a swordmaster with newfound vigor. The swordmaster was stepping toward him calmly, then suddenly breaking out into a run. Hector shouted in surprise, bringing the Mani Katti up again to break the force of the blow. The swordmaster was not hindered by this sloppy defense, however, and quickly responded with a diagonal slash, tearing a fine line in Hector's clothing and armor.
And then they were shrouded in darkness. Hector glanced down, and in dismay, saw the sword flicker slowly out. "DAMN! Don't tell me the spirits quit on me now!" He cursed some more, then looked up into the close glinting eyes of the swordmaster. His breath hitched, then everything was cold.
Very cold.
As cold as fimbutvr ice...
Mark sighed in relief. "It's over," he moaned happily. "We won..." He jumped off of Merlinus's wagon, observing the ruins. "WE WON!" he cheered, and weakly, some replied to his call.
"B-But tactician Mark!" a meek voice squeaked. He looked up and smiled gently at Florina.
"What is it? We won Florina."
"B-But... you d-don't underst-stand!" Florina stuttered. "Lady Lyndis and Lord Hector... they both went into the Gate!"
Mark nodded patiently. "Yes, that is for the best. We must gain ground while we are not being attacked."
"But Mark!" she cried in frustration, all stuttering thrown aside. "You don't understand! There's no sound in there anymore! None of Hector's comments or Lyn's remarks or even the sound of combat! And no one's coming out! And--" she stopped her rant as Lucius held Lyn's broken body out to Mark.
"I went in there to heal Raven," he lamented quietly. "And... I found her like this."
Florina clutched her head and sobbed.
[1] (pointless note) Unlike thou authoress. Never eat coffee candy when you can't sleep.
[2] Just a friend. Not quite Eliwood/Hector, although you're welcome to feel that way if you want.
[3] I'm not really sure if that's Florina's pegasus's name... I don't have many of Florina's supports, but it seems to be used in a multiple of fics, so I'm using it.
[4] I think this is going to be the only shoujo-ai in this fic... I might change my mind and add a tiny bit of Rebecca/Serra... OO But that would be brief. Very brief.
Endnotes: Yay... first chapter of first published multi-chapter fic done!! –dances-- If you read and wasted 10 minutes of your life, you might as well yell at me for everything I did wrong. Review, but before you do, look at this faq so I don't have to waste my time answering some questions over and over again:
And now, the answer to some questions I KNOW reviewers will leave:
Q) Can you plz let [insert bishounen] live? PLZ?
A) No. Must I repeat that "Everyone died" phrase again? --smiles thinly--
Q) (sob) (sob) why?! He doesn't deserve it.
A) Would you rather him live forever and suffer the wrath of my angst? ... Trust me, when I kill them, I'm rather merciful. But if you plead and start a riot, perhaps I shall make his death quicker and relatively less painful... relatively.
Q) O-o You're sadistic!
A) I know. Lovely bloodbath today at noon.
Q) What's Shoujo-ai?
A) Basically, the female version of Shounen-ai. Or, to be put crudely, lesbian love.
Q) Shounen-ai/Shoujo-ai/Het/Incenst is just... ew...
A) You've been warned in the warnings. Don't bother to flame. Besides, that'd just be another review for me.
Q) THIS FIC SUX U SHOOD GO EAT SUM CRAP AT LEEST THEN UR MIND WOULD BE CLEENR
A) Thank you for the lovely review.
Q) Why the #$%##$#%$ did you write this?!
A) My brain itched for a deathfic. My fingers sang of a tragedy. So I let them sing, and so I typed a story of sorrow. My fingers sing some more... there shall be another chapter. (I sound like Karel. Is that healthy?)
Q) (kicks Renault) Could you give him a very cruel, unusual, and creative end?
A) You mean like tying his crotch to a metal rod and making Erk use Thunder on it, then have Wallace trip and fall on him and then tie Serra to the other end of the metal rod and giving her sugar? Er... nothing like that, I assure you, but don't worry, I WILL cast my revenge on him for being the source of Lucius's misery. --wicked grin-- --waves a flag that says "SCARABSI, RIANNEHIME, AND RENAULT KICKING ROCK!!!"--
Q) But that's no fair! You're probably gonna go easy on your own bishounen...
A) Actually, I have this odd habit of giving my favorite character(s) painful deaths... as well as killing them off every other fic. It's odd... but no matter how much you plead for me to make poor Lucius's death less painful... I won't. sighs My hormones have picked him to be the one to be killed over and over and over...
Q) Could you kill [unit] by [painful torturing technique]?
A) I'll take into account some of the more creative ends, but I won't follow them exactly, 'cause then it'd be interactive, ne? I think I'm allowed to take suggestions, though. Also, I'd appreciate it if someone helped me think up how to kill Vaida. I still can't make out how she'd be connected to anyone else... I'm probably gonna have do so something between her and Merlinus, although I still need her B and A supports with said old man.
Q) But if the lords die, your game ends!
A) I know. A pity, isn't it?
Q) There are only 42 characters in Fire Emblem 7. I counted on the supports page.
A) You forgot Mark, aka Tactitian. Then there's always Athos and Nils.
Q) It's gonna be reaaaally long if it's 45 chapters... I'm not patient enough!
A) Neither am I. I'll kill off 2 to 5 characters each chapter, the average being 3 or 4. –smirk-- Excluding the chapter in which Lucius dies. He gets a whole mournful rape-torture-death chapter to himself. Perhaps his actual death'll wait until the next chapter, just so I get to stick Raven's death in the same chapter. Ain't I cruel?
Q) Everyone? Even the random civilians in chapter 4?
A) Um... actually, no. I was just being overdramatic. Everyone in Mark's little group does, though.
Q) Uhh... did you notice some of your questions aren't really ... questions?
A) Yes, I have.
NEXT CHAPTER'S VICTIMS: FARINA, FIORA, KENT, SAIN. (Feel free to guess how... via review.)
Review. Good night. --yawn--