Alright, here we go again. Another story! I must be going out of my mind. But aren't all writers that way anyways? And yes, this is a second shot at updating a second time. I edited the story up a little bit to make it slightly better than the first time. Regardless of the first chapter's turn out though, this will stay on the site as it is.
Anywho, welcome to my attempt at a novelization of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. I love the Fire Emblem games. They are one of my favorite series of all time (right after the Zelda and Tales of series). I've always wanted to put up a good Fire Emblem fic here, and now here is my attempt at it.
Okay, first things first. The main thing I want to point at that this (unfortunately) is a side project. My main one is a Naruto fic that I'm already well into right now. This fic is mainly a way to be creative and clear out some cobwebs while I have some writers block with my other fic. I can't promise regular updates, but I can promise that I will make an effort to keep up the chapters as quickly as I can. Another thing, despite that this is actually a novelization of the actual game; I will make the fullest effort to keep the dialogue as different as I can. After all, I know you guys don't want to read the exact same stuff you could just start up your Gamecube to see.
Alright, next. As you probably have seen by the description of the story, this is an Adventure/ROMANCE story. I always like a bit of romance in my fics, and one of the best things about Fire Emblem is its characters' abilities to grow relationships with other characters (CURSE YOU FE10 AND FE11 AND SCREWING THE SUPPORT SYSTEM UP!). And sense this is a novelization of FE9, which means I'm going to try and be as cannon as I can be. That means Ike/Elincia is gonna be the main pairing for this fic. But don't worry. Romance will by no means be the main focus in this story. It'll be more like a little "bonus" for everyone. Other pairings that I believe are cannon (yes, that includes Makalov/Astrid...blah) will be introduced later on. The only exception of "cannon" pairings will involve a certain Lord's younger sister who unfortunately never got a stinkin' choice of who she would end up with in the end of FE10. To be honest, I don't think I'll be accepting many pairing suggestions for this story, but feel free to pop one into a review if you so wish, and I'll make an effort to reply back whether there is any chance of the relationship or not (I will be honest, but I won't be cruel). Well, that's all I can think of for now concerning pairings.
On a less interesting note (possibly) I will (again possibly) add in some extra chapters in this story to fill in some gaps that the game had. These chapters will mostly be centering of character development and maybe even some miscellaneous side adventures as well. It all depends on my own creativity and the time and place.
Besides that, I think that's all I can think of. If I remember anything that I didn't put on this chapter, I'll be sure to post them in the next. Without anything further to say, let's get on with the story. I hope you enjoy this first chapter!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance in any way, shape, or form. It belongs to the good (and by good I mean awesome) people of Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
"Dad! Ike!"
A young girl of about the age of fourteen trotted through the fort, gazing around her with a slightly irritated look on her face. Though young, it was apparent to anyone that laid eyes on her that she would one day become a striking woman of incredible beauty. She wore a modest yellow dress and skirt along with a small blue cape that just dropped past her shoulder blades. Her light brown hair fell to her shoulders and her bright blue eyes darted around the fortress for any signs of either her brother or father. She also held a small basket with both hands which contained several sandwiches neatly packed within.
"Where could those two be?" Mist asked herself, finally turning toward the gates of the fortress. She had searched the entire fort for Ike and her father, so that only left the option that the two had gone off into the forest to train. All she could hope for now was that they would be at their normal training spot over by the local stream. She had been hoping to surprise them with a personalized meal prepared all on her own, but she had to choose the day when they decided to run off with each other. Alright, so sandwiches weren't too difficult to prepare, but it was the thought that counts, wasn't it?
Just as she was about to leave the fortress, Mist caught sight of a magnificent horse trotting toward her from down the path. Atop the steed was a beautiful but at the same time undoubtedly strong looking woman with long and red hair. At her side hung a steel axe which she always kept close at hand whenever she was out on a job. From behind her Mist caught sight of another rider with green hair on a brown mare, trotting at a slightly slower pace.
"Titania! Oscar!" Mist shouted as the two approached. Both knights smiled kindly at the young girl before them and slightly quickened their horses' paces to close the distance between them quicker.
The red haired woman's eyes softened as the young girl approached her. Looking at her as she was now, one would never have guessed that she was a skilled warrior and renowned across the land for her skills in battle, second only to Greil himself. "How have you been, Mist?" Titania asked, bringing her stallion to a halt and climbing off of it to bring herself down to earth. "Take care of the fortress while we were gone?"
"Not much to take care of here," Mist mumbled back. "It's been so boring here this morning. Rhys, Boyd, and Rolf ran off somewhere while I wasn't looking, Shinon and Gatrie are still not back from their assignment yet, and I think Ike and Dad went off training when I wasn't around…"
"Sorry about that," Titania said with a slightly embarrassed smile, looking around and seeing her point. "Did you happen to hear when Rhys is going to get back?"
Mist was about to inquire why she wanted to know, but her eyes finally drifted over to Oscar and she spotted the red splotches that had seeped in between his green armor.
"Oscar! Are you alright?" she cried out in horror.
The green haired man merely smiled back down at Mist kindly, waving his hand at her as if to bat away a fly. "It's just a scratch, don't worry about it. I've had much worse," he said reassuringly, as if the wound was no more serious than a splinter. "We've already dressed it with a vulnerary and all we need now is for Rhys to put some finishing touches on it. The only thing that's plaguing me now is my own hunger…"
"Well I don't have a staff, but I can fix that!" Mist said excitedly, immediately holding up her basket and handing it to Oscar. "There are sandwiches inside of that. I was going to give them to Ike and Dad, but they decided to run off without telling me anything. You just eat as many as you'd like and get your strength back."
"I'll be sure to," Oscar said with a chuckle, gratefully accepting the basket from Mist.
"That's our Mist, always taking care of us. If you ask me, without you this whole mercenary team would completely fall to pieces. If you are still searching for Ike and Greil though, Oscar and I saw them not too far down the road at their normal training spot. You know the one," Titania said.
"Really? Thanks!" Mist said gratefully.
With that said, she darted down the road with surprising speed. Though she was not yet old enough to take part in the various job requests that the mercenary company accepted each day, she was by no means out of shape by any stretch of the imagination, a bonus to being raised in an environment consisting of mostly hired mercenaries. Mist had lived in secluded areas all her life and she could hardly remember back enough before they took residence in Crimea. Mercenary life was all she knew, and to be perfectly frank it suited her just fine, with the exception of the few actual dangerous missions that her friends and family had to accept at times.
Her father was known throughout the region as not just leading one of the best, but the best mercenary company in that part of Crimea and debatably the entire country. As a result, competition was few and far between, and near every request from bandit raids to catching petty thieves went straight to them.
Many of the jobs often requested Greil himself to come to their aid. While the Greil Mercenaries were famous in the region, its commander was a legend. Never before had anyone seen a more powerful warrior. No matter the enemy, each and every one of them would fall to his axe. More often than not, most men would cease any and all trouble making just by hearing a whisper of his name. She was proud of her father as well to the fact that his blood ran through her own veins as well.
The sound of cracking wood suddenly reached her ears from further down the road. Though it may not seem much, if there was something else that Mist could pride herself in, it was her hearing. She can often pick up the slightest sounds with little to no difficulty. Her expert hearing once actually resulted in a slap on the back of Boyd's head after he had mumbled something about wondering if Mist would ever learn how to cook a decent soup during supper. Of course she knew that the older boy was just teasing (for the most part) but that didn't mean that he should just abandon his manners all together.
Finally, she reached the clearing and stopped, taking a moment to watch her two family members do battle with each other. Her father held a wooden sword tightly with one hand, batting off any attacks that his opponent would make. His facial features were hard, strict, and strong, but at the same time were loving and kind as well. He had the same color brown hair as Mist had and wore a black tunic, a long yellow cape, and blue shoulder armor.
Standing opposite of the larger man was a young man of about seventeen years old, wearing a determined and slightly frustrated scowl on his face, her brother Ike. He was very handsome. He was tall but not gigantic, had strong facial features like their father, and well built for his age, though not enough to make him look overly buff. He had messy blue hair which Mist bet he had never combed in his entire life, though he was able to pull it off well enough. Around his forehead was a dark green headband and he wore a blue tunic. Just as his father did, he too wore a long cape, though instead of yellow his was red. Unlike his father as well, he did not hold his wooden sword with one hand, instead grasping it firmly with both.
Ike suddenly leapt from where he was standing and charged at his father. He swung a powerful side swipe, though Greil idly batted it away with an amused look on his face, knocking his son off balance. Not one to ever give in; Ike prepared to run forward again, though stopped just in time to dodge a horizontal swipe of his father's own sword this time. With a loud grunt, Ike made three attacks which were once again blocked easily by his father. On the last strike, the two swords stayed connected. Ike grunted loudly as he tried to overpower his father, but it didn't take long for Greil to push him back, following up with a quick thrust at Ike's chest. The blue haired swordsmen staggered backwards a little too quickly and finally landed backwards on the ground. Mist couldn't help but giggle as his brother angrily sat back up to go another round.
"Come now, Ike," Greil said looking at his son with a playful grin on his face. "I'm sure that you can do better than that. Or are you already calling it quits?"
As a response, Ike jumped to his feet once again and attacked his father with even more ferocity than ever, though Greil continued to block Ike's attacks, not even moving from where he was standing.
"Dad! Ike!" Mist yelled out, finally deciding to make her presence known. Her father looked over in her direction idly, smiling when she continued her way down the hill.
"Mist, what are you doing out here?" Greil asked kindly as he watched his daughter approach her.
Ike's blue eyes suddenly flashed, seeing his opening. With a loud cry, Ike raised his wooden sword above his head and brought it down full force towards his father. He was shocked to find though that his attack ended up hitting nothing but air as he staggered forward. Bringing back his own wooden sword, Greil stuck a blow right in the center of Ike's back, knocking him motionlessly to the ground.
"Ike!" Mist shouted worriedly as she ran toward her brother. She knelt down to get a better look at him. For a moment, both her teal eyes and Ike's blue eyes met as he struggled to raise himself from the ground. A second later, Ike's eyelids closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.
A sweet, melodious voice suddenly reached Ike's ears, shaking him from his sleep. With a small groan, he opened his eyes and looked around, confused to see that he was now lying in a bed that was placed in a small and modest looking shack. Gazing around further, he turned to his right and caught sight of the source of the music. A woman sat beside his bed with blue hair, much like his own, that fell to her shoulders. When she spied Ike awake, she gave a kind and loving smile down toward him.
"Why, good morning sleepy head. Have a nice nap?" she asked, never dropping her smile.
"Mother," Ike whispered weakly to himself. Though just as he did, his heart skipped a beat as the scenery around him began to blur, and soon enough his mother's own image as well…
Ike's eyes opened slowly, seeing a large and bright blue sky above his head instead of a brown roof like the one in his dream. He realized though that the song that had been in his dreams still remained…though this time with a different voice.
Sitting up, he felt a wet rag fall from atop his forehead and down beside him. Glancing around, he finally turned his head to look behind him and he once again found the source of the singing. This time though, it was from his sister, who was happily picking flowers not even ten steps away from where he lay.
"Mist…" Ike said, rising to his feet.
Upon hearing her name, Mist glanced up and she beamed, seeing her brother finally up. "Well good morning sleepy head. Have a nice nap?" she asked teasingly, smiling even more brightly.
For a moment, Ike just stood there and continued to gaze down at Mist in mild surprise. He had never before noticed the striking resemblance that she shared with their mother. Their smile, their voice, their personality…though Ike was the one to inherit his mother's blue hair, it was obvious which of the two who truly took after her.
"You were out for nearly ten minutes," Mist said, setting the flowers aside. "You and Father go too hard on each other during training…"
Ike took a seat beside his sister on the grass before answering, not taking his eyes off of her for a moment in case the same vision of his mother which was becoming more and more blurry as he grew older might appear once again."It's the only way that I can become stronger," he replied simply, not one to ever have much to say at one time.
After a few seconds, Mist finally became aware of Ike's stare and blushed slightly. "What?" she asked, growing flustered with his staring.
"Nothing," Ike said, chuckling at his sister. "I…was just thinking about mother."
"Oh," Mist said, dropping her gaze and resumed picking her flowers. Ike could have hit himself. Their mother had died when both of them were at an extremely young age. Though Ike had been old enough to be able to remember small moments and characteristics about her, Mist had been so young that she was not able to remember anything about her even if she tried. Ike knew that she often put on a strong face for both his and his father's sake, but there were times when even he could see through her ploys.
"Sorry," Ike said, leaning back onto his hands and laying back on the grass. "I wasn't really thinking when I said that."
"Ike, you don't think that often in the first place," Mist said, her old teasing tone returning to her voice. "And don't worry about it. I'm more worried about you right now. Are you sure you're not hurt?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Ike replied.
"About time too!" a deep voice called from their right. Both siblings simultaneously looked from where the voice had called out. Slowly walking towards them with the two practice swords in one hand was Greil with an amused look on his face. Ike quickly leapt to his feet, hoping not to let himself appear weak or needy in sight of his father. After all, he hadn't requested this sparing match for just any reason…
"Father, don't give Ike such a hard time. Especially after you knocked him out!" Mist said disapprovingly. "Those things may be practice swords, but they still can hurt someone if-"
"Now, now, settle down, Mist," Greil said. "If this is too much for him, then there's no way that he'd make it as an actual mercenary."
"That's still no reason to-"
"Mist, I already told you that I'm fine," Ike said interrupting his sister. "Just calm down and stop worrying."
"See? The pup says he's fine," Greil said with an approving nod. Next, he took one of the wooden swords in his hand and tossed it to Ike, which he caught the handle while in mid air. "Now that you're awake, we can start again."
"You got it," Ike replied, already preparing himself.
"What?" Mist asked in disbelief, looking between the two of them. "You just woke up from being knocked out, Ike. Shouldn't you rest for a little while?"
"I'm not going to give up until I get at least a single hit in," Ike replied, not even looking away from the Commander of the Greil Mercenaries. If there was one thing he had learned after countless sparing lessons from his father, it was to never let down your guard or take your eyes off of your opponent. Today wasn't the first time he's ever been knocked out cold during sparring.
"That's what I like to hear!" Greil said, raising his "blade" as well. "But it takes more than just a strong resolve to…"
Greil suddenly trailed off as he looked to his right, his ears catching some small rustles from within the bushes.
"Stinkin' poison ivy…stupid random root sticking out of the ground…those two must be working together to get someone. What are the chances that they happen to be right next to each other in the ideal spot…?" the voice of a young man said from within the forest. A moment later, from out of the bushes a tall, green haired young man about Ike's age walked out scratching his bare, muscular forearms. He quickly straightened back up when he noticed the three watching him. Like Ike, he was well built and tall, and had on green pants, boots, and a red shirt. Also like Ike, he also wore a brown headband across his forehead.
"Ha! Here you three are!" the young man said with a smile, running toward the three and waving. At his side was an iron ax in a leather sheathe to protect his leg. When he finally got to them, he rested his hand on the axe as if in pride.
"Hey Boyd, what are you doing here, Boyd?" Mist asked.
"Titania said that you were checking up on these two and I got chosen to see why you hadn't returned yet," he said, giving a respectful nod to Greil and a friendly wave to Ike. Boyd was the youngest of the active mercenaries in Ike's father's company and the middle child of two others. He and Ike had developed a kind of friendly rivalry with each other, spanning from weapon combat to an eating contest at one point between the two. Ike had come up victorious on that occasion, though he was the one to lose his lunch later.
Boyd's attitude was not what one would presume a typical mercenary would have. Though Ike had admittedly not developed many people skills, spending most of his time nowadays training and not in the nearest town which was a three hour travel by horseback, he had learned on his few occasions of interacting with the townsmen that most viewed mercenaries as cold hearted killers who wanted nothing but a quick way to earn a livelihood. While Ike couldn't say that he had met many mercenaries outside of the ones under his father's led, he could say quite easily that Boyd would not fit any typical description of the sort. Though it was no secret that the green haired youth enjoyed a good scuffle or two now and again, it seemed that he would at times rather sit down and crack a few bad jokes from time to time. Boyd was childish, irresponsible, and sometimes even goofy. But at the same time he was a good comrade that would fight to the death for the sake of the ones he cared for.
"Oh, I just got caught up with talking with Ike and Dad," Mist responded back to Boyd's question. "I suppose I just forgot to head back when I got here. Not to mention that I had to wait for Ike to-"
"That's okay, Mist," Ike said, interrupting his sister before she could finish. Last thing he needed now was for Boyd to be giving him hard time for being knocked out. Though he was not in the least on bad terms with him, there were always some things ond would rather not have the one you compete with on a regular basis to know. Especially subjects concerning your father beating you senseless with little to no difficulty and knocking you out with a single strike.
"But it doesn't matter anymore, does it? You said yourself you were okay. You should be well rested enough though with how long Dad knocked you out cold," Mist said mischievously, ignoring Ike's protest.
Ike stared at Mist in dismay while Boyd buckled in laughter, causing Ike's face burn red in anger and embarrassment. Now he knew that he was in for some harassment today. He didn't even want to think about what Shinon would say if he caught wind of the news.
"Alright, that's enough verbal abuse for Ike for one day," Greil said, suddenly producing a wooden axe from the pack he was carrying. He occasionally used it to help Ike get accustomed to how an axe wielder would battle and it was his weapon of choice. "You came just in time actually, Boyd. You can be Ike's sparring partner for this round," he said, tossing the youth the wooden weapon.
"What?" Boyd asked, his eyes flashing over momentarily to Ike and the sword in his hand. Ike felt a small sense of pride at the way that Boyd was looking at him. It was apparent by the way that he was examining his sword that his was slightly intimidated by him. Not to mention that the fact he would be facing Ike under the watchful eye of Commander Greil himself probably made him feel a little rattled as well.
"Ike needs someone around to spar with who's a little closer to his own skill," Greil explained as he took a couple steps back so he couldn't interfere with the already decided match up with Mist following close behind. Though the comment was not meant to, it was a slight wound to Ike's pride. He knew perfectly well that he was not a match for his father as he was now. Not yet anyways. But he had vowed long ago in his childhood that he would surpass his father one day. He was not as strong as he was yet, but he will be. Eventually. It was his dream after all. And after he was defeated, he would say to him in his usual gruff voice, 'That's my boy'.
"Well, I don't know if a trained professional such as myself should be sparring with a rookie like Ike," Boyd said with a shrug, "but I don't refuse a challenge. Let's see what you've got. Don't hold back on me."
"You don't have to worry abut that, Boyd," Ike replied back, once again readying his weapon.
For a moment, the two young men faced each other, both slowly circling around the other. Mist stood off to the side watching intently while his father sat on an old stump with a canteen of water, watching the two with a critical eye. When it became clear to Ike that Boyd was not going planning on making the first move, he darted forward at Boyd and swung a horizontal strike at his abdomen. His opponent though dodged the swipe with relative ease and raised his own weapon to attack. Ike was able to raise his own weapon once again and knocked back the swing, both of the young men retreating at the same time to put some distance between each other.
"Not bad, Ike," Boyd said approvingly, though he kept a friendly, albeit snide sneer on his face as well. "Keep it up and I may actually let you spar with me again some time."
"Whatever you say, Boyd," Ike said with a confident grin back. Though it was tough to admit, if their battle came down to brute strength alone, Boyd would be the victor. The axe wielder was stronger than him by only the smallest margin. Of course at the same time, Ike knew that he was the faster of the two. His wooden blade was also more convenient and versatile as well. He could attack at basically any angle he chose with just a twist of his wrist. Boyd's axe on the other hand had an edge on only one side of the weapon, while the other was just regular wood. Two out of three factors were in Ike's favor, and he was beginning to feel his confidence grow.
"Come on, Ike!" Mist yelled from beside their father. "Boyd's got nothing on you!"
"Hey! Quite shrimp!" he yelled over to Mist embarrassingly, but he soon turned back to Ike. "So, are you just going to stand there admiring me or are we actually going to continue?" Boyd asked, brandishing his weapon. Ike had to admit, despite Boyd's cocky and sometimes arrogant attitude, he knew how to use an axe. If Ike wanted to defeat him, he would have to be cautious.
Dashing at Boyd once again, their two weapons clashed and rebounded against the other. The two immediately bounced back though and connected weapons again. This time though, they stayed connected and the two pushed in an attempt to over power the other.
Here we go, Ike said as he felt himself slowly loosing out to Boyd's superior strength. Finally, at the very last moment, Ike pulled back his sword and leapt backwards. As a result, Boyd stumbled forward and clumsily raised his weapon to block the first of Ike's attacks. The next two he blocked as well, but a quick thrust to the chest and a swift strike to his hand changed that. With a small yelp in pain, Boyd dropped his weapon and clutched his hand. He was about to say something to Ike, but he stopped as he noticed Ike's wooden blade held up inches from his throat. On the opposite end of the practice weapon, Ike wore a pleased smile of accomplishment.
"...Well…pretty good for your first try at least," Boyd said, still rubbing his injured hand. Ike could tell though that the injury would be fixed up new by the beginning of the next morning, maybe sooner if Rhys took a look at it when they got back.
"Sheesh, Boyd. I never knew how much of a weakling you were compared to Ike," Mist said with a giggle, which prompted a grin from Ike's father as well as he watched the two.
"Sh-shut up!" Boyd shouted back, his face getting even redder than it had been before.
"Don't worry, Boyd. You did perfectly fine. Both of you did" Greil said this time, giving both young men an approving nod. "Boyd, you can take a break."
Boyd let escape a relieved sigh. "Don't mind if I do." Before leaving he turned back to Ike and extended his non injured hand toward Ike. "Nice spar."
"Yes," Ike said, grasping the hand and shaking it. "If you ever want a rematch, I'll be waiting."
"Count on it," Boyd laughed before walking off toward Ike's father and Mist.
"Well, you're swordsmanship seems to be improving well enough," his father said critically. Ike was aware that this was probably the best complement that he could ask from his father. "Just don't forget everything that went through your head and how it felt. You won't always be sparing with a friend for for the sake of training. One day you'll actually face a real enemy with the intent to kill you. It won't always be that easy."
"Yeah, I know," Ike said back, nodding.
Greil nodded in his approvement while rising to his feet from where he sat and picking up a wooden sword of his own. "And now that you're warmed up, I think its time for the two of us to have a little rematch of our own."
"I was hoping that you'd say that," Ike said, readying himself once more.
"Well come on! Give it your all!" Greil said with a hearty laugh.
Without giving his father any time to prepare an attack of his own, Ike charged forward and made two swipes at his father. Just as before though, Greil parried back Ike's attacks and retaliated with his own. Though Ike wasn't actually able to launch a counter attack in return, he was able to actually block the attacks this time and retreat slightly unscathed.
"Not bad, Ike. Maybe I should knock you out more often. You come back with more fight in you than before," Greil said raising his weapon once again. "You going to give me a challenge this time around?"
Ike didn't respond. It was not usually his style to respond back more than a few words to his opponent anyways. Boyd was an exception just because he was Boyd. This time around though, Ike knew that he couldn't waste time with words. His father was too skilled for that. But still…something didn't sit right in Ike with how his father was facing him so far.
The young swordsman's eyes widened in surprise as his father suddenly dashed forward from where he was standing and made a powerful down stroke right toward Ike's head. Ike swiftly dodged the attack and retaliated with his own. The advantages that he had gained while facing Boyd had disappeared this time around. His father out strengthened him and had years of experience to fall back on. Not to mention the fact that he had taught each and every one of Ike's moves himself didn't help his odds at all. If he wanted to win, he would have to rely on his speed like he had with Boyd. Otherwise he wouldn't stand a chance.
Ike stumbled backwards and let out a low grunt as he was struck in the middle of the chest with Greil's sword. He did not allow himself to fall though, instead bouncing back and attacking Greil with even swifter strikes than ever before.
"Move your feet more," Greil instructed as he continued to fend off each of Ike's attacks. "And for goodness sake boy, loosen your grip! Your body is so tense that it can't reach its highest capability!"
Ike wordlessly obeyed his father's command as he continued to exchange blows with Greil. After doing so, he immediately noticed a jump in his fighting, becoming closer and closer to hitting his mark each time. It just proved to Ike even more just how great his father was at swordplay. Each move was calculated within his head much faster than Ike could dream of…
He suddenly spun out of the way of one of Greil's swipes and maneuvered around him. Seeing his chance, he swung several blows which were impressively still blocked by his father even with them coming from his blind spot. Grasping his sword once again with two hands, Ike made a powerful upward slice to hit away his father's weapon. When it came down once again, Ike parried it once and then with one last mighty swing, knocked the sword from out of his father's hand, the wooden weapon dropping to the ground a few feet away.
For a moment, Ike just stared down at his father's sword dumbly and then looked back at his own that still was in his hand. His spirits suddenly roared like an inferno within him louder than he had ever thought possible, but they were quickly smothered away when he looked back up to his father. The entertained glint in his eyes still remained and his smile had not dropped, even as he held his hands up in surrender. This was not the look of pride that Ike had envisioned when he finally defeated his father...
"Ike!" Mist yelled, running up to her brother with Boyd right on her heels, looking dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed. "I can't believe it! You were amazing!"
Ike didn't respond back to his sister, his blue eyes still locked onto Greil. "Father…you were holding back, weren't you," he stated rather than actually asking.
"What?" Mist asked surprised, looking between the two. "Is that true?"
"Well good," their father said with an impressed smile. "If you could tell, then that only means that you're improving faster than I had first realized."
Just as his spirits had soared so high just moments ago, so then did they fall rock bottom. He had allowed himself to foolishly believe that he had actually surpassed his father in battle. Ike should have known better. His father was more than twice his own age with more battle experience than Ike could even be compared with. He had fought in countless jobs for their mercenary company and quite probably took part in countless battles as a hired hand in armies. Not that he could ever be sure. Though it had been hinted to him by both Titania and Greil himself that he had once been a part of some army at one point in his life, he had never stated which one or when. To be completely honest, his father's past was a complete mystery to Ike, yet something nudged at the back of his mind for him not to push for it. He would find out someday. He just had to be patient.
"You know," Boyd said, rubbing his chin and nodding to the three in front of him, "I was holding back too. I just thought I should go easy on him because he's a rookie and all, you know?"
"Right, Boyd," Mist said, gazing at him suspiciously. "By the way, how's that hand treating you?"
Boyd didn't respond, just shrugging back with a sheepish grin on his face. Boyd was not one to argue unless the subject was worth taking time to argue about, specifically concerning about his family or the other mercenaries.
"So, Father," Ike said, finally seeing the moment he has been waiting for the entire day. "You said yourself that I'm further along then you had expected. Does that mean that you think that I may be ready?"
"To take on a job?" Greil asked back, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Ike recognized this to be a good sign. In the past, he would have only received a swift "no" and nothing more from his father if he requested to take part in a job. This time though, his father seemed to be actually contemplating the matter.
"Boyd is already out there helping," Ike said motioning towards other boy next to him. "I promise that I won't disappoint you and help in any way I can."
"Well…" Greil said, this time crossing his arms. "I suppose that you have been working hard lately…alright, Ike. You win. Starting tomorrow, you'll be taking on jobs along with everyone else as an official member of the Greil Mercenaries."
"Alright, Ike! Just like you always wanted," Mist said excitedly. Even Boyd seemed pleased with the news, though his smile seemed to have a slight mischievous glint to it which slightly worried Ike.
"But until then, all three of you still have chores to take care of back at base," Greil said, walking over to his fallen sword on the ground and picking it up. "And I better not see you slacking off in your training, Ike, now that you're finally a part of the team. If anything, I expect you to work even more diligently than before. I don't want my son losing an arm while I'm not around on a job."
"You don't' have to worry about that. I'll work ten times harder than everyone else," Ike said confidently.
"Yeah, like that's actually going to happen. It takes you forever to even get up in the morning," Mist said with a giggle.
Ike looked back at his sister angrily while Boyd and Greil both chuckled together at Ike's own dismay. After a few more moments, the four of them made their way back down the road and back to the base.
It wasn't until later did Ike learn that the reason Boyd had been smiling earlier was because he had replaced the fighter as the newest member of the company. Apparently, that meant that he was stuck with all tedious work such as cleaning weapons and keeping track of vulneraries. But that was fine with him. He had taken his first step toward surpassing his father. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Well, there you have it folks. Hmm...A little short for my liking, but it is the first chapter after all. I'm sure that I'll make up for it in due time.
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my fic. As usual for each and every fic out there, please take a few moments to review. It is usually all one author needs to inspire him/herself to write more or find inspiration.
Well, with nothing else to say, I again hope you enjoyed this first chapter and hope you are looking forward to the next one. Until then, folks!
GAZ