A/N: Hey all! Tayte / Wanchoo11 here. I'm excited about this one. I love to give depth to more minor characters in this series and involving the unlikeliest characters into each other's paths, so we've got a bunch of FE7 and FE6 characters coming up in this one. In order to make it accessible, I am thinking I'll add some info about these characters to give you reminders of who they are in the A/N as they come up. So if you are a pro about one but not the other, have no fear, I'll make it all clear! (Oh god I'm rhyming.) The devil's in the details, and knowing more about their backgrounds should shed more light on the nuances of the endings. (Yes, plural!)

I had uploaded this one several years ago, but wound up writing myself into a corner back then and never finished. I just picked this story up to finish for NaNoWriMo, and I literally just completed the "Bad Ending" two hours ago. Now working on the "Good Ending"! Two for the price of one! Is that a bang for your buck or what? Hmm, what? There are no bucks involved? Darn.


It was under the waxing moon, on the foremost wall of Bern Castle, that a girl of about seventeen years lounged, a dagger twirling in each hand. The sky was a sprawling navy banner, stars scattered across it like marbles, glinting with the girl's mischief. She was lying on the wall, under the eaves of a tree to avoid detection by wyvern riders on patrol, and the shadows embraced her body, revealing nothing of her presence to anyone inside or outside the building. No wavy lock of her shoulder-length, honey-caramel hair was identified under the cowl of her night-black cloak. Her glinting amethyst eyes were sharp, and always a shock against her hair, penetrating even, but they too were lost in a black abyss of shadow where they saw everything and let nothing out. The one-sided smile she had was completely her own, secretive and mischievous enough to disarm any man. She could have run circles around men with her wit and grace and charm, but she wasn't interested in them in the least. Her time and silent grace was best spent sneaking about, her wit spent on lies and twisted truths to suit her wills and bidding (though she stuck to truth if she could), and her charm in deceit and trickery.

When she saw a figure come out of the Bern Castle, headed towards the gate, which was just two paces to the right of her, her smile widened. There were two inner walls that he must have had to pass through, alerting the castle guards that he was going out alone. What juicy little rumor will go around about this strange behavior? After the two inner walls, there was a lawn that provided no cover for anyone. When the figure was only a yard or two from the gate that led out, she spoke, "What do I have here? The prince—or should I say now, king—of Bern, sneaking out of the castle, at night? And without guard?"

She had no worries of anyone other than the king of Bern hearing her. There were no guards in the outermost wall, for Bern was confident in the wyvern patrols it set up. It was to her delight that they missed the tree that grew right against the outer wall. It would be easy sneaking into the castle.

"Ah! I should have known! Come out of hiding, you wretched coward, where I can see you!" replied the newly crowned King Zephiel hotly, unsheathing his sword. His brown eyes glowed with anger. He was a head taller than the girl, his blond hair shone and the crown set upon his head sparkled in the light of the moon.

"Oh, but that's not fun at all!" The girl grinned. "Did you get a message of sorts to meet someone trusted out here? Your mother, perhaps?"

The silence that ensued answered her question.

"Of course," she said. "It's as much as I thought. She's the only one you truly trust other than Murdock and Guinevere, but Murdock would not need to meet with you privately out here, and Guinevere can't set up meetings at this time of night and escape her governess when she's only eight years old. I had thought more of you, dear pri—king. You should have figured out there was an assassin plotting something. Why, everyone says you're so brilliant!"

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"Me? Who I am does not matter. And I want nothing. Well, except I was waiting here to see if you'd fall for the trick. Seriously, you should be more careful. And if by chance you did not take my warning—the warning I've just given you—you'll find yourself pierced by a blade if I don't have a hand in it. Oh, by the way, I saw the assassin waiting by the thorny bushes downriver."

"You're not the assassin?"

"Oh please! It took you this long to figure that out? Why would I be talking to you and give away my presence if I were the assassin? Besides, you're too cute to die. Now then, I suggest you go run home and bring a couple of soldiers you might trust with you down to where the river forks and catch that assassin and give him a good smacking. He and I have something personal, before you ask why I give him away. And don't tell anyone about this meeting, or you'll surely be made a fool of."

Zephiel glared at the shadows of the tree where he guessed he heard the girl's voice from.

The girl chuckled. "By the way, don't hope on catching me when you come back tonight."

"You had better start running now, for I'll have a search party searching for any other assassins, though I'll look forward to finding you instead."

"Good luck, then, Your Highness. Don't blame me if you miss out on your beauty sleep. Now shoo. I'm sure Murdock's noticed your disappearance by now."

Zephiel took several steps back begrudgingly as he kept his eyes on where he thought the girl was. He then warily turned around, listening keenly for any sounds that might notify of her coming close enough to strike him. He looked back several times as well, suspiciously, but he only got a distant chuckle from the girl.


Read and review to let me know which stories to upload faster! ;) Since I am still in a re-upload phase. :D

So we start off our cast of canon characters with Zephiel. Truly fascinating. 3

Zephiel:

The sweet 16 year-old Bernese prince that Eliwood and Co. save from Ursula of the Black Fang. The King Desmond of Bern, his father, had originally sicced Nino and Jaffar to kill him, so that only Guinivere, his daughter from his mistress not his wife, would be an heir to the throne. Nino, seeing how desperately Zephiel wanted to be accepted by his father and for his mother Hellene and himself to be able to live happily with his father, couldn't help but sympathize, what with her own struggles winning Sonia's affections.

You find out from Guinivere in FE6 that Zephiel, whom we've already seen in FE7 was a sweet, kind soul, had changed due to his father's abuses. Desmond tried to assassinate him a second time, proffering him poisoned wine. Zephiel was eager, thinking he had been accepted, and fell ill, though he did not die. After that, he, with the help of Murdock, hid, feigning death and feigning a funeral. When his father approached the casket, wanting to see Zephiel inside, Zephiel introduced Desmond to his sword, killing the king and inheriting the throne. But mostly killing the king.

Ever since killing the king, Guinivere tells Roy in FE6, he is not the same.

"Jealousy. Hate. Greed. Friends, even family members are driven to kill by such ludicrous emotions. Such emotions create fathers who try to kill their own sons to save their own flesh. As long as humans control, as long as humans dictate, as long as humans exist…this madness will never end."

—Zephiel, to Roy in Binding Blade