Chapter Two
"Roy, are you prepared?" Eliwood asked his son, as he was sheathing his rapier. Roy turned to his father, smiling proudly, though knew why he was asking him this.
"Yes Father. I am."
Eliwood returned the smile, overlooking his son's band of companions; Lance and Allen the Cavaliers, Bors the Knight from Ostia, Merlinus, his trusted advisor and merchant that he saved twenty years ago, Wolt, Rebecca's son that had been raised alongisde Roy, and then Marcus, his most trusted and loyal vassal that assisted him when he was traveling Elibe, which soon became a battle to save the continent from the evil that rose. However, one soldier Eliwood was unsure of; that Matthew boy. He had greeted the lad earlier this morning, and was a fine kid, him being nearly the same age as his own son, albeit a year older. He appeared skilled, and from the looks of him, appeared strong as well. Regardless, Roy's companions were with him, and they were about to set off to meet the mercenaries the current Pheraen nobleman assigned.
"Roy, you and everyone take care and watch one another's backs. Stay safe, my son."
"I will, Father. Thank you for your kind words and love. I will return someday, proud and accomplished."
"Of course, Roy. I want you to know that everyone here, and those you will meet along the course of your journey, will be your friends, comrades in arms. Don't forget that."
The red-headed teenager nodded. "I understand, Father. I will not forget. Stay safe and out of harm's way. And your illness, as well..."
"Hahaha." Eliwood chuckled, "There's no need to worry about this. I will recover from this. You're just like your mother before she passed away, Roy... She was always weary of my health."
"It's a good thing I take after that..." The boy said, pausing slightly. He barely remembered his mother; he was only two years old when she passed away. Roy then didn't understand why, but as he grew older, he finally figured it out and was eventually told by his father and grandmother. Despite the sadness and short-lived happiness he spent with her, Roy grew over it, accepting his mother's passing, and continued to live. He knew she lived inside him and gave him strength. "Well, Father, I-I mean we, should be going now."
Eliwood nodded, and gave his boy a light, but firm hug, then patted his back twice. "I shall see you when you come back, Roy. Don't forget your training."
"I won't. Good-bye, Father."
Once said of their farewells, Roy and his company departed from Castle Pherae, leaving the leftover knights trained by Marcus himself to protect Lord Eliwood while they were gone. When his son and companions were gone in the distance, the older red-haired man looked longingly into the sky, his clear, blue eyes focused on a few rolling clouds that bypassed. "I don't know if you can hear me but... Ninian... please watch over our son..."
There is a small village on the border of Pherae and Bern. Here was where Roy was to meet the mercenary band that Eliwood had hired for him.
Just east of the village is a small castle occupied by Bern's forces. When Roy had reached the village, the castle was in a chaotic state. Roy and his companions had yet to learn that the confusion going on in the castle was going to cause turbulence all over Elibe...
The scenery outside the small castle was vast; the greenery outspread beautifully with a huge mountainside for cover against land units, should there be an attack against it. Many trees flourished and surrounded the landscape, small cliffs, and ledges could be seen here and there. On the other side of the mountain, there was a village, a few shops, such as the armory shop, a few buildings and homes that shared the same land that Bern was occupying at the time. Coming out of the castle was a knight clad in purple armor with a face reading he was in his forties, or close to it.
He had slate gray colored hair, which was short and stopped at his ears, fair skin and brown eyes. He also sported a fine mustache on his face, further supporting his manhood. Approaching him on a wyvern was a young woman, just about in her early thirties or so, having dark, auburn hair, tied in a ponytail and braided, adorned in red armor to match her features. Around her head was a short headband, decorated with an intricate, golden design of fabric. Her ears were pierce with earrings, and her red eyes made her blend perfectly with her current attire. The wvyern rider landed closely by the purple-clad knight of Bern, her face beaming in anger.
"What I'm asking is where the princess is!" She demanded a loud, the knight whom she was shouting backed off.
"Y-yes Captain Miledy... I'm certain she was in her room this morning." the man replied back, nearly terrified.
The woman got off her winged steed, storming near the man, her eyebrows furrowing into a V-shape. "I've already heard that!" Miledy, as she was called, shouted in response. "What I want to know is where the princess is at this moment!" The man, still terrified of the wvyern rider, stepped back again, unable to hold his lance firmly in his hands because he was becoming sweaty. "Um... Shes... Er..."
"We're almost going into head-on war with Lycia. What if something happens to the princess?" Miledy interrupted. "Can you take responsibility?"
"..." the man dotted questionably.
The woman sighed in exasperation, "I never should have let her Highness go down to the border in the first place. I will return to Bern and inform the king about this matter. I'll try not to make it into a panic, so you must find the princess as soon as possible."
"Yes ma'am!" The soldier saluted. Miledy stared at him before approaching her dragon steed, mounting it and taking to the skies. She then flew northward of the castle, disappearing from sight. Once she was gone, the purple-clad knight sighed in utter relief, then turned to one of his subordinates, "Is Princess Guinevere still with us?" He asked.
"Yes sir, she's under the constant monitoring in the basement room." The brown-clad soldier reported and replied.
"Good. Don't let her escape."
"Sir... Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Don't worry! Bern has plenty of enemies. The young sister of King Zephidel... We'll be sure to get a hefty amount of money by turning her in to one of their foes."
"..." The basic solider dotted quietly.
"We're not going to make it anywhere by serving our country, anyway so we're better off thinking of ways to make money fast, no?"
"Yes, of course sir. ...But there is one little problem with that plan..."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I just received a report... It seems that Princess Guinevere's servant has escaped..."
"WHAT?" The purple-armored man raged a loud, startling the simple soldier near him. "You fool, why didn't you say so earlier!" The other was about to say something, but fumbled in his words and remained slient as his commander shouted again. "Go search for her immediately! Don't let her get away!"
Approaching from the other side of the mountain was Roy's crew, who stopped briefly, being near the village. Everyone was a little familiar with the area, having follow Merlinus directions. Matthew was taking in the view quite well, his eyes wandering over every detail. He was especially excited to see the growing, lush trees, and the lively ground below.
"Master Roy, it's around here somewhere." Merlinus began, catching his young master's attention easily.
"This is where we're supposed to meet the mercenary band?" Roy questioned, wondering and also, trying to get confirmation from the merchant man.
"Yes, though it seems they aren't here yet." Merlinus lightly reported, nearly sighing until his brown eyes caught onto someone in the distance. "Hm, oh wait. I can see somebody running this way..." As soon as Merlinus spoke those words, everyone's attention turned to the figure approaching them. It was a woman dressed in white robes, having brown hair, matching brown eyes, and a staff in her hands. Matthew easily recognized it, and believed this woman was probably a priestess or some healer like his good friend, Himi, was.
"Watch out!" Roy called out to her as the woman ran closer, almost running into him.
"Oh, excuse me! I was in a hurry..."
"No, it's all right. I'm fine, but are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." The woman replied, smiling lightly.
"It's good that you're not hurt."
"...You are from Lycia, are you not?"
"Yes. I am the son of the Marquess of Pherae," Roy replies almost instantly, taking in this conversation as a bit of a sign for something. After studying in Ostia where your childhood friend has a slew of theives and intelligence, one would learn how to detect instances or signs of trouble upon speaking to someone new they meet, diving into clues, just based upon the person's facial expression, the tone of their voice, and how fast or slow they walked.
During their conversation, Allen and Lance were talking with Marcus, Bors was fining his lance, Wolt was sharpening his arrows, and Matthew utterly wandered from the group quietly, being captivated by something he had seen when they first came to this area of Lycia. Back to Roy and the woman, unlike most reactions, Roy was surprised by the woman's reaction to his claim.
"Oh... dear goodness! I am thankful of the guidance!"
"Hm?" Roy questioned, utterly confused.
"Please, could you help me rescue my mistress?" the woman asks, her face now contorted with worry and concern. Everyone in the group stirred up from the alerting danger by the lady's voice, all gathering around as the conversation continued. "What happened?" the Pheraen lord asked.
"My mistress and I were traveling to meet someone from the Lycia Alliance. However, while we were passing through here, we fell into a trap set by Rude, the lord of the castle just east of here. We were captured." The woman's face fell into even more worry when she finished.
"What?" Allen questioned, anger surfacing his face just like yesterday when he heard about bandits attacking Castle Pherae.
"That's horrible." Lance added, fearing the worst.
The nobleman agreed with his two cavaliers, then looked at the woman again. "Can we have your name, ma'am?"
"Ah, yes... my name is Ellen." the Sister replied, however, approaching them was the teal-haired merchant that served as Roy's advisor as well as the storage for necessary items the company needed to store-just in his carriage.
"Master Roy! We must not get into unnecessary entanglements with Bern now!" Merlinus warned, hoping the young lord would listen. Unfortunately, from seeing the expression on Roy's face, his decision seemed it was already made. "But we can't neglect a person who has come to meet someone from the Alliance." The red-head swordsman began, "...But, it isn't smart to charge into enemy fields either..." He paused when he looked up and saw a foot soldier, in brown colored armor approaching them. Roy instinctively pushed the woman behind him, his blue eyes concentrated on the man before him.
"There they are!" he shouted. "Hey guys, over here! Get the servant girl!" What? What was going on? "It doesn't matter whether she's dead or alive!" Pretty soon, two more foot soldiers came rushing into the scene, armed with lances and shields. This didn't look good. "Oh, no..." the white robed woman gasped in shock. Roy turned to the teal-haired man, frowning.
"Well, Merlinus, they attacked first. We have to fight, don't we?"
"You won't pay heed of me, now will you?" The older male sighed lightly, then got back into his carriage to steer his horse and the supplies he had stored for everyone. "I guess I can be a witness to how much you have learned in Ostia."
"Alright!" Roy smiled, then turned to his companions, Lance, Allen, Marcus, Wolt and Bors. "We're go-huh? Where's Matthew?" The others stopped briefly, before the green-haired cavalier spotted the mysterious swordsman crouched down in a fair distance, having found interest in growing flowers. "He's over there, Lord Roy!" Lance called. "Hey, Matthew! Come over here, there's trouble!"
The spiky-haired blond noticed the voice calling to him, and seemed well aware of the situation. It have looked like he was studying the scenes of lush greenery at first-which was true for a while-but in reality, he sensed vibes. These vibes, he felt weren't very good, and his sensation was nearly right on the money. He stood up from his spot and lightly jogged over back to the group, his pale-blue eyes focused on their leader, Roy. "There's a lot of them on the other side of the mountain." Matthew began, nearly baffling the others.
"There's a lot of them? On the other side of the mountain?" The auburn haired lord repeated.
"Yes. A lot of enemy foot soldiers like those." Matthew pointed out to the three who were advancing them as they spoke. "They don't look very friendly..."
"Of course not. They're Bern soldiers!" Allen partially hissed through his teeth.
"All right, that's enough." Roy stopped them. "We're going to charge the castle! Miss Ellen, you can hide some place safe..."
"No, I will accompany you." Ellen refused, making her strong point. "I cannot fight, but I can heal wounded allies."
"Oh, but..."
"I'm the one that got you tangled up into this mess. Please let me be of some help."
Roy sighed a little, feeling he would either regret letting her come or not. Apparently, seeing the seriousness in her brown eyes, the Pheraen couldn't say no so simply. "Okay, but please don't strain yourself."
"Yes, thank you for your consideration." Ellen said, bowing politely as thanks.
"Right. All right, everyone! Let's move!" Roy called to his allies, all of them spreading out, with Ellen staying close with Merlinus just in case. Lance brandished his lance as did Allen, Bors always had his out, and Marcus equipped himself with a lance as well. Wolt prepared his arrows and bow and lastly, Matthew spun a basic Iron Sword in his hand. The archer of the group, Wolt, took notice and looked questionably at the spiky-blond.
"Hey, Matt? What happened to your huge sword?"
"Hm?" Matthew blinked, then realized what Wolt was asking and chuckled. "Well, it's in its sheath at the moment, and in Sir Merlinus' caravan. I don't want to use it. It might be dangerous. That's why I'm using the same blade as your Lord Roy." He knew Roy told him to simply call him by his first name without the title, but he simply couldn't when being around one of his close comrades. Wolt smiled and shrugged it off as okay, then proceeded to head along into battle with Roy following behind him.
"Wolt!" Roy called to the archer, who looked back and grinned.
"Master Roy, how should we go about this? There's three of them."
"We'll take the soldier to the left."
"All right then, let's go!"
The pair of teens rushed to meet the enemy, who saw them coming. He readied his lance and charged for them, only to be met with the archer loading an arrow into his bow. "Oh, damn!" the foot soldier scowled hatefully, getting his shield ready as he continued his advance. Wolt moved out of the way and Roy met the man's charge with his blade. He knew he was at a disadvantage, with lances besting swords. In this case, the soldier could stab Roy at a distance and he couldn't retaliate as easily. "Master Roy, be careful!" the light-green haired archer called out as he faded behind a few trees. This would conceal him perfectly, seeing as he had green hair-despite it not being as green as the leaves on the trees themselves.
"Keh! Your man just ditched you, boy!" The enemy soldier laughed haughtily as he attempted to thrust the spear of his lance into his opponent. However, Roy saw it coming from a mile away-literally, even though they were in close quarters-and dodged the oncoming attack.
"You're sadly mistaken if you thought so." Roy stated flatly.
"What? Grrrh!" the Bern soldier growled, charging for the Pheraen. "I'll shut you up, brat! Take this-!" The man lunged his lance straight for Roy, who didn't even flinch or move. The sound of something being struck between flesh and fabric was heard, and the tip of the lance stopped at Roy's face, just an inch before it. The soldier grunted as he collapsed to the ground, struggling to get up. Two arrows were lodged into the back of his knee caps of his legs, forcing him to stumble forward.
"Gaaah! What the hell just happened!"
"You were hit by an archer you carelessly forgot about." Roy answered, then lowered his Rapier's point through the man's neck, jarring it until he was surely dead. After that was taken care of, Wolt returned into the scene, smiling proudly. "We make a good team, Master Roy."
"Yeah," Roy agreed, but frowned. "You know Wolt, you can just call me "Roy". You don't have to address me as your master."
"I must learn from Lord Marcus and address you properly, so Master Roy, let us be off and meet the enemy." Wolt replied then strolled off quickly. The red-head sighed, resisting the urge to cross his arms. "Oh Wolt..." Roy half grumbled, but decided to let it go and continue fighting the Berns who challenged them.
The next soldier to meet his demise was at the work of the two cavalier friends, Allen and Lance. The two rode on their horses, almost tauntingly to the foot soldier who couldn't read their movements, but stayed his ground. Allen was the first to strike, raising his lance skillfully, all the while his horse had taken command to continuing his path. The red-haired horse rider grunted as he jabbed his lance towards the Bern knight, who blocked with his shield on response. "You won't get away that easily!" the defending man spat, which Allen drove off with a shoving thrust of his weapon.
The man skidded back a few ways, dust trailing in front of him as he tried to maintain his position. "Hmph! You have no idea who you're dealing with." Allen replied roughly, grinning to boot. "You're in no position to tell us anything at this point." Lance moved in, spinning his own lance with ease, as he charged for the shield user. "Take this!" The green-haired cavalier shouted, throwing his lance at incredible speed-which was a javelin-straight for the Bern knight who was stabbed through the back of his chest.
"Grruuh!" the soldier bellowed, spitting out a large amount of blood from his mouth, trembling as his life was coming to an end. His eyes widened when he saw another coming his way, with only a short sword in hand. Matthew advanced the soldier, jumping over him with a simple flip, then kicking the javelin further in the man's back. He fell down to his death, the impact proven too much to handle. The blond frowned a bit and scratched his head. "I didn't even get a chance." He said, which Lance and Allen half chuckled.
"Don't worry. There's probably more where they came from... I'll bet." Allen stated rather darkly.
"You did say there was a lot of them on the other side of the mountain, did you not, Matthew?" Lance questioned next, retrieving his bloodied javelin from the fallen soldier's back.
"I did. This is going to sound weird but I sensed them when I was studying the ground earlier. Call it a warrior's hunch, I suppose. There's a good thirty of them, I believe." Matthew spotted more soldiers, this time, ones that lugged axes over their shoulders. More of them, apparently. "They don't seem to be quitting anytime soon."
"That's how the enemy works; once provoked, never surrends." the green-haired cavalier added. "Come, we should meet them!" The other two nodded and began their advance. Matthew agreed on using the Iron Sword he had with him this time. Allen and Lance were shocked to see the blond had been keeping up with their horses, despite he was running. On foot. What the... The two cavaliers exchanged surprised looks, though decided to ignore it just this once-for the second time, actually-and advance for the oncoming enemies. They had jumped over a cliff when Marcus and Bors finished off the remainind soldier, and Roy and Wolt also coming back from defeating the soldier they had gone after.
Merlinus and Ellen were just behind them all, staying close by, with the Sister looking worried for them. "Is everyone all right?" She asked.
"We're all okay, thank you." Roy replied after examining the fighters. "Stay on alert though, Miss Ellen."
Not too far from there, a group of people were entering the battlefield; a man with aquamarine colored hair, a scar over his left eye, wearing blue armor and shirtless, and muscular toned all around his bod, especially his arms and legs. The next person was a female, riding upon a white, winged horse-a pegasus-sporting short, blue hair, matching eyes, and wore a light robe of white with blue designs. Her legs were exposed and her boots were long and blue as well. She stood with the first man, who had had a sword sheathed and strapped to his back.
"They should be around here somewhere..." the first man started, looking around with his eyes. "Thany, could you go and check to see if the Pherae Army is around here?" Thany was the name of the pegasus rider, who responded with a cheery "Sure!". She rode off, taking to the skies, very similarly to the wvyern knight Miledy, earlier. The next man to approach the sword wielder was a male with untamed brown hair, having small, brown eyes, a blue head band around his forehead, a simple blue shirt and dark brown pants and boots to go along with it. He had an axe slugged on his shoulder, much like the enemy fighters did, and was muscularly toned to boot as well. He looked like he was well into his late thirties.
"Dieck, who's our client this time?" the blue-garbed fighter asked.
"The Pherae family, one of the nobles of Lycia. The marquess's son is going to join the Lycia Alliance."
Another man with fiery orange hair, also untamed, being held back by a green head band, wearing a matching, dark green sleevless shirt, the first button was undone, and had dark grey colored pants on. He too shared the muscularly his companions had, also wielding an axe to his favor. "So we're going up against Bern?" the mercenary axe user asked next, his small eyes concentrated on Dieck, the first mercenary's name.
"That's what it looks like."
"A worthy opponent! Time to show some skill, eh?" the first fighter proudly buffed.
"Bern... this one's going to be tough. Better be careful." the second fighter cautioned.
Meanwhile, Thany, the pegasus knight continued her search for another that looked different, having seen the army of what appeared to be Bern below. To the west, she saw four soldiers clashing away with seven others, one in particular had red hair as bright as a burning fire. "That must be them!" She told herself quietly, circling around. Matthew's eyes wandered upwards and noticed that a person flying on a flying horse were miles above them, and seemingly circled them before taking off. Wait, a flying horse? "Flying horses exist here?" He asked himself, nearly baffled. Why did ths surprise him? "Either they exist or I need to lay off those Dream Leaves..." He looked up again and noticed the person on the white, winged steed was gone in the distance and sighed.
"I hope that's not an enemy or else we'll have some trouble..."
"What's the matter, Matthew?" Wolt asked, noticing his new comrade had been distracted from the battle, and now assisting the distraction. "You're talking about something. What's up?"
"Oh, Wolt. I just saw this person on a...winged horse. ...Are they normal, here?"
"Huh? Oh, you must have seen a pegasus knight. People that normally ride them are females; Pegasus are what the flying horses are called and they are naturally from the nation of Ilia. And don't worry, they're as normal here as your spiked hair is to you."
"That's a clever way of putting it. That was my first time seeing one. They're told in fairy tale books where I'm from, so I was in disbelief at first."
"Ha-ha, I was the same way when I was little until I met Lilina's mother and she had a pegasus. Then I knew they were real. Anyway, if you think that's the enemy, then it's no trouble. Pegasi knights have trouble controlling their mid-air steeds when there's archers or Wind Mages around. Arrows hurt their wings, and Wind magic cuts them down easily." Wolt smiled proudly. "No need to fret. I'm an archer of great skill. I'll shoot her down before she has a chance to attack."
Matthew pondered lightly, thinking. Wind magic, huh? I suppose that can translate into Wind Psynergy... I think I have a few spells up my sleeves. The blond nodded to Wolt at his advice and statement, knowing the archer was indeed skilled. "All right Wolt. Thanks for the information. It seems I've a lot to learn."
"No problem, Matthew. Now, let's get back into the battle, or we'll miss everything."
"Of course. Lead the way."
Back to the mercenaries...
Upon the statement made of Bern's toughness, Thany, the pegasus knight from before, came flying back as quick as lightning-almost. "Hey!" She called over to her group, steering her winged horse to land carefully by Dieck. "I think I've found them! But it looks like they're fighting somebody from down there."
"What? A battle's already started? We better hurry!" Dieck said hastily, he and his small group preparing themselves. Enemy soldiers were well on their way, and the mercenary pack were ready. "It looks like they're coming for us. Let's handle this quickly and meet with the Pheraens." Dieck told them, removing his Iron Blade from its sheath. Thany readied her Slim Lance, and the two axe fighters, Ward, the one in blue, and Lot, the other in green, practice swung their axes for battle.
On the other side of the battlefield, Roy's group were in the midst of fighting the four soldiers as Thany had seen. The fight with them didn't seem to last very long, as the power of the seven outwieghed the four easily. Roy and Wolt took care of an enemy lance wielder; the Pheraen noble sharing blows against the soldier, then Wolt finishing him off with a striking arrow to the barely visible chin of the man, felling him. The two teens smiled in triumph, watching as Marcus and Allen dispatch an axe wielder, then Bors and Lance defeat the third soldier. Matthew rushed the last enemy, a man also using an axe, who wildly swung his weapon furiously at the teenaged blond. Matthew ducked, then drove his sword skyward like an uppercut fist, drilling the blade through the idiot's chin, much as how Wolt had done earlier. This lobbed off his chin, the man wailing in pain.
"Aaah! Y-y-you stupid b-bastard!" the man roared, tears pouring out of his eyes as the pain was excruciating. The insult swept past Matthew like a breeze, ignoring it and finishing the Bern soldier by sliding the flat side of his weapon through the top of the man's head. The forehead was sent flying, blood spattered everywhere, and half of the brain exposed as blood flooded from the semi decapitation. Veins dislocated and shriveled up upon the exposure to oxygen, and a pool of the crimson liquid poisoned the ground below the fallen. Matthew shook the blade by the hilt, the excess blood dripping from the flat part in which had partaken to ending the life.
"I feel like I'm acting heartless." The Earth Adept paused momentarily. "But I'm not so used to fighting over human beings. All of the creatures I fought back home were, well, monsters. That reminds me... How in the world am I going to get back...?"
"Matthew, all the enemies have been defeated here, we should get going." Roy started as he approached the once again distracted teen. "... ...Matthew?"
"Hm? Oh, hello Lord Ro-"
"Matthew. Remember, I told you that you can address me simply as "Roy" yesterday..."
"I remember. It's just, it'll feel awkward if I called you that, you know? I'm being respectful."
"I understand that, however, you're also disrespecting me by addressing me by the title when I prefer if you simply called me by my first name."
The teen Adept stopped for a moment, crossing his arms, eyebrows shifted curiously. The guy had a point; regardless of his actions to be respectful, he was disrespecting the choice of the nobleman. How weird, to try and be humble when the humbled must not humble? That was confusing, and Matthew shook it away mentally. "All right, if you insist. It'll still be awkward to me..."
"No, try not to think of it like that, Matthew. I feel I can truly trust you as much as I trust everyone else. But, what were you saying earlier?"
"Uhh..." Matthew paused, chuckling nervously. "Nothing really. Just noticing how different this place is compared to where I came from, is all."
"Ah, that's right. You've yet to tell me where exactly you're from. You don't look like someone from Elibe, though it could be your strange attire. Perhaps from another...continent?"
"...You could say something like that. I suppose I can't really hide it. I'll tell you guys once this battle is over with. Could you wait until then?"
"Of course, Matthew."
"Thank you." The blond said with a light smile, his and Roy's clash of blue eyes meeting before turning back into the battle. "Hey, L...Roy, we still have a lot of enemies to cut through. There's around ten soldiers of Bern left." The Pheraen heir blinked at the number of enemies left, seeing as there were probably over thirty of them in estimation. How did the number decrease in such a short amount of time? They had only been fighting for at least a good hour and a half. Surely there had to have been more. "Are you sure, Matthew? You did say there were twenty or something others on the other side of the mountain earlier."
"I did, yes." The blond repeated, "But there's others here that I sense." Matthew, being the Earth Adept he was, always felt when people were coming or approaching, due to his alignment with the very element. He could feel the person's footsteps against the ground from his own feet, the pressure and weight against each step taken, he could tell if they had evil intentions or not. "Not sure how to put this, but there's a few men in the battlefield taking on the fight with us. There's three of them, and one is very light and hardly lands to the ground, but they're there, too..." Roy's eyes widened a little at Matthew's claim, and could hardly believe it.
That's when the thought hit him; the mercenary group his father hired. "They must have arrived and noticed we were engaged in battle." Roy began, "The mercenaries hired, I mean."
"That appears to be the only explanation of the sensations I had felt."
"Apparently so... Matthew, are you some sort of mage?"
"Mage? You mean, one who uses magic?"
"Yes."
"..." Matthew dotted. This kid was crawling up his alley, but he was getting right on the money. There was no point lying, but for the sake of everything, perhaps he didn't have to truly hide it. "Yes, you can say I studied on magic." I suppose, if that's what it's called. I read up on this in a book in that village I stayed in. This world is very strange, indeed...
"Incredible. I've never heard of a magic-wielding swordsman before. You must have studied a lot on both subjects."
"Right... Hey, someone's coming towards us."
The rest of Roy's group were nearing the red-head himself when a man with aquamarine hair-Dieck-spotted them and was heading towards them as Matthew said. The company kept on guard, but remained calm. Perhaps this was the mercenary, or maybe a soldier from the enemy line that wanted to talk. Whoever it was, they were nearing Roy. "Are you Roy of the Pherae family?" Dieck asked, which the nobleman by name nodded.
"Yes, but who are you?"
"I'm Dieck. I think you've heard the news from an old guy named Merlinus."
Upon hearing the merchant's name from the man's mouth, Roy lit up lightly. "So you're the leader of the mercenary band?"
"It's just a little group, really. I'm sorry we're late. I didn't think that a battle was already going on."
"Well... We have our issues..."
"No no, we're not blaming you for it." Dieck noted, trying not to get the boy's emotion down. "Actually, everyone's all excited and saying that they can show off their skills already."
"Thank you. That is encouraging to hear." the red-haired heir said, smiling.
"All right then, let's get this battle over with, shall we?"
"Yes."
The next thing that happened, the others; Ward, Lot and Thany, were seen, which Matthew took notice of the flying horse and its rider. He recognized them as the flying white steed and person earlier that had been circling them from above. They were apart of the mercenaries? What was a pretty girl like her doing with them? Maybe trying to get by in this world with some money to live on. Was his first, initial thought. Soon enough, more enemy soldiers were approaching, now attacking Ward! It was four against one, and the man was dodging all of their attacks, counterattacking with his axe as best as he could! An archer, one of the four soldiers that were ganging on Ward, shot a few arrows at the fighter.
The burly man was able to dodge three of them, but the fourth one lodged into his lower abdomen, making him suspectible to the other three assailants. "Urgh!" Ward grunted, still managing to move. Two of Bern's knights moved in, one readying a lance, the other with an axe, lunging forward towards the mercenary. Ward gritted his teeth as he as he blocked the attacks with the flat of his axe, defending himself as best as he could. "Hold on, Ward!" Lot called out to his friend, rearing his heavy weapon back and chunked it-a Hand Axe-at the nearest enemy foot soldier. It struck the man through his weak armor, and the boomerang-like axe returned to its thrower with blood and flesh attached. With this, Ward was able to push the other fighter back and escape behind his friend to heal his wound with a vulnerary.
"Thank you, Lot." Ward said, with the orange-haired man grinning wide.
"Any time, my friend! Now get that wound healed up so you can join me!"
"Yes... of course." the blue shirt fighter said, grunting as he carefully jerked the arrow out from his lower abdomen. "Damn, that actually hurt..."
Lance rode up on his horse alongside Allen, now riding towards the archer that shot Ward earlier. The yellow-armored cavalier roared a battle cry as he withdrew his sword, twirling it in his hand, and attacked the bow user twice, slashing him across the chest in close quarters. The man stumbled back to avoid a third hit from Allen, trying to run off for a good hit on the mounted units. However, before he could get in any hits, Thany rushed him with her Slim Lance in tow, silencing him.
There were eight more soldiers left, according to Matthew's sensing power, as Roy put it for now.
Ellen quickly rushed to Ward's aid, concentrating her energy into her staff, and rose it over his head. The blue sphere glistened with energy, the blue aura that bloomed from its magical essence spiraled down towards the injured man, even though he applied a vulnerary to it. His wound was beginning to heal, closing up and the blood dried up as well. "Ah, thank you." Ward sighed in relief, Ellen smiling. She may have not done much, but she was going to do her best to help.
"You're welcome. Please be careful." She told the fighter, who simply winked.
"No worries. I will be! Now, stay back, Sister. You'll be needed after this fight is over." The burly man left to head back into the fray, and the white-robed woman nodded. She would wait and rush to assistance whenever she was needed or had to go. She was a Sister after all, and healing those was apart of her job as a St. Elimine bishop.
At the castle...
"Damnit! Who is opposing us with such small numbers?" Rude asked one of his cohorts, who trembled at the booming of his voice.
"I-It appears to be a band of the Lycian Alliance, s-sir." The solider responded, stammering however.
"Hmph! That stupid servant girl must have gotten their attention and now they're attacking! They'll try to take the princess if they find her here... We must finish them off outside or else it'll be over!" Rude shouted. The soldier remained where he was, almost cluelessly, until the purple-armored man boomed again. "DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR? I said go kill them now!"
"Y-yessir!" the man stumbled, rushing out.
The group were closing in on the castle's outerior, having just a few soldiers to take out before they were at the castle's gates. Thany was attacked by a soldier with a Javelin, who missed horribly because she took to the skies. Another tried challenging her with his axe, but also missed, and the pegasus knight retaliated with two jabs of her Slim Lance. Finishing off the axe user was none other than Lance himself, slicing through the man easily with his blade. Another battle ensued, and this time, another soldier, also equipped with a javelin, stupidly attacked Marcus by throwing his weapon. The aged paladin easily evaded the blow, allowing Lot and Ward to double team the fool and utterly destroy him with the combination of the Hand Axe and Iron Axe.
Thany, Bors and Allen triple teamed a lone lance user; Thany attacked twice with her Slim Lance again, Bors pierced the wounded soldier through his shoulder blade, and Allen finished him with a stabbing of his own lance, drawing the weapon out of the gash of the man's neck that spilled blood all over, creating yet another pool of it. In fact, this entire battleground was becoming torn with pools of blood. The last man of that area, the enemy, used an axe as well, now lunging for Ward, battle cry and all. Ward noticed him, thanks to his outburst shouting, and dodged by jumping backwards. The man's axe was struck into the ground, whihc gave the mercenary a chance to counter.
"Hrraaaah!" Ward cried a loud, swinging his own weapon swiftly at his attacker, only for the brute to dodge just as skillfully as he had! Charging behind him was none other than Roy, Wolt and Matthew, having seen the attack from a distance, feeling the need to assist the once wounded man. With his Iron Sword, the red-head lunged forward first, thrusting his blade forward. However, the brute sneered, moving his body out of the way, but getting cut across his bare shoulder by the Pheraen boy.
"What the?" Roy gawked, only to be elbowed away by the man.
"Hey!" Matthew and Wolt called out simultaneously, also springing into action. Seeing Roy getting hurt had him and Wolt set off for some reason, though he knew why Wolt would be upset. They were obviously close, almost like brothers. Matthew felt that way about his best friend of his childhood, Tyrell. The blond swordsman struck first, landing a decent hit against the large man's other arm, almost slashing it off.
"Hrumph! Take this, brat!" the man spat, finally retrieving his axe and swinging it wildly. Matthew's eyes gaped open just slightly, knowing he would be unable to dodge at such close range. Roy managed to get up, gawking as he could only watch with horror. "Matthew!" He shouted. "Block!" Wolt yelled after, getting an arrow ready quickly. Matthew quickly listened to his comrades and blocked the oncoming attack. However, he didn't block with his sword, but with his arms! Wolt and Roy were astonished, and almost couldn't believe it. Surrounding Matthew's arms were...stones? How was that even possible? Where did they come from?
"WHAAAAT?" the burly brute of Bern groaned irritably, watching as Matthew had instantaneously brought up some strange wall of magic. The teen pushed the man back with applied strength from the use of his Psynergy, the shielding stones around his arms faded and crumbled to the ground simply as dust. Matthew brushed his hand against his cheek, which had lightly been cut from the impact. "He actually hit me. What a surprise."
"Matthew, are you all right?" Roy asked, hurrying to his side.
"Just fine. But that guy won't be soon."
The foe of a fighter recovered from his stumbling, and was about to rage forward at the two swordsman; however an arrow shot through the back of his head, piercing through his right eye felled him first. Standing behind him with a confident smirk was none other than Wolt. "That man was annoying." the Pheraen archer spoke truthfully, the two agreeing. "No kidding..." Roy added, pausing and staring at Matthew. "So, what was that all about back there?"
"...I think I should add that to my list of things to explain after this..." Matthew simply said, which Roy complied.
"I suppose so. Come, let's finish this. I believe there should be four more left."
"That's right." Matthew confirmed, treating the enemy no more than checkers on a checkerboard.
"S-Sir. It appears we have underestimated the enemy! They are nearing the castle as we speak!" A soldier reported to Rude, who was fuming with rage.
"How? How did they cut through our defenses so easily? We had the upper hand in numbers!"
"Yes, th-that's true, sir. But they have outsmarted us in some way. There's just thirteen of them, but they're formidable in such small numbers. It's almost amazing on how coordinated they worked together to take out our men in such a short time."
"FOOL!" Rude boomed, startling the soldier once again. "Do you realize what this could mean? We'll be done for! And if they find the princess... then we're definitely screwed over and we won't have anything left to sell! Urrgh! Go after the leader of that Lycian Alliance. Make him beg for mercy! Destroy him! If he's down, then they'll retreat for sure!"
"Y-yes sir! I will go tell the remaining men." Once he was gone, Rude took it upon himself to equip himself with his helmet, shield and lance. It appears he would have to stand outside and guard the castle gates himself against these simpletons. The others are worthless! They cannot be counted on. I'm ashamed they were even assigned to me! Bah! Rude thought, grumbling in anger. "All of you!" he pointed to the remaining indoor soldiers who saluted. "Guard the princess with your lives! Don't let them get to her should I fall in battle!"
"Yes, Sir Rude!" they said in unison as the man prepared to leave the castle's interior.
"Thirteen, persistent pests that I must deal with on my own. This shouldn't be a problem for me. I have heavy armor, and they won't be able to pierce through this at all. Heheh, I'll be the one taking the victory, all by myself."
"Haaaah!" Lance roared, swinging his sword at an axeman, who was struck, his wound deep. The Pheraen cavalier steered his horse around, moving out of the way as Lot chunked his Hand Axe expertly at the axeman enemy, splitting through his upper chest, ending him quickly. Three left.
"Take this!" Allen bellowed, thrusting his sword at a soldier's waist, who had been equipped with an Iron Sword as well. The man, however, was able to dodge a little, though still attained damage. He grumbled irritably, only to meet his demise by Dieck's swordsmanship. Just one more left. In the meantime, Ellen rushed over to Allen, Lance, and Wolt, using her staff to heal them of their injuries quickly, so they could resume their fight. The three thanked and appreciated her assistance, grabbing up their weapons and hurried into the fray. The last of their foe was a simple archer, and he looked like he wasn't going down anytime soon. "You'll never win this castle!" the bow user shouted at the top of his lungs, rapid firing at everyone who got too close. Remembering his goal, he spotted Roy, believing the auburn was the head of this group of Lycians.
"DIE!" the archer screamed, taking a chance shot at Roy when he was close enough. During the course of this battle, the red-head had been switching use of his Rapier and Iron Sword, and at the moment, he had his Rapier equipped. He saw the arrow coming and waited for it to come closer. When it did, he swung his sword at it, deflecting it to his right, where it landed to the ground, slashed in half. "Wh-what?" the archer gasped in shock, then balled up his fist in anger. "You will die today! There's no avoiding death! Take these, hahaha!" The man then fired off several more arrows, probably around ten or twelve of them at rapid speed. Roy's eyes went wide again, knowing he couldn't deflect all twelve of them. Needless to say, he was in a jam.
"This guy is a lunatic." Matthew grumbled under his breath, which Allen overheard somehow.
"Tell me about it!"
Both were rushing to meet the arrows head on, but were beaten to it by Marcus. The aged man grabbed his young lord out of harm's way, steering his horse from the dangers of the raining arrows. All twelve arrows missed, rather horribly. "Thank you, Marcus." Roy said, as the paladin carefully allowed his master to jump off the back of his horse.
"Master Roy, you must be careful." Marcus warned seriously. "It would be chaotic should we lose you."
"I know..."
"I would hate to bring your dead body back to Lord Eliwood... So please, just be cautious."
"...Right. I will be, Marcus." The Pheraen boy was about to head back and give his little slice of revenge to the archer that tried to kill him, when Bors marched forward. The orange-armored Ostian knight stepped in front of Roy, his lance and shield ready. "I will handle this last one. He should be of no problem for me to handle. You worry about the leader of this casualty, my lord."
"Are you sure, Bors?"
"Positive. Now, stand aside. I shall take care of this matter easily." Bors met the archer, who was literally freaking out because of the knight coming his way. He prepared more arrows, hoping he would get a lucky strike somewhere in there.
"S-stay back!" The bow user shouted, firing off another set of arrows. The Ostian knght held up his shield to deflect the array of arrows, the sound of "clinks", "clanks", and distorted springs were all that anyone could hear, along with the march of the heavy footsteps Bors carried with him, due to his armor. The stupid archer kept firing arrow and arrow, his hope shriveling as the Ostian drew closer. "I-I'm warning you! I'm not afraid of-!" the man with the bow started, but noticed he was now out of arrows. He gulped as Bors neared him, glaring down with his small, green eyes.
"Hmph!" Bors grunted, shoving his shield into the archer's face, knocking him back.
"Gaah!" the small man bellowed, his nose bleeding, broken out of place. "You son of a-guuh!" The man's last words, as Bors thrusted his Iron Lance through the man's abdomen, then tossed him aside a distance as if he were nothing but paper. "Good work, Bors. That was great." Roy praised, the Ostian smiled.
"Hm, now that's over, we have something left." Bors said, nodding to the castle's gates. Standing there, guarding, was a lone soldier in purple armor, with a lance of his own.
"That must be the last of them," Matthew noted. "He looks tough, so we should all be careful. Who knows what he'll do."
In the meantime, Thany flew around, noticing a village and quickly decided to let the villagers know of the battle ongoing. When she was close enough, she overheard someone screaming! "Oh no! What's going on?" Thany wondered, hurrying her descent as much as possible. A single brigand was stealing about to attack in all the confusion! Seeing the impending danger, the Ilian knight rushed to meet the man in battle, her Javelin prepared.
"Hey you!" Thany called out, surprising the brute. He paused in surprise, taking notice of the winged, white horse and its rider. Thany twirled her lance and chunked it straight for the burly bandit, striking him through his stomach. He gutted out incoherent noises, falling dead to the ground soon afterwards. The blue-haired woman retrieved her weapon, landing at the base of the village and got off her pegasus. "Is everyone all right?" She asked worriedly.
"Oh!" A woman with brown hair in a ponytail, wearing an orange dress. "Yes, we're all right. You saved us. If that man got into our village, I don't know what would have happened to us. Or to this very precious sword." The woman held a blade in her hands, trembling. "I was really scared."
"Don't be, it's all right now." Thany reassured, smiling.
"Oh, will you take this with you? That lord of the castle, his name is Rude. He is a knight with a lot of armor on him. I believe this sword here will be very valuable and useful. Please, take it."
"I don't think I should. You may need it one day-" Thany began, but was interrupted.
"No, I insist. Please. Something about that man troubles us. It would be better off in your hands, one as skilled as you." Thany was about to reject when the woman presented the weapon to her. The blue haired knight carefully examined the sword, taking note of its curved edge. It was reversed, almost as if it didn't have the purpose of killing, but rather, to slice through something other than flesh. Thany gasped, realizing just what this sword was; an Armorslayer! "This... is an Armorslayer. And you said this Rude is a knight?"
"Yes."
"Then, this will definitely help us. I'm not much of a sword person, but I know someone that knows how to handle this." The pegasus knight bowed politely. "Thank you ever so much!"
"No, the pleasure is mine. Thank you again for saving us!"
With the sword in her grasp, Thany waved good-bye to the villager, mounting her pegasus and once again took to the skies. She just had to deliver this to Dieck, as he was the only one that she knew could use the blade. It was a good thing her senses told her to patrol the area from the skies, or else she probably would have missed that opportunity.
Unfortunately for Thany, the fight against the enemy, Rude, was already commencing. Lance had sped ahead to meet the man in battle, however, the knight had noticed his approach and began his assault. "Damn! Just when I thought luck was with me..." he muttered, throwing his javelin straight for Lance. The cavalier of Pherae saw the javelin headed his way and pulled the reigns of the horse back.
"Whoa!" he scrambled, directing his horse another direction to evade the attack. "Don't get too close, he'll just throw his javelin!" He warned his comrades after.
"Great, looks like he joined the Javelin club." Dieck said sarcastically. "How do you suppose we beat him? Our weapons won't do any good. All that armor on him, he's practically invulnerable."
"Waaaaaait!" called out a female's voice. The head of the hired mercenaries glanced up, noticing Thany, the pegasus knight, was approaching them. Where had she gone off to?
"Thany? Where have you been?" Dieck wondered, his arms crossed.
"I was patrolling around and saw the village to the west about to get attacked by a lone bandit. But I stopped him, and was awarded with this!" The blue haired woman presented the Armorslayer she received to her boss, smiling as he took it into his hands. "The village woman who gave this to me warned me about Rude, the lord of the castle we're all going to, so it should be useful, right?" Dieck nodded to her explanation, and after a few moments of studying the weapon, the shirtless mercenary handed the blade to Roy, which curiously struck Thany. "Wh-what? You're not using it, Dieck?"
"I will, but I believe Roy should use it now." He said. "This fight is his."
"But..." Both the woman and Roy interjected, however Dieck shook his head.
"We're mercenaries, not heroes. This is your claim now, son of the Pheraen family. This victory is yours."
"...If you feel that way, then I will go. Thank you, Dieck, Thany."
"No rush. Just don't get yourself killed." The mercenary swordsman replied. "Roy, if you weaken him, we can all attack him once his guard is down."
Roy nodded, taking the Armorslayer as his temporary sword against Rude. He sheathed his Rapier and Iron Sword, trying to get comfortable with the new weapon. It definitely felt weird, but he would have to adjust. After a deep breath, Roy and his company headed over to Rude, being cautious, as the man would probably have some sneaky tricks up his sleeve. "Let's get this over with."
"Hmph! Another one, eh? You just haven't learned your lesson!" Rude shouted as the red-head stood as his opponent. The purple armored knight from Bern studied the Pheraen carefully, chuckling darkly. "Oh, this is rich. You're letting a boy fight a man's battle? Hmph! This will be cakewalk, and I shall claim victory! You're all going to die!"
"Is that so?" Matthew taunted, garnering the knight's attention. "From the looks of things, you're outnumbered."
"I suggest you surrender and let us take the castle without unnecessary force." Roy said after, hoping this man would get the idea. Matthew was right; he was outnumbered, but he had a feeling this idiot wouldn't listen to reason and become hot with rage and pride.
"Me? Surrender? Hah! Not a chance, brats!" Rude snorted. "I will defeat you all here!" Rude roared his battle cry, throwing his lance yet again! It was so fast, Roy barely dodged. The lance sailed past his head, thankfully.
This guy isn't kidding around. Lance was right. I better watch my head-literally. Roy thought, seeing as Rude readied his Javelin again; mysteriously, the weapon would return to the thrower, much like a Hand Axe. The Pheraen took this opportunity to move in and attack! "Uaaah!" Roy cried, swinging his sword in close combat, slashing at Rude with admirable strength for someone his age possessed. The Bern knight barely saw the oncoming attack, unable to evade, but used his bulky defense of a shield to block the attack. Roy's strike rebounded, and he was shoved back by his shield as well, very similar to how Bors done to the archer.
The Pheraen stumbled backwards, blood trickling down his nose, but still in tact unlike the archer. Roy trembled, however with anger, as he wiped his nose quickly. This guy was strong, and he had they both had an advantage over the other; Roy had an armorslayer, but Rude had a lance, still advantageous over a sword anyhow. The others, Marcus more than them, were about to react when Matthew stopped them. "Don't do anything just yet. He's still in the game. I know we're to work together, but if you allow emotions to swallow you up and assist him, he can't learn to fight on his own when nothing else can be done."
"Are you saying we sit and do nothing?" Allen questioned.
"For now..." Matthew answered boldly. "I know you want to protect Roy, but he needs to learn. It's apart of his training as a marquess, right?" How did he know that? Oh well. "Remember what Dieck said? We have to get his defenses down and then we attack."
"That's true, but I can't let Master Roy get hurt like this!" Wolt raged. He took it upon himself to whip up an arrow and attack, however, the arrow did nothing to damage him! "What?"
"Heheh, your puny arrow will do nothing against me, idiot!" Rude laughed, now advancing towards Wolt, throwing his javelin straight for the teen archer.
"Wolt!" Matthew yelled, lunging forward quicker than anyone else could respond, and, with minimal Psynergy he promised he would not use until needed, infused with his sword, rather than use his hand like he normally would. "Cutting Edge!" Matthew psychically commanded, the magical essence of Water Psynergy coating his blade as he delivered the blow, the water slash slicing through the iron lance thrown. The javelin was split in half, then in half again, repetitively until it was no more but lumps of steel on the ground. This time, everyone was there, and saw it happen.
Matthew noticed everyone's gaze, but didn't care. All that mattered was that he saved Wolt from his death and idiocy. Rude was wide eyed, wondering what this child was and where he came from. "I...Impossible...!"
Normally, Psynergy was psychic energy; only Adepts could see, however the blond could tell that the people of Elibe could see it directly. So much for "invisible force" Psynergy was known for. It was practically like this "magic" of this world-anyone could see that. Regardless, Matthew turned to Roy, his pupils shrunk as he widened them. "Roy! What are you waiting for? Get him!" The Pheraen noble was shaken from his pausing trance, gritting his teeth and he tightened the grip around the hilt of the Armorslayer. Roy leapt forward, bringing the blade and battle cry with him! "Uwaa-haaa!"
Rude had no chance to evade, his armor being slashed off by the power of the Armorslayer!
"Wh-what! How can this be!" The Bern knight gawked, his eyes as wide as dinner plates, stunned. First the kid with the strange power, now this Pheraen brat with a ridiculously strong weapon! Wolt saw this chance of his, and fired off an arrow straight away. Roy skillfully ducked in time to allow the arrow to pierce through the man's unprotected groin area. "Allow me!" Bors ushered himself into the fray, remembering his promise to his Lady Lilina; protecting Roy at all costs. Rude was struggling to detach the arrow, which caused pain and soaked pants to fill with his own blood. It was thick and once the bottom of his pants were drenched, drips of the human liquid began to form and drop below him.
"Gghhh! H-how...?"
"It's simple. You underestimated us. Now, to put this to an end!" Bors once again twirled his lance, stabbing forward to the defenseless knight. The jarring through the man's neck wasn't enough, as Rude persistently continued to live. He stumbled backwards, slowly, slamming against a tree as he coughed up his blood and saliva, slowly feeling the hole that wounded his neck. He stared blankly at the Pheraens before him, blood splattered everywhere. He knew this would be his demise; greed. All he wanted was money, and in the end, he got death.
"Ugh..." Rude choked out, his face covered in the crimson fluid. "Greed... only... brings you ill...fate..." He mumbled out barely, straining himself. After speaking his last words, the knight finally fell to the calling of death, laying back and hanging his head low. No breath of life exited his nostrils. Victory belonged to the hands of Roy's group.
"Finally that dastard is dead." Allen huffed, crossing his arms. "He and his men were nothing but idiots."
"I would agree myself, but I'm a bit shaken up now." Wolt said, passively eying Matthew, who had said nothing after he shouted to Roy earlier. The next thing done, Roy securely conquered over the castle, and the remaining troops of Bern retreated. Once the castle was in their full possession, Merlinus and Ellen, as well as everyone else, were able to come inside, now for some earned rest of that battle. The Sister used her staff to heal Roy's minimal injuries, and the merchant, being nosy as he usually is, found something of interest.
"Master Roy!" Merlinus called, earning the attention of the Pherean lord. "We have rescued a lady trapped in the basement!"
"That must be Ellen's mistress. Have her come here." Roy directed, which Merlinus complied quickly. In a few moments, they returned, and walking with the teal-haired man, was a beautiful woman with pale, blonde hair, adoring brown eyes, the fairest of skin, and wearing a long robe that presented itself as royalty, or very close to it. She also looked like someone who had been studying the arts of magic, however, Roy couldn't be too sure for himself. Once the rescued woman stood before the young nobleman, Ellen recognized her and said, "Your Highness!".
"Ellen! Oh, are you all right?" the woman responded, very relieved to see her servant safe. "I never thought you would do such a brave thing for me... You had me worried, Ellen."
"I wanted to rescue you no matter what... So..."
"It is fine, Ellen. Thanks to you, I am safe now." After being reaquinated with her servant, the pale blonde turned to Roy, who stayed silent through the small conversation. "I am in your debt. May I ask your name...?"
"I am Roy, son of Eliwood, the Marquess of Pherae." Roy complied, feeling he had said that sometime today or before.
"Yes... And I am..."
"Your Highness... Are you sure?" Ellen partially interrupted, fearful.
"It is all right, Ellen." the lady confirmed, then continued, "My name is..." She paused lightly, then said, "Guinevere." Roy and Merlinus were taken aback by this, and the overhearing others, also looked in surprise. Matthew, however, just calmly listened from the distance he was standing at.
"Guinevere? That's impossible!" Roy repeated, stunned. "That's the name of the Princess of Bern!"
"Yes, that is who I am."
"What!" Merlinus exclaimed. "Do you plan on attacking us now?"
"Merlinus, wait a second."
"I beg your pardon Lord Roy, but..."
"I want to speak with her. Give me some time, will you?"
"Hm, if Master Roy says so..." The merchant sighed, then took his leave to allow his lord to speak with this woman who claimed she was the princess of the invading Bern kingdom.
"You are indeed Princess Guinevere from Bern?" The Pheraen red-head continued, hoping to get the facts correct.
"Yes. I am not sure if you will believe me, however."
"Even if you are not the Princess of Bern, I can tell from your actions and your dress that you are certainly someone of high social status. But... if you are indeed Princess Guinevere, something doesn't seem right. Miss Ellen told me you intended to meet someone from the Lycia Alliance."
"Yes, that is correct."
"Why, if you are the Princess of Bern?"
"I want to find a peaceful way of ending the war." Guinevere, as she called herself, stated. The looks in her eyes held truth and promise, something a princess would definitely have as quality. She looked down somberly, hands to her heart as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I figured if I could speak to someone from Lycia, I could find some solution."
Roy pondered some more mentally, keeping his stance straight as possible, his eyes fluttering with no emotion. "Your brother started this war. Is it in your power to stop it?"
"I certainly wish to stop it..." Guinevere paused, looking into Roy's eyes with filled determination. "No, it must be stopped."
"...I see." Roy began, "Anyway, will you come with us to meet the Lycia Alliance Army? I want to meet Lord Hector and see what he thinks about this matter."
"Honestly... You will take me?" the woman asked, feeling surprised, even her eyes read this. This boy, Lord Eliwood's son, was inviting her to come along? Did he even think she may have been lying and is testing her? Guinevere knew she wasn't lying herself. She had fire burning in her that wanted to quell this mad war her brother began, and would do anything in her power to stop it before the entirety of Elibe was swallowed into it.
"Yes. If there is a possibility to avoid bloodshed and end this war, then I believe that we must try it, no matter how small the chance."
"Thank you!" The princess said with utmost relief. "Thank you... truly."
That night...
Everyone had eaten and were heading for borrowed chambers of the castle, being exhausted from today's battle. Lance took it upon himself to lead the horses into the stables, feeding them hay and water plenty. "There you are, all nice and healthy." the cavalier said, smiling as he brushed his horse personally. Thany entered the stable herself with her pegasus, giving the white, winged steed an apple. "Hey!" She called over to Lance, who turned his head to notice her.
"Hello. Thany, was it?"
"Yup, that's me." The blue-haired woman giggled, grabbing a brush herself and brushing her pegasus's beautiful coat.
"You sure were a big help today, Thany. Bringing that Armorslayer and saving the village, then taking out an enemy on your own."
"Yeah. I've been practicing a lot lately. Ever since I joined Dieck's company. It's been fun and I've been very useful!"
"I agree there." Lance chuckled lightly. "Today was pretty hectic, but it worked out all in the end. I'm glad we have some help."
"I'm glad Dieck took on the job from Lord Eliwood. We do need money to live on." Thany added, then looked up. She spotted Matthew leaving the castle gate, and tilted her head. "Huh? Where's he going?"
"Huh? Who?" Lance questioned. His eyes soon found the spiky-blond leaving now, and blinked. "Oh, Matthew. Whatever he did today, it certainly saved Wolt's life, and his own. I wonder what that was all about? But, really, where is he going, I don't know... Maybe out for a walk."
"I see... I hope he comes back safely. It's dangerous out at night."
Once he was far enough, Matthew climbed up the nearest tree, staring out into the vast, open land. The moon was out, and looked like a crescent moon this time. A lot of things were on his mind, and one thing was for certain; how would he tell Roy and the others about his powers? They weren't anything special, but to them, it seemed extraordinary. "I guess I can say I'm a mage-swordsman..." He thought aloud. "Then again, I can use axes, too. So, I guess that makes me a multi-weapon user?" He scratched his head, complicated. This wasn't so easy as it looked! "I better calm down and focus..."
Karis... Tyrell... Sveta... Amiti... Rief... Eoleo... Himi... I wonder what you guys are doing now? What's dad doing? I still don't know how I ended up here. I can't even remember what happened before I ended up here. This doesn't feel like a dream to me... Matthew continued to stare out blankly, consumed by his thoughts. From a distance, Roy looked over to him, feeling now was not the best time to ask the Adept anything. "He looks sad... I wonder what's wrong..."
Castle Pherae
"Lord Eliwood! There is a visitor!" One of the servants alerted the nobleman, who turned from looking out his window in his study.
"Who is it?"
"It's a man, sir. He's asking for your presence. He said he was a warrior from a distant land. His name is Isaac."
"Isaac, hm? This is strange, but bring him here." Eliwood demanded, which the servant bowed and left immediately. In a few minutes, the door to the study opened again, the older Pheraen studying the man's appearance carefully. He appeared like a strong warrior of caliber, strudy and his attire didn't seem to be made especially from Elibe. In fact, it was similar to Matthew's style of clothing, if one could compare. This man looked like he was well into his late twenties, having fair skin, pale, blue eyes that remarkably resembled Matthew's, wild, untamed blond hair, and a beard to go along with it. His current attire composed of a long, blue coat, a dark red shirt tucked underneath a pair of darker blue pants, a simple belt fastened around. His boots were a dark, brown color, belted with buckles, and looked thick enough to keep his feet warm. Next, his hands were gloved in brown gloves, padded and comfortable. Across his back was a sheathed sword, obviously, but it appeared huge. Where in the world would he have gotten such a weapon?
"I hear your name is Isaac."
"That is correct." the man, Isaac, responds.
"I see. Is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Yes..." the blond ran his hand through his short hair. "It appears, we have something in common, and I came to find something that belongs to me..."
Sorry the cliffhanger and the long wait but hey! Isaac enters the scene! :D He's only there for support, so not entirely a main character (yet). Ey, my hands hurt. Thanks for all the comments, adds, and faves! Please review and all!