Chapter 2: A New Beginning
"Chom, we have to do SOMETHING!" A young blond girl with pigtails says to the blue haired man. "What do you propose we do?" The man asks the girl. Rolland begins to open his eyes as the girl says,"uh…I don't know…ah!" "I see your awake now." The man says to the dazed sorcerer. "Indeed I am" He says as he pushes himself off the ground, "Pray tell, who exactly are you two, I don't think I have seen you before now." "Ah, my name is Chrom" The blue haired may says and then gestures over to young lady with blond pigtails, "and this is my little sister Lissa, she is a bit delicate." Lissa puffs up her cheeks in an anime style and pouts, " I am NOT delicate, humph don't listen to my brother, he can be a bit thick sometimes." "I am Frederick and I don't like the look of you stranger." A stoic man says with a scowl on his face, "your robes give off the vibe of a dark mage; what is a Plegian doing here in Ylisse?" "My name is Rolland" Rolland says as he ponders for a moment and then replies, "and I don't really know why I am here, I didn't even remember the name of the place I am in until you said it. The only place I remember being in is Magvel just before I got here." "Magvel? It is not a place I have heard of." Fredrick says as he continues scowling at the tactician/dark mage. "I don't remember much either, butI do know that it is now a place of peace thanks to the efforts of the prince and princess of one of the countries, Renais." Rolland says as he meets Fredrick's scowl smile and bow and asks the stoic knight, "I am sorry if I am cause you trouble, but can I know the reason you are so suspicious of me?" Fredrick is caught off guard by the man's friendliness, but continues to be suspicious as he begins," You do not know of the tension between…." He never gets to finish as Lissa screams at the top of her lungs, "CHROM, THE TOWN…." All four people look to where Southtown is located and see that several buildings are one fire. "It must be those blasted brigands again, we need to make sure that they never harm anyone again" Chrom says with malice in his voice. "What of him milord?" Fredrick inquires, gesturing to the dark mage. "Unless he is on fire as well, that matter can wait." Chrom answers. "Aptly put my lord, let's not tarry any longer". And with Chrom, Lissa and Fredrick ran in the direction of Southtown, leaving Rolland to wonder what to do next. "I may not have many of my memories right now, but I still remember how to be an effective dark mage and tactician." He thought to himself "I think I would do better following them and making sure they are safe rather than sitting here and waiting." Rolland then dashed after the party of three, Naglfar in hand, to aid them in the battle.
"That's right, we're in charge now, nobody resist and no one gets hurt, ain't that right lassie?" A gruff, less than pleasant brigand rhetorically asks a young villager. "Eek, someone HELP!" She screams just as Chrom and co. arrive. "This will be the LAST TIME these brigands EVER hurt anyone. Fredrick, Lissa let's move to route these fiends." Chrom declares as he begins to charge forward. "Chrom wait!" Rolland yells ahead as he slows to a stop, catching his breath. "You, why are you here, are you in league with these brigands?" Fredrick asks in an angered tone. "I do not affiliate myself with the likes of bandits. If there is one thing I remember about myself, it is my hatred for their kind." Rolland scoffs as he returns Fredrick's glare, "besides, I will do you better on the battlefield than in chains. I am a dark mage as well as a tactician, I can help you in this battle." "You remember all that?" Lissa asks, curiosity abound. "It's about all I remember besides some of my time in Magvel." " Well then, tell us what we should do from here." Chrom says in a serious tone. "Chrom and Fredrick shall spearhead the attack, taking out the bandits as they move for the leader. I will take out any ranged units they have with my magic as well as take out any stragglers the first team misses. Lissa, you stay behind me, but close enough that you don't get targeted right away. Lets move!" Rolland commands as everyone went to follow his orders. Fredrick and Chrom move in and take out the first few bandits without much trouble. A myrmidon slips past them and targets Lissa, but is obliterated by a powerful burst of magic. All three look to Rolland, who had opened his Naglfar tome, and still had dark waves pulsing through his body. Chrom and Lissa's eyes widened at the power resonating off the mage until he said, "Everyone continue up to the leader. We need him dead if we want to scatter the remaining bandits." All three nodded and continue they're push forward as Rolland took out the enemy mage he had seen earlier with another powerful burst of magic. "Here sheepy, sheepy come to the SLAUGTER!" The bandit leader sneered as Chrom moved to engage him. Chrom charged with Falchion and stabbed the bandit in the arm, Chrom moved to kill when the bandit screamed and lunged at him when his guard was down. Fredrick was still dealing with a myrmidon at the time and couldn't make it in time. It was then that the bandit was lost in a giant implosion of dark magic as Rolland once again cast Naglfar, sealing the bandit's fate. Rolland then fell to his knees as the dark magic had sapped his energy dry and fell into a state on unconsciousness.
2 hours later, he awoke to Lissa watching over him and it brought a wave of nostalgia washed over him as an image of a young, cyan haired woman looking down on him with a warm smile him came to his mind. He was snapped out of it when Lissa said with a look of relief on her face, "Oh good, you're finally awake, I was worried when you collapsed." "Sorry to worry you, I haven't had much chance to use Naglfar so it drains my energy a lot faster than it would someone who was trained to use it." Rolland replied "I must ask though, where are Chrom and Fredrick?" "They are have a talk about what to do about you" Lissa said with a confused tone, "I don't understand what the big debate is, you obviously don't have any love for Plegia since you fought against those bandits without any doubt, I think you would make a great addition to the Shepards!" "Plegia? Are you referring to the country those brigands came from? And why do you tend sheep in full armor? Is it a dangerous job?" Rolland asked in a curious tone. "Yes, the brigands we fought spoke with a Plegian accent so we can assume that it is where they come from. Plegia is the nation that borders Ylisse to the west. Our two nations have been at odds since the last exalt waged war against Plegia." Lissa replied, "And the Shepards are a group of people led by Chrom and Sir Fredrick the Wary. They are the only people capable of fighting against the brigands other than the Pegasus Knights and they need to guard the capital. It is tough being the only ones to defend the people but we manage." "Well then I would be more than happy to help, I can sit by and let brigands like these have their way in a place like this." Rolland said with a determined look on his face. "I will go talk to Chrom about recruitment." And with that, both Lissa and Rolland exited the room they were in.
Meanwhile in Renais…..
Eirika sighs for the 3rd time in as many minutes as she thinks back to the time she had spent with Rolland. She is in her room looking at the celling as she longs to have her friend back. She very much enjoyed their time together over the past 4 years and his last letter he had sent was 3 months ago. She had become worried about her friend and desperately wanted to go to Ylisse to see him again. But she knew her duties lie with Renais and as the Twin sister of King Ephraim and the Sister by marriage of Tana, who is married to Ephraim, she believes is needed here.
Ephraim noticed the change in Eirika almost immediately, no matter how much she tried to hide it in public. Tana noticed as well that her friend was often lost in thought about her friend Rolland. They had decided to have a talk about it and both agreed that they could take care of the kingdom on their own. It is not that Eirika's help wasn't appreciated, it's just that she had been forcing to tell everyone she is fine when she really isn't.
"Eirika, may I come in?" Ephraim asks in front of his sister's door. "Yes, brother come in" She replies in a distant tone. Ephraim and Tana enter her room and see her staring up at the celling. "Eirika, we would like to talk to you about the future. I know you believe you place is here, but is that what you really want?" Tana asks her sister-in-law in a knowing tone. "I have to be here, it doesn't matter what I want. My country needs me." Eirika says with a tone that confirms Tana and Ephraim's suspicions. "You are not required to be here if you don't want. I can manage the kingdom with Tana. Now tell me, what is it you REALLY want to do sister?" Ephraim asks. "I…I…I want to go to Ylisse. I would like to be with my friend and keep him safe again." Eirika says in a shaky voice. Ephraim chuckles, a knowing smile on his face, "then go, I will arrange a ship to depart for Ylisse." "There is no need brother, Rolland gave me a neckless that he used to teleport around the continent with. He said that if I ever needed anything, just hold the medallion to my heart and I will teleport to his place of birth." Eirika said with an excited smile and opened her drawer to reach for the medallion. She then holds the medallion to her heart and whispers an incantation she learned from her friend. Suddenly, a bright light surrounds Eirika and she is whisked away to Plegia. Ephraim and Tana looked at each other and smiled, "I think that was the first time in several months that I saw Eirika truly happy about something." Ephraim says to his wife. "I agree, I think we made the right decision. Now I believe we have an announcement to make to the people." Tana muses. "Let's go then" Ephraim says as he and his wife leave his sisters room and call the people together to tell them about Eirika's happy situation.