Amadeus took a quick break to survey the battlefield. His tactics had worked to perfection; Gangrel, frenzied fighter that he was, did not have much of a head for strategy, and thus merely sent force after force of Plegians at the steadily charging group of Shepherds. Each group was overpowered, and with each Plegian that was brushed aside, the Shepherds drew closer and closer to the Mad King.
Gangrel's force had been reduced to the point where he could not send teams out to attack anymore; all he could do was draw them close to him for a final stand. As they held their ground and prepared for the final incoming assault, Chrom and Amadeus locked eyes and nodded at each other.
Gangrel only has about ten more troops left, eleven including himself. This time, for sure, Chrom, I will keep my promise to you, and we will finish off this scum.
"Chrom. It's time."
Chrom nodded, and Amadeus could see the rage beginning to overtake them.
The two friends charged.
Gangrel shouted what Amadeus was pretty sure was a chain of expletives regarding Chrom and himself, then shouted orders for his remaining troops to charge at them.
Axes bore down on them, but the strikes never landed. Falchion spun and weaved through axe and man alike, leaving axe handles separated from blades and Plegian bodies falling to the floor.
Amadeus, slightly more nimble than Chrom but lacking in raw strength, ducked and dodged through the strikes; the axemen growled as their weapons hewed at what had suddenly become thin air, before feeling a blade slicing through their bodies.
The desert dust settled, and Amadeus saw Gangrel peering through to see the aftermath of this little skirmish.
"BWA HA HA! The little princeling survived! And so did his pet brain! Very well then, allow ME to clean up! You will have the pleasure of dying together, knowing that your deaths will be the first of ALL Ylisseans!" He drew a crooked sword that Amadeus had never seen before, but had read about. It was a Levin sword, capable of drawing lightning and infusing the blade with electric power.
He raised the sword, and lightning forked down to the blade, before Gangrel redirected it towards the two of them. Chrom rolled gracefully to the left, while Amadeus rolled with rather less skill to the right. Chrom's roll brought him into a somersault that vaulted him forward, and he sprinted towards Gangrel, consumed by his rage.
"Today is your last day, Gangrel!" Falchion was out and whirring through the air. Amadeus took his eyes off the scene to scramble off the ground. Before he could get out the tome in his cloak, he saw Gangrel land a deft smack to Chrom's face with the flat of his blade, before catching Falchion in one of the grooves of his crooked sword. Deftly, almost effortlessly, he flicked his wrist, and Falchion flew through the air, while Chrom fell to the floor, dizzy and disoriented.
"HAHA! Join your sister now, my princeling!" He raised his head for the final blow.
"Elfire!" A bolt of fire struck Gangrel squarely in the arm, and he staggered back. Amadeus had fumbled the tome while taking it out, but managed to get the spell off in the nick of time.
Heh. Well, that wor- Before he could finish the thought, he saw that Gangrel had recovered his blade, and was now rushing him at full speed. Amadeus knew he had to keep Gangrel's attention until Chrom regained his senses. He dropped his tome and drew his sword once more as Gangrel reached him.
Parrying furiously, he hoped that Chrom would recover soon. Gangrel's attacks struck with the strength of rage and desperation, and that was enough to overpower Amadeus eventually, who could already feel his arms weighing him down. He decided to change tactics. He disengaged Gangrel with a flourish, sliding Gangrel's strike to his right while simultaneously leaping away from the diverted momentum of the blow.
"The Mad King?" He guffawed. "Only thing mad about you is how weak your strikes are. I was really hoping for more, Gangrel."
More expletives, and he charged again. In close quarters, Gangrel's crooked sword gave him a significant advantage. Amadeus parried while glancing over at Chrom. Suddenly, he felt his blade catch in a groove of Gangrel's sword, just as Falchion had earlier. Gangrel smiled as he felt the same thing, and tried the same move again. Amadeus was expecting it, and as a result let go of his blade just before and swept his leg upwards with as much strength as he could, right into Gangrel's groin.
Gangrel staggered back, clearly shaken. Amadeus smiled to himself.
"I guess there won't be any more Mad Kings after you, Gangrel." He chanced another glance at Chrom. "And, for that matter, there won't be any more Mad Kings period." Gangrel made to get up, before he stopped abruptly. His mouth trembled as he tried to speak.
"You..will die...Plegia..will have..its...revenge…" Gangrel managed to rasp out.
"For Emm." Chrom's voice rang out over Gangrel as he pushed the rest of Falchion into Gangrel. "Great kick, Amadeus; some parts are never well-protected enough, huh?" The first hint of a true smile since Emmeryn's death began to form on Chrom's face as he addressed his tactician and cleaned Falchion on a nearby brush.
"Huh? O-oh, yes, sir, haha." Chrom looked curiously at this odd response from his tactician, but his silence showed that he didn't want to press the issue. Amadeus had gone back to being lost in his thoughts.
Thank goodness. I didn't fail again. Thank you, Chrom. You have no idea how much your faith in me means to me…my darkest fear is to let you down.
Gangrel's army was finished, and the remaining Plegians quickly surrendered after the fall of their king. A ceasefire was agreed to, and the Shepherds reconvened and finally could relax. Chrom and Amadeus had finally left the battlefield, leaving Gangrel's corpse to the vultures. They returned to great cheers from the rest of the Shepherd. Amadeus smiled. It was time for some rest, finally. Although he couldn't shake some feeling that it wasn't over just yet, he shook it off and allowed himself to begin to share in the revelries.
Or, rather, they could rest after some politics. Flavia and Basilio called Amadeus and Chrom over, and they quickly discussed political terms. Plegia would pay reparations for the war; that was a given. A peace treaty was signed, and a messenger was dispatched to take the terms to Plegia's capitol. As they were wrapping up, a pegasus landed among them. Sumia leapt off the pegasus and ran up to Chrom.
Wow, she didn't trip. Amadeus thought absentmindedly.
"Captain!" It seemed as if Sumia had only seen Chrom, which, well, she had.
"Huh? Sumia?" Chrom turned around, surprised. Amadeus sighed to himself. Gods, he could be so blind.
"Oh, Captain, you're safe! I - we...were so worried…" She seemed to be on the verge of tears. She slowly walked towards Chrom, who seemed to still be frozen in shock. I can't believe this. How can any man be this blind? She stopped right in front of him, as if unsure what to do, and then suddenly flung her arms around him, sobbing.
"Captain...if we were to lose you...I couldn't..we couldn't…" She heaved into his chest. Chrom still stood there, frozen, his arms not even returning the hug, so shocked was he. Amadeus sighed.
"Khans? Let's...you know. Let them discuss their royal duties as king and queen." Flavia had to stifle a laugh, while Basilio didn't bother with hiding it, and the three quickly left the two lovebirds.
The Shepherds returned to Ylisstol to great fanfare. A messenger had delivered news of their victory and of Chrom's engagement, and the villagers had set up a celebration worthy of being recorded in the annals of history. There was newly hunted bear, chicken, beef, and lamb, and fresh vegetables galore, enough to feed the city three times over. Songs rang out through the night; classics from days past, and rather crude songs of much shorter origins. The party continued on and on, into the wee hours of the night, until finally, the crowds began to seek out the comfort of their rooms.
Amadeus sighed in contentment as he relaxed and leaned back in his chair, now alone with a book at a table after all the others had departed. This was perhaps the largest, most excellent celebration he could remember. Well, it's the ONLY celebration I remember..but I'm sure it would have surpassed any in my old memory.
He saw Chrom scanning the room, and realized he was looking for him. "Chrom! Over here."
Chrom snapped at the voice, and then smiled when he realized who it was. He walked over, gingerly stepping over the odd man who had passed out on the floor.
"Ah, Amadeus. I've upgraded your room. I'll tell you why tomorrow. Anyways, here's the key; the room's the one to the left of your old room."
"Alright. Thanks, Chrom."
"Yes. And if you have any questions...well...save them for tomorrow."
Amadeus winked at his friend. "Of course. You sleep well...or...well, you could always sleep in tomorrow."
Chrom flushed and stuttered, but couldn't think of a comeback. "Goodnight, friend." He walked back towards the entrance, where Sumia was waiting for him, and in seconds the two were gone.
Once Chrom was out of sight, Amadeus leaned back once again in his chair, soaking in the moment. For once, he could savor a victory, even for a little bit, although the little voice in his head wouldn't stop whispering to him. If you were better, maybe Emmeryn could be here to share in this celebration…
No. Chrom was right. I did my best.
Maybe your best just isn't good enough.
Gah! Get out of my head!
Amadeus shook his head vigorously, trying to block out the voice in his head, when he heard another, more familiar voice that made him smile.
"Hey, Amadeus, why are you shaking your head like that? Everything okay?" A knight still clad in his green armor approached and took the seat next to him.
"Oh, Stahl. Yea, I'm fine, just a bit..er...dizzy, you know, all that wine." Amadeus was glad he could quickly think of an excuse.
"Ah. Yes, it was quite good, wasn't it?"
Amadeus laughed in agreement. "Yes, yes it was. By the way, why are you still up? Isn't Maribelle going to be hacked off that you're not back yet?"
Stahl laughed at the mention of his girlfriend. "Ah, she'll be okay. Besides, I couldn't pass up all this food! You'd be surprised how much is still left at the buffet line."
Amadeus sighed. Of course, with Stahl, it always comes back to food. Stahl left the room, presumably to go back to the buffet line. As he left, Amadeus heard footsteps that seemed to be approaching him. His hand instinctively jumped to his sword hilt, before he saw a familiar tuft of unkempt, orange hair.
"Chill, it's just me." Gaius smiled, lollipop in his mouth. "So, what're you doing still up?" Amadeus took his hand off his sword hilt and leaned back once again in his chair.
"I don't really know, honestly. Just thinking about stuff. Why are YOU still up, Gaius? Pickpocketing the passed out drunks?" Judging by the way Gaius stiffened up, Amadeus had guessed right.
"Alright, you got me, Bubbles. But listen, it's not what you think. I was just taking candy off of them; if they're passed out, they can't eat them, and I can't let all those sweets go to waste!"
Amadeus sighed, but saw no point in arguing. Stahl returned, and as Amadeus had guessed, he had been to the buffet line. His plate was stuffed full of cold meat that had been left uneaten. The three sat in a comfortable silence, each enjoying the company of the other. Amadeus returned to his book, and missed the wink that passed between his two friends.
"So, Bubbles. What do you think of Chrom and Sumia?" Amadeus looked up from his book, taken aback by the question.
"Huh? I mean, we kind of all knew they were going to be together at some point..so I'm not really all that surprised, if that's what you meant."
Stahl looked up from his plate to answer. "That's not really what we meant...we meant what do you think of them as a couple?"
"Oh. Well, I don't know. They've been a couple for a day..but I guess they're cute together?" Amadeus was growing increasingly uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed, but he couldn't pinpoint why.
"HA! You're stalking them for tips! Bubbles, I never woulda thunk it." Gaius smirked and grinned evilly.
"Oh my, Amadeus. Quite the voyeur, aren't we? Are you picking up tips from them now?" Stahl mirrored Gaius' expression.
"SHUT UP!" Amadeus roared as he sprang up. Gaius and Stahl looked up, shocked at the volume that Amadeus's voice had just risen to. I just...have a lot on my mind. We won the war, but I lost us the next most important battle. And I can't help but feel that this whole thing isn't over yet.
An awkward silence fell between them. Stahl put a hand on Amadeus' shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. I know it's tough, but what happened with the Exalt wasn't your fault. And if you're worried about something happening in the future, well, it's in the future. We'll deal with it when it comes, like we have already."
"Yea, Bubbles. We'll be here for you. We're all part of your family now."
Amadeus sat back down. "Thanks, guys. You...don't know how much that means to me. I have no memory of anything, and I'm speaking literally when I say the Shepherds are the only family I've known."
Another awkward silence, before Gaius replied.
"We love you too, Bubbles."
A/N: And there's the second chapter! As you can see, there's a lot of dialogue; after fleshing out Amadeus's character in the first chapter, I wanted to get a feel for how his personality bounced with other characters. I really didn't want to include Gaius, as many stories have already included him, but in this case, he seems to fit perfectly (despite my attempts to write him out. I literally tried every other male character plausible...but it was just better with him. So sue me. I tried, though.)
Thanks for the three reviews and the follow!
Gunlord500: Thanks, I'm glad you agreed with my starting point; I was pretty worried that it might not be a good idea, but I guess it worked!
Rain9905: I'm really leaning towards Avatar/Cordelia right now. Tharja's always kind of creeped me out, and with Lissa, it's not that I don't like her; she's cute and all, but she just seems..i dunno, a bit young? I don't know if I'd really be too comfortable with that.
Yellow di Viridian Grove: Like I said, I'm really leaning towards Avatar/Cordelia right now, so hopefully you'll be happy to hear that!
As to why I'm leaning that way, I'll explain here. A few of my friends who played this with me said that Cordelia reminded them of me; apparently, I'm similar to her in quite a few ways (obviously, not the red hair). Anyways, after hearing that, I thought it would be interesting to try to, in a sense, observe myself from another character's point of view. I also think that Cordelia is a great character, and there aren't enough Avatar/Cordelia fanfics out there.
Also, with Amadeus' paranoid nature and his constant fear of not being good enough...well, put that with Cordelia's drive for perfectionism, and there's a lot of potential there. Should be fun :)
BUT, it's not set in stone yet. If you guys have any other suggestions, feel free to let me know, and if you disagree, please let me know as well!
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review! Constructive criticism is always appreciated, this IS a community where we can share our ideas and also help each other get better at writing :)
Next chapter will begin to lay the beginning hints of the romantic side of the story, so stay tuned!
UPDATE: I changed the last bit; I felt like this was a better way to end it. I don't think I saw any views as of yet, since I posted this around 2 or 3 am, so if someone read it before, just letting you know it's been edited, just the last bit.