~Chapter One


Crimean nobles, as a rule, were not pleased easily. Especially not with a young queen like Elincia on the throne. They criticized almost her every decision, each one seeking personal gains and none of them with any morals whatsoever. Most of them, Elincia suspected, had been rooting for Ludveck during the rebellion.

Yet for once they had not greatly contested her decision—that the Altean refugees should be allowed to stay in Crimea for as long as they wished. In fact, the nobles almost encouraged her to proclaim it, though they remained suspicious and apprehensive. Apparently, however, the thought of Crimea harboring the last descendants of Marth Lowell I of Altea, the great "King of Kings" the refugees had spoken of, agreed with them.

The last descendants. Elincia didn't like to think of them that way, but that's really what they were. Marth Lowell III. Elice Caeda Lowell. And Roy Lowell. Twenty, nineteen, and fifteen. They were too young to be orphans, in her opinion, but she had become an orphan herself at much the same age.


The Altean refugees had been living in Melior for two weeks now. There were ten of them, other than the three nobles.

Thirteen out of an entire continent. Elincia couldn't even begin to imagine what they'd been through.


August 15th, 648.

"Your Majesty." Marth greeted politely when Elincia entered the lovely castle garden, where the Alteans spent most of their time.

"You're a noble too, your Highness." she chided. "Just Elincia, please."

He shook his head. "I am the prince of a dead land. Just Marth."

She sighed. "Do you always have to be so formal? I just got out of a meeting with Crimea's nobles. I've had enough of formalities for one day."

He laughed. "Ah. Very well then, Elincia. What brings you here?"

"Just trying to get some air, like I said."

They began walking down the garden path. Elincia was looking at Marth. His hair had been cut to just above shoulder length, and he was wearing a spare tunic and pants of Geoffrey's(they fit rather well). Despite his claim that he was not a noble, he still wore his gold circlet. His eyes shone bright, so much unlike when she had first seen him a month ago, the very night Marcia carried him back to Port Toha. He really was handsome.

"I must thank you again for allowing us to stay." Marth said. "If I had wound up on a different country's shore, I'm not sure that country would have been as accommodating."

"It's my pleasure." she replied. "Besides, I would never turn away refugees. It's against my nature."

They wandered into a few of the refugees. "Marth. Queen Elincia. So nice for you to join us." Elice Caeda said, calmly polishing her sword. She was wearing one of Lucia's spare dresses, as hardly anything that had come with the refugees could be salvaged. She had, however, refused to remove the turquoise scarf she wore when she was found; she still had it now, even though the weather was quite warm.

"Just Elincia." the young queen said, sitting down beside the elegant princess. "Are you all faring well? Is there anything you need?"

"Oh no, your Majesty." the boy Mark said emphatically. "We have everything we need."

"You've done so much for us as it is," his twin sister, Lucina, added. "We could never repay you."

"Please!" Elincia said. "It's all right. I was happy to, really."

"Still, it was a gracious gesture." the beautiful viridian-haired woman said smoothly. "I hope we can repay you someday for your kindness."

Elincia nodded. The woman, Tiki, was actually a manakete—an Altean dragon—and over a thousand years old, which unnerved the young queen more than a little. Tiki was also the mother of the long-lived twins Mark and Lucina. Their father was the so-called 'Hero of Shadows,' who had fought beside the original Marth Lowell. They were over three hundred years old.

"Well," Marth said cheerfully, "I promised Roy I would spar with him soon, so—ah, there he is."

The young red-haired prince dashed around a corner and skidded to a stop. "Marth!" he panted, tossing a practice sword at his brother. "There you are! Ready for a duel?"

Marth laughed and caught the sword. "All right, but I won't be going easy on you."

Roy leapt forward, and a moment later they were engaged in combat.

"What is it with Roy and duels?" Elincia asked, watching the brothers spar. "He's a lot like... like someone I know."

Elice Caeda shrugged. "He's just determined to win one of these days, I suppose."

A practice sword went flying and hit Kester(a Knight of Altea and descendant of the legendary Sir Cain) in the back. He yelped and spun on the boys, shouting threats(hopefully playful), and a few moments later he was in the combat as well.

"Do you think he ever will?"

"Most likely, if he trains hard. Still, I think he spends too much time reading to be a serious swordfighter."

Kester stumbled out of the melee and ran into his friend, Dustin(the Altean Knight descendant of Sir Abel), and the two immediately began to talk.

"Does Roy read that much?"

"I think he really wants to become a mage. Father wanted all of us to be myrmidons at one point, but Roy's shown an affinity to magic since he was little."

Roy flew out of the melee and nearly tripped up Elwyn and Luna(the identical twin red-haired sisters, descended from Lady Lena and Sir Julian—Elwyn was a Wind Mage and Luna was a Priest). They immediately began scolding him for being careless, and he waited impatiently for them to finish. Marth just got up and leaned against a tree—and, since Elwyn and Luna's lectures could be lengthy, began to chat with Jak, the dark-haired 'assassin-in-training'(who was the descendant of the rather honorable Sir Ogma).

"Did I mention that he accidentally put a spell on the cat once?" Elice Caeda asked.

"No! What did he do?"

"He wanted to test out his powers, so he tried to make a potion that would increase height—he's always been the shortest of us, something he doesn't like much. But then he accidentally spilled it and the cat drank it before he could try it." She laughed. "Its fur turned pink! It took Roy weeks to figure out how to undo the potion's effects."

Elincia laughed as well. Roy finally broke away from the sisters and charged Marth, and the duel began again.

"Can Roy cast other spells?"

"Only minor ones—cantrips, he calls them. Not good enough to make a difference on the battlefield, but if he put some serious effort into it he would make a great myrmidon-mage cross—if that's even possible."

Roy accidentally tripped his brother and they ended up both on the ground, laughing. William(the brunette archer/myrmidon descendant of Merric and the original Elice, a bit snooty due to his distant relation to the Hero King) turned up his nose disdainfully and walked away. He nearly tripped over Deirdre(the sapphire-haired morose archer descendant of Sir Gordin) and they started arguing.

Elincia looked around at the Altean refugees. Mark, Lucina, Kester, Dustin, Elwyn, Luna, Jak, William, Deirdre. "That's funny." she said. "Most of the refugees are descendants of the original heroes that fought with the Hero King."

"What's so funny about it?" Elice Caeda asked. "They know their ancestors, and they train hard so that they won't be looked down on as disgraces to their noble families' names. Therefore, they are some of the best warriors that Altea had, and worthy members of the Altean Royal Knights. They were also some of the youngest knights, most of them having older siblings that went to fight the Shadow. These children were the last defense."

Elincia shrugged. "I suppose that makes sense." She smiled wryly. "Huh. So in a few hundred years, it'll probably be much the same with Ike's descendants..."

"Who's?"

The young queen frowned. Have I really not told her about Ike? "Ike is the general who led the army to free Crimea from Daein occupation, about three years ago." she explained. "He was a mercenary, but I made him a lord for a while—I'll tell you the whole story later."

"If he's that famous, then where is he?" Tiki asked innocently. "I have not heard mention of a Lord Ike around here."

"He gave up his title and returned to lead his father's mercenary group." Elincia replied.

Mark suddenly thought of something. "Wait. I think I heard a couple of the guards mention an Ike the other day, right, Lucina?"

She nodded. "Yes, Mark."

Elincia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what did they say?"

Mark frowned. "I don't recall..."

"They said something about 'Lord Ike' and how it was strange..." Lucina began.

"...that he could be so great when he was 'odd'." Mark finished. "I remember now."

Elincia closed her eyes and sighed. "...odd... no, he's not really that..."

"What did they mean?" Elice Caeda asked.

Elincia sighed again. "Well, Ike is one of the strongest men I've ever known, and a great one. A hero. And he's gay. That was what they meant by 'odd,' I suppose, though I wouldn't have referred to it that way."

Tiki raised an eyebrow. "Gay?"

The young queen nodded. "Yes... in his own fashion."

They suddenly heard footsteps, and Elincia glanced back. "Elincia?" Lucia called, coming around a corner. She stopped and smiled, seeing the queen. "Ah, there you are. I knew I'd find you here."

"Lucia," Elincia sighed. "What's happened now?"

"A few things, actually." She came closer and pulled out a few papers. "Bastian sent a message detailing the situation in Daein. The Apostle is curious about the Alteans—don't ask me how she found out about them so fast—and sends the royals her regards. And," she paused for dramatic effect, "Ike is here."

Elincia shot to her feet. "He is?" she demanded.

"Yup. He and the others were near Melior for a job and he decided to drop by. He said he had something important to talk to you about, though, so I suppose it isn't just a social visit."

"Well, give me the messages, please. Is Ike here now?"

"No," Lucia replied, handing the papers over. "He said that they would be just outside Melior for a day or two, and he might come by tomorrow. Or you could go to them, later, but he said they might be busy. Oh, and one last thing—Geoffrey said he had some reports to show you?"

She sighed and thumbed through the papers. "Oh, yes... thank you, Lucia." She turned and nodded to Elice Caeda and the others. "If you'll excuse me." Then she followed the swordmaster back down the garden path. Mark and Lucina both got up and followed her for a moment, before running over to break up William and Deirdre(whose argument was escalating dangerously).

Elice Caeda put down her sword and leaned back casually. "What do you think, Tiki?" she asked. "Should we go see the famous General Ike?"

Tiki thought for a moment, then nodded. "If he comes by, I'll be sure to talk to him. He sounds like an interesting character..."

"Who does now?"

The two girls turned to see Marcia and Sharon, the two pegasus knights who had found them, coming down the garden path. (They dropped by every now and then when they were off duty.) "Marcia, Sharon. Good to see you." Elice Caeda said cheerfully. "We were just talking about Lord Ike."

"I believe he is a Commander now, your Highness." Marcia corrected.

"Ah. Have you met him?"

"She traveled with him in the Mad King's War." Sharon said proudly. "She's a veteran, our Marcia."

"Oh, stop it." the pink-haired knight said, elbowing her friend good-naturedly.

"You know him, then? What is he like?" Tiki asked.

Marcia shrugged. "Well... he's noble, kind. An excellent fighter. He married a guy—Zelgius, a former Begnion general—but neither of them really act like any gays I know. Er..." She blushed.

"They don't act... girly." Sharon said. "At all. Or so she's told me—I haven't met them myself."

Elice Caeda frowned. "That's interesting."

"You aren't talking about me, are you?"

The four girls turned to look at Roy, who had approached them while they were talking. He wore a spare tunic and pants from the servant's quarters, and his frizzy red hair was held back by a blue headband. His eyes sparkled as he slouched casually, crossing his arms.

"As far 's I recall, you haven't married Zelgius." Sharon said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, the noble and kind part, then." he replied.

"The noble part?" Sharon laughed. "I thought you meant th' 'girly' part..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"What d'you think it means?" she countered.

Marcia rolled her eyes. "Are you two going to flirt all day, or what?"

"That was flirting?" Sharon asked incredulously.

Roy shrugged. "I dunno. I got a while, though."

"What happened to Marth?" Elice Caeda asked.

"Eh. He wandered off."

"You lost, didn't you?" Sharon asked slyly.

"I did not!" he replied indignantly. "At least... not as badly as usual."

"Hah!"

"Does this mean you won't go on a date with me?"

"That remains to be seen. I have a job, you know..."

Tiki laughed and made a flicking motion with her hand. "Oh, run along, children. Have fun."

Roy grinned and grabbed Sharon's hand, dashing off down the path. She ran to keep up with him, laughing.

"I thought you said Roy was dating a girl in Altea." Marcia commented.

"He was." Elice Caeda replied. "And before that he had a girlfriend in Medon, and one in Orleans, and another girl from Altea. He's a... womanizer, you could say."

"Though he is a little young." Tiki added.

"A little? He's only what, fifteen years old?" Marcia asked incredulously. "He's younger than Sharon!"

"Well, that isn't going to stop him."

Marcia laughed. "He's worse than Gatrie, and that's saying something!"

"Who?" Elice Caeda asked.

"One of the Greil Mercenaries. Ike's mercenaries."

"Hmm. Would you tell us about them?" Tiki asked.

Marcia shrugged. "All right. Well, they're led by Commander Ike Greil, who's the son of the old commander..."


Ike and Zelgius stopped by the following day. Elincia was happy to see him, but surprised at how tired he looked. He had deep shadows on his face and his eyes were world-weary. His husband stood beside him with a concerned look on his face. "Ike, Zelgius." Elincia said, a little overly cheerful. "Good to see you."

"And you, your Majesty." Zelgius said pleasantly, his worried eyes not leaving Ike. The young hero nodded, but said nothing.

"Is there anything you need?" Elincia asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Can I speak to you privately?" Ike asked abruptly.

She nodded. "Yes, I suppose so. Come on."

Geoffrey shot her a curious look, but she just shrugged. They went into a side room and Zelgius closed the door.

"Ike, what is it?" Elincia asked.

Ike pulled his right glove off and held it up, the back facing her. She stared at the strange triangular mark. "Do you have any idea what this is?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. "Hmm. I... I might have seen it a while ago, but I can't place it... Where did it come from?"

"That's what I want to know!" he snapped, then caught himself and looked away. "I'm sorry. I've been driving myself crazy trying to find out what this is. It appeared about three weeks ago, shortly after I left Melior."

She stepped forward and touched the bottom right triangle, which still glowed with a faint yellow light. "It certainly isn't natural," she murmured. "Who else knows...?"

"Elena." Zelgius said softly, causing her to start—she'd forgotten he was there. "Mist, Titania. And Soren. That's it."

"Soren?" Elincia frowned. "And he doesn't know what it is?"

"We were hoping you would have an idea... you, or the Altean refugees." Zelgius said.

That was when she remembered. "Of course!" she said, snapping her fingers. "I remember now!"

"What?" Ike demanded.

"Marth Lowell. He had a mark like this when we rescued him—except that this triangle was glowing..." she gently touched the bottom left triangle, "...and not the other."

"Prince Marth?" Ike asked. "Have you talked to him about it?"

"No. I didn't think to bring it up... Listen; he went out with some of the Knights, but I'll ask him about it when he comes back. I'll tell you what he says tomorrow, okay?"

Ike nodded. His face seemed to have brightened slightly. "Thank you, Elincia."

They left the side room, but now there was someone waiting for them.

"Commander Ike, I presume?" the elegant, viridian-haired woman asked quietly.

Ike nodded, a puzzled look on his face. Elincia quickly said "Ike, this is Lady Tiki, one of the Altean refugees."

"Just Tiki." the woman corrected. "I'm not really a princess of anything anymore." She turned to Zelgius. "And you are...?"

"Zelgius." he said, nodding respectfully.

"Ike's husband. Well met." she replied, before turning back to Ike. "You are a quite famous young man, Commander. Marcia has told me much about you. You certainly have accomplished a lot for a boy your age."

"Thanks—I think," Ike said, obviously unnerved.

"So tell me—is it true that there are dragons on Tellius? And you have me them?"

He nodded. "Yes. The Dragon laguz live in Goldoa, but they've remained isolated for centuries. I only know a few of them."

"And... tell me..." She pulled something out of her pocket and held it up for him to see. "Do they have anything like this?"

He studied the object. It was a silver-white sphere, about as big as her hand. He frowned. "I don't know. I haven't seen much of Goldoa. Why do you ask?"

She slipped it back into her pocket. "It is called a Dragonstone. It allows the manaketes to transform into our dragon forms. However, my sphere's power is drained, so I cannot use it. I was hoping perhaps the dragons of Tellius would have a way to recharge it... but I see you cannot help. I am sorry for wasting your time." She turned to leave.

"Wait." Ike said. She paused, glancing back at him. "I can ask my staff officer about it. He knows a lot. I'll be back tomorrow—will you see me then? Hopefully I'll have an answer."

She smiled warmly. "Thank you, Commander. I'll look forward to it. A pleasure to meet you both." Then she spun and left the room.

"What an odd girl," Zelgius commented. "She seemed... older than she looked."

"Way older." Ike added, shooting a glance at Elincia.

She laughed. "Oh, all right. She is a manakete, which is like Altea's form of a Dragon laguz. And according to Princess Elice Caeda, she is over a thousand years old."

Ike's eyebrows shot up. "A thousand?"

"Closer to two, actually. She was one of the original heroes who traveled with Marth I. She was already over a thousand then—a child, for her kind. And apparently she's hardly aged five years since then—in body, anyway, but her mind is far more matured."

Zelgius nodded. "Indeed. Quite an... interesting character."


"Well?" Titania asked abruptly when Ike and Zelgius returned.

"She doesn't know." Ike replied. Soren sighed in frustration and hit his head on the table. "But," the commander quickly amended, "apparently Prince Marth has the same symbol, so she's going to ask him about it."

Soren hit his head on the table again. "May I get some rest now?" he moaned. Without waiting for a response, he fell asleep. Elena petted his hair soothingly. It had always been a great fascination for her, and she liked playing with it...much to his disgust.

Mist sat down. "Sometimes I wish we were back to the days before Dad died," she lamented. "Things were simpler then."

Ike sighed. "Mist. We'll work this out, okay? And then everything will be back to normal."


"Marth?" Elincia asked, later that day. It was shortly after dinner and they were sitting out by themselves on a balcony overlooking the garden.

"Yes?" he replied.

"What is that mark on your hand?"

He was silent for a minute, looking down at his right hand. Then he pulled the glove off and held his hand up so that she could see the back of it, and the mark that was there. "This appeared on my hand about half a year ago." he said softly. "Two months before the Shadow attacked."

The bottom left triangle glowed golden. She touched it gently, and shivered when she realized how cold the mark was. When she curiously touched his arm, she found it warm. "Do you have any idea where it came from?" she asked.

"No." he replied. "It was an ordinary day, when... I felt my hand burning, all of a sudden. Like it was on fire. No; worse than that... more like it had been cut off and thrust into acid, burned into nothing. I... screamed, and fell down, and when I looked at it again, that was there." He clenched his hand into a fist and lowered it. "A month later it happened again. That was when it started glowing. A week after that, the Shadow appeared."

She felt her blood run cold. "What happened?"

"He came out of nowhere, suddenly appearing with an army in the middle of Akaneia. He negotiated at first. I believe he said he was from some continent called Hyrule. He was... cordial. Then he swooped in and destroyed the island of Talys." He took a deep breath. "Before anyone knew what was happening, he'd destroyed half of Doluna as well. As time went by, his army only seemed to get bigger. We defended ourselves. Won some battles... lost ten times more. One by one, he ravished the countries, burned them to the ground, and killed everyone within them. I... I think he was looking for something. And he got angry when he couldn't find it.

"Eventually, the majority of the remaining Altean Royal Knights banded with the Knights of Sable and the last armies of Orleans, and they marched out to attempt to destroy the Shadow. My father led them. As a... backup plan, or so he called it, he left a contingent of the Altean Royal Knights behind to defend the last of the nobles. Me, my mother, my siblings, Tiki... and Tamina of Medon, my fiancé. He said if he and the others did not return, we were to board the Sea Cat and sail away, to escape the Shadow.

"But that only enraged the Shadow more... for now I believe that I was the one he was after. Because of this." He held his hand up again.

"Why?" Elincia asked. "No, wait. Please continue."

After a moment to collect his thoughts, he said "That was the last time I saw my father. He rode out, and we waited. Waited for two weeks. Waited for three weeks. And waited, for another month longer. But... we eventually had to accept that he wasn't coming back.

"We boarded the Sea Cat with the thirty Knights left to guard us, as well as the crew. We sailed for a few hours, and when we looked back the castle...the castle was burning."

He choked up and couldn't speak for a while. Finally he continued;

"It was barely another mark after that when the Shadow attacked. He came down on us, riding a dragon that did not revert, leading two score of his strange flying lizard creatures. They hit us, and they hit us hard. The crew was killed, as well as many of the Knights.

"And... I saw him raise his sword in the air, and I realized... he was wielding the Falchion. My father's sword. The Hero King's sword. And... he ran Tamina through with that blade.

"I attacked him in a blind fury. At that moment, I cared nothing for anything else. I only wanted to avenge my father, my country, Tamina... to destroy the man who had destroyed my home. And I failed. He defeated me. He stabbed my leg, then sliced the sword across my hands as I fell. He... he laughed at me, exhibiting the Falchion for me to see. 'Your father's blood is on this sword,' he said.

"Then, when I fell and my gloves tore off, he saw the mark on my hand, and he was enraged. He would have killed me then, I think, if... if my mother..."

He choked up again, looking down, his fingernails digging into his palms. Elincia gently uncurled his fingers and wiped the blood off. A salty tear fell onto her hand.

"My mother stepped in the way," Marth agonized as his eyes teared up. "She saved my life with her own. And... she smiled. The Shadow... he lowered his hand for a moment. He had a mark like this... only the top triangle was glowing. He saw me see it. He smiled. Then he abandoned the sword and left. He was just... gone. And he didn't come back. I don't know why...

"He'd killed most of us in the attack. There were only twenty of us left, and half of us were badly injured. Seven died of their wounds. And I... I threw Falchion into the sea." He choked. "I threw the Hero King's sword i-into the sea. B-because it was the blade that slew my parents. I-I threw it away."

Elincia held his hand tightly and waited for his shoulders to stop shaking... gazing into his beautiful eyes when he looked up, at his handsome face. "I don't blame you," she murmured.

"But I blame myself." he replied. "B-because of this mark... this mark on my hand, my parents died. My parents died. And I... ran... away!"

"Marth..." Impulsively she hugged him, pulling him close to her, letting her face rest on his chest. "It's not your fault."

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her hair. She snuggled him closer, and when he finally pulled back she kissed him gently on the cheek. "You should get some sleep." she said soothingly.

He sniffed slightly and wiped his eyes, looking embarrassed. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Ssh. It's all right." she murmured, hugging him again. "It's all right..."


They have stopped running. Thank the Gods. Finally, I have pinpointed their location. It is only now a matter of time... and yet, I still cannot find Courage. Why? Why is its position hidden from me!? Is it because I am...?