(These author notes are dedicated to YOU, the readers.
Nintendo Nut1, of course I write group scenes better than solo scenes. :D
WoofBlackHayate, yes-- Link would screw it up. I mean, come on-- in Wind Waker, he freed Ganondorf's power. Seriously!
J. Q. Aoi, thank you for boosting my confidence in my Begnion-tension-capturing skills. You're thinking too hard about it-- they arrived in Tower of Guidance so that the whole Sanaki scene could happen. And yes... she is actually descended from Lehran. Thanks for catching that!
Hey, fennessey... here's another reason to get Fire Emblem. You know you want to! :D
And today, we continue "The Tellius Show" with guest stars Link and Marth! (I promise things will change. Promise.)
Let's begin.
All characters © Nintendo
The Great Illumination © Nintendo Nut1 and me, but mostly her)
The Temptation of Darkness
Chapter Four: The Power of the Medallion
These forces, now graced with forms distinguishable from one another, reveled in the light. Their praises intensified the Great Illumination's power; peace reigned in the realm.
But not for long...
"Pit... hey, Pit, wake up."
A tired groan escaped the young angel's lips, but his eyes refused to open.
Fox sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"Man, I always get stuck with people who don't listen to a word I say..."
Carefully, he lifted one of Pit's thin arms, draping it across his shoulders before hoisting Pit off of his chair on the balcony. He had no difficulty carrying the light angel through the open doorway; Fox gently placed the brunette on his bed.
"...hang in there, Pit."
"I see... I can believe that you wound up in the Tower of Guidance by accident. I forgive you, and I hope you can forgive me for putting you through the interrogation... but I'm surprised. Wits and words aren't usually your forte, Ike."
"I've had time to practice, apostle."
Sanaki smiled as she and Ike sauntered down the halls of the castle, with Link and Marth nervously following close behind.
"I would have avoided it if possible, but Rolen is... highly protective, shall we say. I had to shock him into submission."
"That's quite alright, apo--"
"Sanaki will do."
"Uh... hey, Ike?"
Ike and Sanaki turned at the sound of Link's hesitant voice.
"I hate to be rude," the Hylian began, "but we did come here for a reason..."
"Do you have something to ask of me?" the empress queried, her amber eyes fixed on Ike.
"Yes," the mercenary nodded. "I must speak with Prince Reyson."
Link and Marth shot surprised glances to each other.
He knows all these royal people... and he still acts like that?!
"That is unfortunate," Sanaki sighed, flicking her hair out of her face. "The royal heron family is on Phoenicis with King Tibarn."
"Damn..." Ike cursed softly. "...how long would it take to sail to Phoenicis?"
"If Phoenicis had a harbor, it would take about three weeks," the empress informed. "Assuming, of course, that the hawks didn't attack in the middle of the voyage... the hawks in general still harbor hatred towards Begnion."
"Then... it sounds like they only way to get there would be to fly..."
"Yes, that would be the logical conclusion."
All eyes suddenly shifted to a nearby window...
"It's a shame that none of you have wings..."
The figure staring out the window had long, sapphire hair, tied back with a fraying cord. His black clothes contrasted with his waxen skin...
...yet their hue perfectly matched the color of his large, ebony wings. (1, 2)
"I do hope that you find somebody to help you..." he continued, heaving an exaggerated sigh...
"It would be so kind of you if you chose to help us, King Naesala," Sanaki retorted, unfazed by the laguz's unexplained presence.
"Me?" Naesala queried, innocently pointing to himself as he turned away from the sunlight; he had to stifle a chuckle as he finally noticed Marth and Link's shocked stares.
"King Kilvas, this is an urgent issue," Ike spoke, his calm expression growing stern. "Please. ...I can pay you, if that will motivate you."
"Well, now! That certainly changes things," the king chuckled, slowly approaching the blue-haired mercenary. "Pray tell... how much were you planning to pay? Beorc mercenaries struggle to make a living, I hear..."
Ike merely flicked a small white gem towards Naesala.
"Ten thousand gold, now in your hands-- assuming you choose to sell it, of course." (3)
Marth snapped out of his daze long enough to search through his pockets...
"...that's mine!"
"Well, now it's his."
Naesala examined the gem briefly before tucking it into his pocket.
"This will do," he nodded, trusting Ike's estimate of the jewel's value. Flapping his wings before preparing to take flight, he added, "Any other messages you'd like me to send?"
"Tell the prince to bring Lehran's Medallion."
Shocked royal eyes fell upon the mercenary, whose grim expression showed that no, he was not joking...
"...he will be told."
Naesala spread his sable wings, a dark glow surrounding the laguz king...
Sanaki's gaze did not falter, even as the raven king flew through the window, glass falling away from his shifted form and scattering across the floor. (4)
"Ike?"
"Prince Reyson has the medallion..." Ike began answering the apostle's unspoken question. "...I need it to help save a friend."
Slowly, he turned to face Link and Marth...
"B-b... buh..." Link stammered, shakily pointing to where the king of Kilvas had been standing just moments before.
"He's a bird," Marth finished Link's senseless rambling, his skin unnaturally pale.
"He's the king of a tribe of bird laguz," Ike corrected, secretly enjoying the bewildered expressions on his friends' faces.
"There's more like him?"
"Well, yeah."
Ike would have seriously considered lying if he had known his answer would make Link lose consciousness...
Pit never realized that leutessence chased away what the humans called nightmares...
Until that night.
He had just finished splashing cold water against his face, trying to chase away the terrifying images that had plagued his once-peaceful dreams...
"No," he muttered to himself. "They're fine... they'll be okay... they can find it..."
Pit looked into the mirror to reassure himself--
A soft gasp escaped his lips.
The pallor of his normally tanned skin would have been best suited for a ghost; his lackluster brown hair hung into his eyes, which were nearly black with the dull glow of lifelessness...
"...no," the angel hissed quietly, struggling not to panic. "This... this is nothing. As long as--"
Quickly, Pit spread his snowy wings; he was satisfied to see that they were still intact...
"They'll come back," he spoke quietly. "I'll be fine."
Still, he couldn't help but worry.
"King Tibarn, there in the distance-- a lone crow, and it seems to be their king."
Tibarn's "eyes" pointed the hawk king to the northeast; he, too, could faintly make out the blurred image of a laguz raven.
"Ah... yes, I see. Thank you, Janaff." (5)
Janaff grinned, saluting his king as the wind blew his golden bangs into his face.
"Ulki, do you hear any others?"
A third hawk closed his eyes, concentrating...
"...he is alone. I hear no other laguz in the sky."
"I will say now, I will not willingly speak to him."
The three hawk laguz turned at the sound of a fourth voice--
A tall man-- though not as tall as Tibarn-- stood a short distance from the king and his aides. His normally graceful features had hardened in anger, and a dark scowl cast a shadow over his pale face.
"Reyson," Tibarn chuckled briefly. "I would have expected you to be sleeping, considering all of the chaos on this island." (6)
"I am more tolerant of chaos than you give me credit for," the heron prince replied, his white wings rustling with the wind. "Being in Ike's army has helped. But it has not helped me learn to forgive Naesala for what he has done."
"Yeah, but I don't think that's going to stop him," Janaff commented, glancing over his shoulder. "He's gotten very close, considering the short amount of time that's passed..."
"What say you, Reyson," Tibarn began, the powerful gusts blowing his wild hair out of his dark eyes, "to at least hearing what he has to say? If he has no important news, then it will be easy enough to chase him away."
"So long as it is you who responds to him-- unless it is important-- I am fine with that plan, Tibarn," Prince Reyson nodded, pushing his long golden hair out of his eyes.
"Very well. Janaff! Ulki!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Keep watch over Princess Leanne, Prince Rafiel, and King Loraizeh while we are away," the hawk king ordered, his feet leaving the ground before he took on his stronger form.
"We shall-- on our honor as your eyes and ears!"
Tibarn soared off into the distance, followed by the graceful heron form of Reyson.
Naesala reverted back to his humanoid form as he came within speaking distance of the hawk king.
"How fare you on this fine day, King of Phoenicis?"
"It would be a fine day indeed, were it not spent speaking with traitorous cowards," Tibarn remarked, a flurry of dark feathers falling to the ocean as he too transformed. "What do you want, king of crows?"
"I have a message for the heron prince," the raven king informed, his dark blue hair flung about by the wind.
"That is unfortunate, for Reyson has chosen not to treat you on small matters."
"Ah, but this is no small matter, I can assure you of that. Would he change his mind if he knew my message came from Ike?"
White feathers rained down as Reyson finally shifted forms.
"Ike has returned?" the prince asked, his emerald eyes showing his disbelief.
"He has, and is currently in Begnion," Naesala nodded. "There is some important business he must take care of, and he requests your assistance... and Lehran's Medallion."
The same shock that had silenced the raven king now struck the hawk and heron royalty.
"...what did you say this business of his was?" Tibarn finally queried, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.
"I did not say, for I do not know. He didn't even mention anything to the apostle."
"And how do we know that you're not spinning yet another tall tale?"
"You don't. All you can do is trus--"
"Ha!" the hawk king scoffed. "Yes, trust you! Trust a crow, one who has sold a childhood friend-- royalty, on top of it all-- into slavery for some pocket change!" (7)
"Nobody ever said that you couldn't come with as his bodyguard," Naesala pointed out, sensing the embers of chaos stirring from within Tibarn's spirit and quickly thinking in the interests of self-preservation. "Were we to fly in the dark, you could see your path-- and any traps. If you don't believe me, then come-- come to make sure Prince Reyson is safe."
"...I can accept that arrangement."
Tibarn and Naesala both looked to Reyson, both slightly surprised by the words he had just spoken.
"You would travel with him?" the hawk king spoke.
"If you were to come with, yes."
A brief silence, only broken by the blustering wind...
"Well then, why are we waiting here?" Tibarn smirked. "Come! We must leave quickly, if we are to reach Begnion by nightfall!"
And with that, the royal laguz of the birds transformed, their wings carrying them to the land of the goddess.
(End chapter four.
(1) The laguz are the race of creatures that can transform into animals and fight. There are three main tribes; beast, bird, and dragon.
(2) Laguz have defining marks. Bird laguz, obviously, have wings.
(3) I don't think they have white gems in Ike's games, but in the other Fire Emblem games, a white gem could be sold for ten thousand gold.
(4) Laguz travel faster in their animal form. It is also the only form they really fight in.
(5) Tibarn has two aides, Janaff and Ulki. Janaff has ridiculously perfect vision; Ulki can "hear grass growing on the other side of the continent."
(6) Heron laguz are highly sensitive to the forces of balance and chaos. Herons tend to get really sick in high-chaos environments.
(7) True story! Play "Path of Radiance" to find out more.
I don't know what the heron king's name is, but I know its' either that or something very similar. Damn laguz with their strange names. XD
Just think; just two more full chapters of "The Tellius Show" before it starts getting really good!
Please review!)