Soren was standing in a town square where almost a hundred people had been killed. The blood coated the stones. The man had already left, leaving Soren to his work. He was chanting as the seal on the palm sized pendant glowed blue, absorbing the strength of the people that had been killed.

"HEY, YOU!" A voice called out.

Soren ignored it and stepped forward, dodging a sword strike. It was like Tellius was in a time hold, so little had changed about it in three centuries. That was probably due to the presence of the laguz.

When he was finished, Soren turned around, dodging another strike. He raised his hand to hit the impudent fool with a magical blast; intent on killing him and using this person's own force and instead struck him with wind, knocking him back.

Soren's neutral expression upturned. He had found the person he was looking for. He could see it in the hateful expression on his face. The same expression Ike had when looking, or thinking, about the countless people Ike had labeled vile and putrid. This person bore no physical resemblance to Ike, but that did not matter.

No words were exchanged as this person tried to attack him. Soren dodged and counter attacked, holding back, seeing how strong this person was. He found that this person was as strong as Ike had been at the start of the Mad King's war. Soren used his magic to disappear.

Soren spent his time weeding more lies into his pawn's, for that was the only term applicable, constant diet of lies. Gentle ones. Ones that the boy would give Soren all the life force he needed, but only if he could get stronger. The man smiled and said that the boy would get stronger, and follow a trail of bodies. Soren didn't care. He had no intentions of killing the boy; he would keep saying that he needed the boy stronger while feeding the amulet the strength of the dead body trail until it was saturated.

All of the nations were worked into frenzy at the news. Aside from Golda and Serenes, there was none left that Soren had known. He cared not about that thought. Ike was dead, that was all that mattered to him.

The boy spearheaded their efforts at stopping the madness, following Soren's breadcrumb trail and gaining strength. Kurthnaga left the throne to come and see what was happening. Soren had been surprised by seeing the dragon king on the battlefield, but quickly reworked his plans. Soren merely told his master that he could finish faster then expected, if all most of the boy's companions lived and gained strength too. His lies were believed.

Soren kept the fact that the souls of Tellius barely gave the fetish more strength then the ones from the other country to himself. He couldn't figure out why it wasn't working like he wanted it to. But now it was almost half full.

While Soren was cleaning up in a town Kurthnaga came. The dragon king was clearly perturbed by all the blood on the streets. Soren securely fastened the fetish into his robes and looked at the dragon.

"Why are you doing this, Soren?" Kurthnaga whispered when he was close enough.

"For Ike."

Kurthnaga balked, "Ike would not approve of this wanton destruction. You can't believe that."

Soren gave Kurthnaga a cold look. "You lecture me about what Ike would care for? You were not with him when he died. You did not know him." His voice was still, devoid of emotion.

"Soren!" Kurthnaga started. After a moment, "What changed you, Soren? You weren't like this before when you came to Goldoa." At Soren's lack of response Kurthnaga looked him in the eye, "Why? Soren, why do you kill all of these people? They didn't do anything to you."

Soren repeated his previous answer, "For Ike," and left the dragon to ponder the meaning of his words.

"So who is Ike?" The man asked later.

"The warrior I shall revive for you, that will allow you to complete your destiny."

"Doesn't sound like he'll help me, from what that guy said."

"He won't have a choice."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Alright."

Soren had won. He would be freed. Soren did not know what laguz blood flowed in his pawn's veins, so he did not even think about his deception when the man was nearby. He thought about what the man would want to know and hear.

He was in a room, working to arrange something, almost a year after entering Tellius. Ike had told him everything of Yune. There was no way the goddess of chaos was blind to what was happening. She would stop him. Yune needed to be taken care of. She had appeared to him once, after Ike had died, when he was in despair, when he had thought about the different methods he could use to bring Ike back. She had told him that not even she could. She had explained things to him. Things about her power. That knowledge was what he would use to keep Yune from interfering.

"Soren, what are you doing?" He recognized the intonation of that voice. It had barely changed in five hundred years. He didn't look up at her, but kept arranging everything. She had no need to ask; for there was no way she could not know.

"I already know. Do you expect it to work?"

He kept his full plan from thought and arranged a pillar. "Yes."

"Yune won't fall for it."

"She will."

Soren turned as he heard something move across the ground. He turned and saw she had pushed the pillar he had just moved out of alignment, by just a millimeter. He went back to it and moved it into place.

She scuffed a marking on the floor. He turned and glared at her.

"I can see how you plan to make it work, now. I won't let you."

Soren quirked an eyebrow. He blasted her with wind. She was slammed into a wall.

"That's alright. You can't stop me."

He raised his other hand. Magical bonds tied her onto the wall and kept her from hindering him any further. He could kill her later, if she hadn't become part of his plans.

"She can't power it. Your spell relies on mortal strength, she's-"

"Not mortal. I know. I have a different fate in mind for her."

"Care to fill me in?" He could tell that she was struggling against the bonds that he had created.

"Not particularly." He had redrawn the mark.

"How do you plan to make her appear here?"

Soren turned to her and lifted a hand. She floated close to him, to the center of the circle. He stepped back away, out of the circle he had created on the floor. He began chanting the spell. The markings on the floor glowed blue. She struggled harder, trying to escape. She could sense that if Yune didn't show, he would kill her.

"Stop."

Soren turned as he heard the goddess's voice. There was the young girl that had appeared to Ike after he had killed Ashera, and to him while he was in despair.

"Let her go."

Soren didn't look away from Yune. He didn't let her go. But the light faded from the marks and she was safe for the moment.

"I know what you're planning, Soren."

"Stop me." He dared her, tempted fate.

"I can't."

"You've sapped all of your strength through what you did in the war three hundred years ago and you haven't recovered yet." He surmised.

"Yes. You're right."

For a goddess she was pathetically weak. She was just a piece in his plan.

"Right. So, I'm not going to stop, I think." Soren turned away from Yune. Giving Ike the power to kill her other half had destroyed her own abilities. The problem was, she would tell everyone his true plan, and that would ruin him. She did not even have the strength to free him. She had to go, her mind reading ability was far greater then the woman he was using as bait. And too dangerous to let lie around like that.

"Leave her be."

Soren turned to Yune again. "Do you plan on trading places?"

"No!" The bound woman cried.

"I shall take Micaiah's place, if you agree to spare her."

"Of course," he smiled, unable to help himself. He waved a hand and the woman went back to the wall.

Yune floated to the center of his circle. He started the spell. The marks glowed blue. In a flash of light, she was gone. The only part that perturbed Soren was her smile. He wondered if she knew something that he didn't, but quickly put the thought out of mind.

An orb of blue flames floated in the air. What was left of her strength converted into raw energy. Soren pulled another pendant out of his robes and gently doused it in the flames. They were absorbed into the fist-sized pendant. He waited to see if it would wreak havoc upon him, but there was no after-effect. As he had thought, without her in it, this would not act like the Fire Emblem. He tucked that into his robes and looked at the woman on the wall, with a dismissive wave of his hand she fell to the floor. He vanished.

Months later Soren was confronted by his pawn about the seal.

"They have gained enough strength. I say we should kill them now and be done with it. They are such an obstacle now."

"I cannot be sure of it. Just a little longer."

"Any longer and they'll be a threat to me."

Soren inwardly sighed, he had to move forward with his plans, faster then he intended. The seal was not yet saturated, but he had to go onto the final phase of his work.

"I can guarantee that they will not be."

"How so?"

Soren reached into his robes and teetered on which he should pull out. Which one would be stronger? He pulled out the one with Yune's strength.

"I killed a goddess and put her power into this."

"Why didn't you add her power to the other one? It would be full now if you had."

"It is filled with mortal energy. Adding hers to the mix would have caused a catastrophe. However, I witnessed her adding her strength to a mortal. When you go to kill them, I shall give you her strength so that you will overwhelm them."

He laughed. "I like the way you think, Soren. Very well. I can wait."

Within that week two people visited him while he was alone. He spared neither of them a second glance. One was the heron that had been prime minister and the other was a woman with orange hair and a blue dress.

"Soren," the woman said. Her voice was comfortingly maternal. He had to consciously avoid the effect it had on him. He looked at her and she continued. "Thank you for what you did. If you had never dispelled Yune, I could not return."

He turned away, "If that's what you came here for, you can leave. I didn't do it to return you. I did it because it's a part of my plan."

"You do not truly intend to revive Ike, do you?"

"That is impossible. What I aim to do is possible." He had no ambitions that were unattainable. He just wanted to fulfill Ike's last wish, do something with his life. Do something Ike would do. He wanted to be free of the pact he was in. Both meant killing the man that had battled him, taken his blood, and used that to sign the contract, binding Soren to him. "And unless you can achieve my goals for me, I have nothing else to say to you."

"Just awakened, and having no strength from either part of me, I cannot free you. I cannot kill him."

The dark winged heron reached a hand out to him. "I'm sorry that you suffer like this, child."

Soren stared at him for a moment. His voice was cold enough to turn the air to liquid. "You know not how I feel. You sought the destruction of the world out of despair. I seek to obey Ike's last requests of me. Don't try to tell me how you sympathize with me, for you cannot."

Soren turned his back to them and went about his work. They disappeared.

Within the month it was time. Soren had won. Now was the time to claim his victory. All he needed to was convince the man to wait in this room as he went below. The seal was stronger, but not strong enough. He would instead use his other fetish.

"Come on, they're a thorn in my side this entire time, and you won't let me kill them?"

"They are not strong enough yet. Let me fight them, I will make them strong enough through battle."

"And you'll give me the goddess's power, so that I will be victorious. Right?"

"Of course."

He didn't think about his deception.

"And then you'll summon that dead warrior Ike, who will help me take over this land, using the strength you get from their deaths?"

"Of course."

"But if I have the goddess's strength, why have we need of him?"

"It will be a temporary boon of only a few minutes. This summoning will last years."

"You're sure?"

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt."

"Alright, I trust you, Soren. Go on, then."

"First. May I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"What laguz blood flows through you?"

"Wolf. My mother left me with my father when she came here. What of you?"

"None have ever told me."

"You haven't figured it out?"

"Most probably dragon."

He laughed. "Then I'm lucky to have you on my side."