So after that, we find out that there are a bunch of people from FE7 who are making appearances in this book of the epic. Actually, make that everybody in the FE series in general and some people from this very epic itself. So keep an eye out for those appearances, and let's get on with the story!

And also, the music of Edgar Varese is f'ing intense. Do yourselves a favor and go check it out!


The two groups head for their stronghold at the same time, carrying their passengers from the realm of the living along. As they go, their guests tell the stories of their travels from Greljedo through Magvel to the underworld. Their journeys are heard very well by their respective parties, and they are listened to with the utmost importance.

As they hear the stories of Ike, Fiordiligi, and Maria, nobody sees the great reunion between a man and his father that is soon to come...

Chapter 4: Souls Come Together

"And that is essentially the story of how we're down here," said Fiordiligi, sitting on a log around the campfire as she and Ike finished wrapping up the tale of their journeys across Greljedo and Magvel.

The other three sitting across from the fire nodded, Andrew nodding solemnly while Gregor and Agniezska nodded a little more assertively. The mist still hung over the landscape like a veil, but this time it was also just a little darker from the effects the moon had on this world.

"I see," said Agniezska. "Not quite the story of my assassination went wrong, but still quite strange, if you know what I mean."

"Assassination?" asked Fiordiligi. "Was this with you being in the Black Fang?"

"Yes," replied the woman with a nod. "I was assigned to kill a strange nobleman known for sneaking around at night and..."

"And...?" prompted Ike, causing Agniezska considerable duress as she looked around.

"It's pretty complicated," said Andrew with a shrug, the exposed muscle tissue flexing and still giving Fiordiligi a few chills down her spine as she saw the sight. "Let's just say it was about some stuff we really can't talk about."

"Okay," said Fiordiligi with a nod. "So what happened then?"

"Well, I got caught, of course," said Agnieszka. "And when I got caught, they slit my throat. But that knife must have been imbued with something, because I saw this crazy panorama of this world..."

"How did that happen?" asked Ike.

"Don't ask me," said the woman, her accent a little stronger now as she spoke. "I have no idea what that was. Even Hades himself cannot tell me about it."

"Okay," said Ike. "So then, Andrew is from Magvel and Gregor is from Greljedo, right?"

"You have that right," said Gregor. "I still wish my father had not locked me in the room with that man to poison me. And to think it was before the war that you two got caught up in..."

"I can't believe your father handed you in to those cultists!" said Fiordiligi, a brief temper flaring in her person. "Who did he think he was, sacrificing his own son like that?"

"I'm telling you, he was a very selfish bastard," said Gregor. "But, I heard that he's currently frozen in Cocytus right now, so he got what he had coming for him."

"Cocytus?" asked Ike. "What's that?"

"It's this frozen lake at the bottom of this underworld," replied Andrew. "All the people that betrayed others are sent there and they're frozen in."

"I see..." said Fiordiligi. "I am guessing that every level below here has a punishment of some sort?"

"Precisely," said Agnieszka.

"Yeah," said Andrew. "I hope those people that burned me at the stake are in that river of boiling blood right now..."

The mention of boiling blood made Fiordiligi wince slightly, but the curiosity still remained in there.

"Why did they burn you at the stake, anyway?" asked Ike, giving the burned man a glance of curiosity.

Andrew opened his mouth before he let out a sigh, turning away from the group to gaze off into the distance.

"Andrew?" asked Fiordiligi, concern riddling her voice.

"He gets uncomfortable talking about it," said Gregor with a shrug. "Maybe one day he'll tell you."

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel more comfortable," said Fiordiligi. "But I'll let you move at your own pace then."

Gregor suddenly stood up very abruptly, all eyes turning to him as he looked in a particular direction.

"What is it?" asked Agniezska.

"I can hear some people," said Gregor as he leaned closer to a certain direction. "It sounds like Lloyd, Linus, Lyanna, and... some girl named Maria?"

"Maria?" cried Ike, jumping up quickly. "Where?"

"It was over that way," said the hawk laguz, pointing in a certain direction. "Of course, I would not worry about it now, since--"

But before the dead hawk laguz could finish his sentence, the mercenary captain was already darting in that direction, leaving the three deceased individuals to wonder what Ike was raving about as Fiordiligi attempted to hoist the forgotten Ragnell so that she could take it to Ike later.

"What's his problem?" asked Andrew.

"If that's who I think it is, we should probably begin to move," said Fiordiligi. "Let's go."

And the woman was off, dragging Ragnell behind her as quickly as she could as the curious group went off in the direction that Gregor had pointed at.


Lloyd, Linus, Lyanna, and Maria were all walking through the forest rather slowly. The four of them had been walking for a short while, Maria telling the tale of her journeys across Greljedo and Magvel with her companions as they walked along. The other three listened intently to her story, and they were quite interested with what they heard as they walked along.

"And then we set sail on that ark that Baba Yaga built us, and then this hand came out and swatted me into the ocean. And, that's pretty much how I wound up here, I guess..."

"So that's your story, huh?" asked Linus.

"For the most part," said Maria. "So, you guys were with this 'Black Fang' group or whatever it was?"

"Yes," said Lloyd with a shrug. "We ended up being used, though. And the worst part is, Linus and I did not even know it until we were down here."

"Really?" asked Maria, her brows furrowing in curiosity as they walked on. "How do you know all this?"

"Hades, of course," said Lyanna. "We learn everything from him eventually."

"And why's he so important?" asked Maria, even more curious now.

"He's the king of the underworld, that's why," said Lyanna with a wink. "We all see him eventually when we're supposed to be dead."

"I see," said the cat laguz. "I wonder what else there is here..."

"Other than the ground beneath us where people get punished for their sins, no," replied Linus with a shrug.

There was a relative silence before a distant yelling was heard in the distance, the sound rapidly approaching them. The four of them stopped briefly to look ahead of them, Lyanna's hot pink eyes gazing into the distance more intently than the rest of them.

"Someone's coming," she said, grabbing the bow that was strapped to her back. "And he's pretty excited."

"Wait," said Maria, her hand resting on Lyanna's arm as the voice got closer and closer to the group.

"Maria!" the voice in the distance cried excitedly, a form beginning to appear that Maria recognized.

"Oh my..." said the depowered cat laguz, her eyes bulging wide as she broke into a run towards the voice. "Ike!"

"Oh, wait, Maria!" cried Lyanna.

But by then it had been to late, a young swordsman who apparently was still alive broke through the mist, and Maria jumped onto the man as he swung her around to a halt. Before anything else could be said by Maria's companions, they saw the cat laguz and the stranger crush their lips together, and the three of them decided it was as good a moment as any to stay out of their new friend's business.

When the two of them finally broke their kiss, the man pulled Maria into one of the tightest hugs she had ever felt in her life.

"Maria..." said the mercenary with a tinge of sadness in his voice. "I was so worried."

"Aw, come on Ike!" said Maria with a smile. "You know me. I'll be fine!"

"Yes, but with the baby and everything, I--!" said Ike before he felt Maria's hand promptly press itself against his lips.

"Don't worry about it," said Maria, deepening the hug a little.

The other three people sent more confused glances at each other, Lloyd finally bringing a fist to cough slightly, not enough to cause his throat pain but enough to gain Ike and Maria's attentions.

"I hate to break your little reverie, but who is this man?" asked Lloyd from behind Maria.

Ike looked up at Maria's companions before releasing her, confusion etching his face as his hard sapphire eyes laid down on them.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said the cat laguz, turning around quickly to address her group. "Guys, this is Ike."

"I'm assuming he's the father?" asked Lyanna.

"H-hey!" said Ike, just a little embarrased at this statement. "No need to be so blunt!"

"Hm, I don't know about that, considering that you're the master of being perfectly blunt yourself..." said Maria teasingly, poking her lover in the abs as she giggled lightly.

"Hey!" cried a slightly outraged Ike.

"I was kidding!" said Maria with a sigh. "Anyways, these three are Lloyd, Linus, and Lyanna."

"Nice to meet you," said Lloyd, extending a hand which the mercenary took and shook quite slowly. He proceeded to shake the hands of the remaining two people in such a manner, but just as he had let go of Lyanna's hands more panting was heard behind them, and the three of them turned around just in time to find a hawk laguz standing in front of them, Maria gasping slightly at the sight of him.

"Oh, Gregor!" said Lyanna. "You had us scared for a moment there!"

"Wait," said Linus, his expression turning into a frown as Maria looked around confusingly. "You're supposed to be back at headquarters! What're you doing here?"

"Look, if you must know, some guy named Andrew took him and Agniezska over to try to capture me and my other friend since he thought we were from hell!" said Ike, his voice giving away a slight edge of annoyance.

"Wait, you met Gregor?" asked Lloyd as the man with the third degree burn came running into the scene.

"Yeah," said Ike. "And Andrew, and some other girl named Agniezska. Why, you--?"

"Ah," said Linus as he walked past Ike and Maria to walk over to the man with the burn. When Linus was there, he gripped the burned man pretty hard, the muscles on the smaller man's face grimacing without really succeeding at making a facial expression. "It's always this when you're involved, huh Andrew?"

"L-l-look, I c-can explain!" stammered Andrew, hissing at the pain that was being caused him by Linus.

"Wait!" cried Maria. "What in the world is going on here? Who are those two?"

"The hawk is Gregor," replied Lyanna into Maria's ear. "And the other is the resident troublemaker, Andrew. If my instinct is correct, then Agniezska will be showing up in a few minutes..."

And indeed, a young woman with brown hair walked into the scene. However, Maria thought she recognized the other person who was lugging something heavy around. When the two women walked into the area, they dropped their cargo, the two of them panting and glaring at Ike.

"Next time..." huffed Agniezska as Maria instantly recognized the other woman. "Don't forget... your sword..."

"Fiordiligi!" cried Maria excitedly as she jumped onto the blonde woman with such a force that the two of them were against a tree.

"Maria..." said the lady softly, barely daring to move. "You're okay as well!"

"Have you two seen Willie or Kuranga anywhere?" asked the cat laguz instantly.

Fiordiligi's emerald eyes diverted to the ground for a brief moment before they returned to Maria.

"I guess you didn't find them either, then," said Fiordiligi as she finally found the energy to stand back p.

"Oh," said Maria with a nod.

"So, Agniezska," said Lloyd as Maria Fiordiligi walked away from the tree. "Were you three planning on returning to headquarters?"

"Yes," said the woman as she had managed to catch her breath and nodded.

"Well, we all know what this means, right Andrew?" asked Lyanna, walking towards the burnt man and pinching the exposed muscle tissue in such a way that it caused Andrew to retreat his arm back before Lyanna pulled it back, her hand tightly gripping . "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not!"

"B-but Lyanna!" cried Andrew as the pain flew up in his arm. "I thought they were from hell!"

"And this is why you shouldn't fall asleep during Hades' lectures!" said Linus angrily. "We've told you time and time again to stay awake during them. And now, we've had enough of telling you the same damn thing over and over again!"

"And don't give us any of your excuses!" cried Lyanna accusatorily as Andrew opened his mouth to talk back. "We're not hearing them. You can take them to Master Jaffar later!"

And with this, Linus and Lyanna walked in the direction Ike and company had come from, dragging Andrew behind them as he howled in pain. Maria looked at the people that had stayed behind with a confused look on her face before shrugging.

"Is there something wrong with that guy?" asked the cat laguz innocently.

"For the most part, yes," said Lloyd. "Mainly that he is a troublemaker, and that he constantly falls asleep during lectures."

"He never had the heart for it, I guess..." added Agniezska.

"Anyway, we better get moving as well!" said Fiordiligi, pulling at Ike's cape and gesturing towards Ragnell. "And Ike, this time you better not forget about Ragnell, or so help me the goddess Sharotal I am going to give you the hardest slap you've ever recieved in your life!"

"Hey, give him a break!" said Gregor with a wave of his hand as Ike did what he was told. "He was caught up in the heat of the moment."

"That still doesn't forgive the fact that his sword is so damn heavy," said Fiordiligi with a look of death at the hawk laguz as the group began moving. "You try lifting that thing one day, and you'll have just as much luck as I do!"

"Oh, boy..." said Maria as a drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face. "We've all got somebody to be mad at, don't we?"

"I kind of agree with Gregor, though," said Ike. "I was so worried about you, Maria..."

"Hey, let's save the sappy stuff for later, okay?" asked Gregor, causing Lloyd to give him a curious look. After being looked at for a couple of seconds in this regard, the hawk turned around and gave Lloyd a confused glance back. "What?"

"You obviously missed the 'sappy stuff'," replied the unnaturally thin man with a wink of his glossed-over eye.

The rest of the trip was made in silence as they slowly caught up to Linus, Lyanna, and an Andrew who was now whimpering in pain at all of the dirt clinging to his exposed death scar.


Finally, the group walked over to a large wooden fencepost. The wood was simple, and the intent seemed to be simple as well as there was a large opening in there large enough for Baba Yaga's ark to sail through. Linus and Lyanna dragged a now sobbing Andrew through the opening, the three people that were still alive looking around as they walked into the area guarded by the fence.

As they walked up to a small wooden building within this complex, Ike was suddenly reminded of his home back in Tellius. The composition of the building was almost exactly the same as it was back at the headquarters in Crimea, and the border surrounding the headquarters from the rest of the underworld unbelievably similar in construction. Ike could almost see Rolf playing off in a corner with Shinon watching and seeming like he wanted to do something else as Boyd hacked relentlessly at a practice dummy not too far away.

Thinking of the headquarters had Ike thinking about whether Mist and Mia were all right. He had seen them off on a small boat back to Tellius just before Eirika and Seth were wed, and he had told them to avoid going straight. He had begun to wonder if they had returned to Tellius yet. As he thought of this, he felt he could ask this 'Hades' person about that before they did anything else.

However, his short little reverie was cut short as Linus rang a bell that was close to the door of the building. Outside of the building burst two figures, one of them wearing a black uniform that was covered in dirt, and the other was one person that Ike realized he was all too familiar with. The man in the black uniform turned to Linus and nodded, but then the other person's gaze was fixed on Ike when he turned to look at the mercenary.

"Ah," said the man in the black uniform as he walked over to Andrew. "I guess you found him, then?"

"Yep," said Linus with a shrug. "He's been behaving pretty badly. You know what to do, Jaffar."

"B-b-but I--!" cried Andrew, the sting of the strange man grabbing his arm roughly getting to his ego.

"Ike?" asked the other, more quiet person that had come out with the man in the black uniform. The question was asked almost with an air of disbelief, and all of the dead people in the group assumed a facial expression of either curiosity or surprise at this question.

"Soren?" asked Ike, looking at the mage's drenched robes once more as the realization hit him harder with each passing second. "Is that you?"

"Ike!" cried the mage, running down to the mercenary and almost tripping on his robes as he nearly tackled the larger mercenary to the ground, his arms hanging around the mercenary tightly.

There was a tender and yet very shocked silence as Ike wrapped his own arms around the mage slowly, all of the dead people either showing their shock with hanging jaws or widened eyes. Even Andrew was silent, which was something considering that the man in the dirt-covered clothing was still holding the burnt man's arm with as harsh a deathgrip as any.

"What the hell?" asked Linus.

"What?" asked Ike with a shrug.

"W-what the hell are you asking us for?" asked Gregor, equally shocked that Ike was treating things as if nothing strange had happened. "We've never seen this guy crack an emotion at all, and yet here you are, making him fall all over your feet to kiss them! Even worse, he probably barely knows who you are!"

"Correction, Gregor," stated Soren matter-of-factly. "This man was my friend from childhood."

"Wait, this is the Ike?" asked Andrew, somehow able to speak without stuttering.

"Yes, I'm the Ike," replied the slightly peeved mercenary.

"Oh, so you must be Soren!" said a rather buoyant Maria.

"Yes, we've heard quite a few tales about you..." said Fiordiligi with a smile.

"Wait, who are you two girls?" asked the normally stoic tactician as he gave the two girls a curious yet very serious look.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Ike. "Soren, this is Maria and Fiordiligi. I've been meeting them on my travels..."

"I see," said Soren, giving them both a stern looking over. "Fiordiligi seems like she can hold her weight, but Maria looks a little too fat for comfort."

"Fat?" cried a suddenly outraged Maria. "Fat? I'm carrying Ike's baby in this extra space and you're calling me fat?"

Maria's loud exclamation caused Soren to give Ike a very, very disturbed look, Ike stepping back slightly and preparing from the storm that he half expected from Soren.

"You got her pregnant?" asked the mage angrily. "Do you know what you've done to her? You know better than that, Ike! Your father would be--!"

"Oh, shut up!" cried Fiordiligi indignantly, smacking the side of Soren's head. "She isn't even from Tellius; we of Greljedo view the branded better, and besides, they already talk like a married couple sometimes!"

"W-what?" asked a flustered Maria. "But we haven't even started arguing yet!"

"Not imporant," said Soren with a slight frown. "The fact is that you two are engaged in is strange behavior for a man and a woman to be partaking in. I mean, you two are apparently not even married!"

"Do you think that matters?" asked Ike sternly. "You always knew how I always was!"

"Very true," said Soren with a nod. "But whether this is a beorc or a laguz, you still made a mistake."

"Oh, get off of his case already!" cried Agniezska as she brushed a strand of grass-colored hair away from her face. "It is the dawn of a new life!"

"And besides, this bickering is getting you nowhere," said Lloyd, turning to the man with the black uniform. "What in the world is--?"

And before Lloyd could go any farther, the doors of the building burst open, and out strolled a rather burly man with aged brown hair on his head and a scar that went across his eye. In his stridence, he exposed a rather large hole in his abdomen that made no attempts from hiding in the man's rather large armor.

"Enough of this yelling!" cried the man. "All of you will calm down and tell me what the matter is now!"

"Father...?" asked a wide-eyed Ike, walking forward so that he could look into the commander's eyes.

All of a sudden, the rather burly man who was apparently the commander of this group of people attained a much softer expression on his face as he looked at the blue swordsman in wonder.

"Ike...?" asked the captain dumbfoundedly. "Is that you?"

"Father!" cried Ike, the young man running for the large man and nearly tackling him to the ground as the son embraced his father, the two of them smiling the broadest smiles anyone had ever seen.

"C-commander Greil?" asked Andrew.

This comment was met with a smack to the back of Andrew's head from Lyanna.

"Shut up!" she whispered between barred teeth, Andrew working his jaw open and closed in pain.

However, neither the commander nor his son were to be disturbed, for it was at least a full minute before the father finally stood up, Ike still hanging on tightly.

"You've got no idea how much I've missed you..." said Ike softly.

"Man, do you know how I've felt in my time here?" asked Greil in reply. "I was worried sick that you were all right. But Soren's here now, and he told me about your exploits as leader of the mercenaries."

"Yeah," said Ike with a nod. "And now, Tellius is at peace again."

"Hence why you went around the world?" asked Greil, his face suddenly much more serious. "Why would you leave the land of your birth? Why? I don't understand the logic of you, the leader of a band of mercenaries, would leave on a quest to see the world!"

"Father..." said Ike, suddenly noticing something about the tone of voice Greil was using. "I..."

"So what if he did?" asked Maria, suddenly walking forward and presenting herself to her lover's father. "He just happened to see other lands just in time to help out with some of the worst fights I've ever seen! While you were down here doing... whatever you do down here, he was fighting a cult bent on resurrecting a dark god and fighting another person bent on ruling an entire continent! Sure, there's no logic in leaving, but it wound up being for the better for everybody else! So there!"

"My, you're a feisty one," said Greil. "Who are you?"

"I'm Maria," said the cat laguz with a nod. "And I've been with Ike ever since he washed up on Greljedo. And I'm also bearing his child."

"What?" roared the commander, glaring at Ike. "You got a woman pregnant? I taught you better than this!"

"Hey, it's not his fault that Maria's friend ran off over some stupid misunderstanding!" said Fiordiligi angrily as she came up as well. "And besides, I've never seen two people that were more in love than this!"

"That is besides the point!" cried Greil. "You're not even married yet!"

"Exactly!" said Ike. "That just proves their point; trust me, if I could, I'd marry her right here, right now! I'd do anything for Maria,and I've don't !"

Greil looked at his son with a great amount of surprise, Ike half expecting to be slapped across the face for saying what he did.

However, what the commander did next confused everyone; he chuckled and patted his son on the back.

"That's my boy!" said Greil, suddenly becoming merry again and confusing Maria and Fiordiligi as he walked towards the door of the headquarters. "Let's go inside! We've got a lot to talk about!"

Before anybody could protest, Greil put his arms across Ike and Maria's shoulders and walked them straight into the headquarters, leaving the rest of the group outside with confused expressions on their faces.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Gregor as he shook his head lightly.

"Honestly, I don't know," said Fiordiligi with a shrug. "At least this all ended well."

"Yeah..." said Andrew with a shrug before the man in the black robes tightened his grip on the young man.

"Don't think this means you've gotten out of your punishment!" he said gravely.

"B-but Jaffar!" cried Andrew in anguish. "I-!"

"No buts," said the man whose name was apparently Jaffar stoically. "This is serious, Andrew!"

"Okay, all that aside, we should probably go in," said Linus, looking to the rest of the group and nodding.

"Of course," said everybody else, and then they all walked through the doors into the headquarters, Jaffar dragging Andrew in by his arm as it was silent outside once again.