I've realized something.
I kinda fucked with the supports in Ch. 5
I posted the supports with the characters without thinking much about it, going "Lol whatever" and just deciding a support rank.
I will take down almost every support rank aside from Miriel's (dropping it to B) Kellam's (C) Robin's (C) and Sully's (C) since they're the only ones who Nick had actual meaningful conversations.
Read and review, cause that's my writing fuel.
Chapter 6: Princesses are a handful, this is a handful of princesses
I was pulled to my feet by Roy, who, I noticed, was a tiny bit taller than me. Suddenly a wave of light shone over me and I felt much better.
"Ah, yes, of course. I forgot to mention that summoning an Einherjar can be quite the experience. But don't worry, boy: it only gets easier from here." Old Hubba said after healing me.
"Mhm. Thanks. Are you going to fight with us or you prefer staying back?" I asked, because he hadn't mentioned about his old bones and stuff.
"I'll leave most of the fighting to you youngsters. This old man is no longer used to running around the battlefield. But I'll help from afar with this." And he lifted what I assume was a Physics staff. Huh. Neat.
Hearing a battle cry and suddenly becoming aware of my surroundings once again, I lifted my shield, which was a good thing, because a Rapier decided to slam into it, making a horrible scratching sound of metal against metal. Eirika was quick to go on the offensive again, managing to nip me twice in the arm before Roy could step in and forced her to dodge.
After that we found ourselves on the offensive side not giving the princess any room to breathe before I managed to get a hit in on her, stabbing her in the side with my lance, which produced a pained cry of her. And while I was suddenly a whole less comfortable with the prospect of fighting, this seemed to only boast Roy further, who with a mighty thrust and a cry of "There's my opening!" ended the princess' life, thankfully, still not in guts because they were Einherjar.
They kind of just zoom out of existence.
I stared at the spot where the princess stood before, unsure of what to do before Roy clapped my shoulder and said "I know it feels wrong. I felt the same in the beginning. However, you must always think the worst of your enemy. They will use your indecisiveness against you, and won't hesitate to strike you down. That's what my teacher Cecilia used to say at least. And we Einherjar don't really die, we just… go back to sleep. She'll be fine when she's called once again."
I turned in shock towards Roy. So he knows…?
"Yeah, I know about us being Einherjar. You made quite sure that the few that were with you knew the reality of the situation." We turned back to the battle to see that Ike had made short work of Deirdre and Old Hubba had torn Elincia to shreds with his Arcwind tome.
A fireball was then hurled towards us and I stepped in front of Roy to block it, abusing my god tier resistance and feeling very little aside from my hair being singed a bit.
"What strange power… Where did you say you hailed from?" Micaiah asked, confused. Roy took the chance to go to the offensive, but Micaiah stepped aside from his thrust and hurled another fireball that hit him point blank. "Gah!" He gasped. I rushed towards her, stabbing her in the side and taking another fireball to the chest that… sorta hurt. It was like getting a fist in the stomach by a toddler to be honest. Another thrust and she was down as well.
"Roy are you alright?" I asked, concerned for my new pal. I know that I could just summon him again if he fell in battle, but I still didn't want him dying. He drank some of the Vulnerary and replied "Yeah, don't worry about me."
Alright, if he says so. Me, Roy and Alm (who in the meantime had catched up) moved on towards the southernmost part of the island we were in, finding a fort as the only way to pass through. The gate was open and there was nobody guarding it.
Fishy.
I told Roy and Alm to wait since it was obviously a trap and they nodded back, and we stood there, waiting for whoever was in to make a move but… nothing. In the time we waited Ike and even Old Hubba had caught up to us, so we all went in there with our guards raised, but despite everything it really seemed like the place was empty, so we simply moved on. After passing through the fort there were in sight two things:
The village that was supposed to give you a rescue staff, although we were unable to see much because of the walls that divided it from the rest of the world, and the fortress where Celica stood at the door looking bored while filing her nails. I turned towards Old Hubba, who simply shrugged in response and said "What? Do you really expect everything to go according to the script when you came alone in here?"
He DID have a point. We decided that rushing Celica was an obviously bad idea because there was probably an ambush set up and instead decided to go to the village (which, now that I could take a look at it's inside, was an exact copy paste of the other.) There wasn't a single soul in the village aside from a girl sweeping the ground. Like, she was sweeping the dirt on the ground (there wasn't a round) with a broom. I noticed that there was a staff on her back. Is this Nanna then? I haven't played whatever game she comes from.
Ike eventually just walked up to her and asked "What are you doing?" and she cheerfully replied "Distracting you, of course!" tossing the broom at him, although he just grabbed it in one hand.
I felt the rush of air of an arrow passing behind me and looked to my left where Lyn was standing with a bow in hand. I nodded to Roy and we used the same strategy that we had used against Eirika, fiercely stabbing with our swords in an attempt to take her down, but she seemed to adjust well. She was holding the both of us off, firing an arrow that grazed Roy's sword hand and when I overshot my lunge she slashed me across the chest with her Mani Katti. "Shit!"
I fell to the ground, holding the gash she had made and looking surprised at how she cut through my armor like butter. She looked smug as she pointed her blade at me and said "The spirits inside this blade chose me. It will cut mercilessly through anything. Now surrender, and I will spare your life. Even though you're a bandit you must have some sense left into you." I tried taking the last swig out of my elixir but she promptly destroyed the bottle I was holding. Rude, that must have cost Virion a lot. Then I suddenly saw blue lurking a little ways behind Lyn and chuckled.
I dropped my lance and said "Alright, alright. I admit defeat. May I ask something though Milady?" It was all about distracting her at this moment. Sacae's people have good ears, but if I'm talking to her…
She hmmphed but said "Speak, bandit. Do not try to deceive me with your words though. I am not as foolish as that blue haired princess." I raised my hands in mock surrender and simply asked "The question is just one, really. What led you to believe that we were only two?" She turned around and gasped, only to be impaled by Marth's blade "N-no! H-how-" and then she blurred out of existence as well.
"My apologies, friends. I wanted to rush towards this village so I could warn them of the fighting, but it seems that while I was speaking to the villagers our enemies had already set up their ambush, so I preferred to stay hidden." He said. "It's no problem, thanks for coming in when you did." Roy replied "It kind of is, I'm dying here" I mumbled under my breath, but apparently it was still loud enough for him to hear me. He gasped and said "R-Right! Marth, fast, go call Old Hubba, we can't have him die!"
Marth nodded and rushed off towards the old man while Roy stood guard to me. I now had time to notice that Ike had apparently fallen to Julia (after cutting Nanna down) while trying to protect the old man, and they were currently locked in a magic fight, although the sage was clearly winning and Julia was barely holding up.
And then I saw it. Caeda wielding an armorslayer (FEH, izzat you?) and diving towards up at high speed. More specifically, towards me. "Roy! Look up!" but he wasn't fast enough to help. I clumsily held my lance up with both hands as a sort of shield to block the sword from cutting me in two.
The world stops for a moment. Caeda is frozen, Roy is frozen, everyone is frozen except for me. A voice rings out in my head and says:
"Congratulations! You've just won the "Jef and Paul award for excellence in shopping centers."
Wha-
"Actually, the iron lance snaps in two."
The world resumes moving and I'm presented with my lance that's effectively snapped in two, Caeda going back on the offensive and Roy standing in front of me as a sort of human shield.
I 'm mad for the interruption but at least it's not officially that guy. You know the one, you go into the bar and he's like "This suit is uh, officially a Giorgio Armani ech, my dad knows him."
(A/N did I just make a hole in the spacetime of my fic just to make a JonTron reference? Yes I did. I'm not ashamed.)
Then the battle between Roy and Caeda began. She was fast, and now that she switched over the to the wing spear had the weapon superiority, but not fast enough to hit him, but she had the air superiority, at least until Marth arrives. Then they run towards their spouse, stab each other in the heart and disappeared together.
In some sick, distorted way it was romantic I suppose.
Then Lilina came out from across a corner and upon seeing Roy shouted "ROY! HOW COULD YOU JOIN THESE BANDITS' ASSAULT?!" She was crying. I don't think she saw me and Old Hubba. Good for us since he had just began healing me and it takes time. She was far too focused on her… uhm… is he her boyfriend, groom or something else? I don't know.
"Lilina, I-" But she cut him off raising her tome.
"NO! NO MORE LIES, NO MORE TRICKERY!" She glowed in golden light before shouting: "ELFIRE!"
He didn't even try to resist. He simply stood there, taking it, even when it must have hurt so much.
She burned him alive.
Old hubba was slow at healing, so I wasn't exactly at my best, but I got up all the same feeling nothing but anger. She killed my friend while he stood there taking it.
Gripping my Killer Lance I dashed towards her as she cried about the deed she committed. Bitch.
"You'll pay for that!" I shouted as my lance passed through her skull. I know that it may be overreacting and Roy will be fine later on, but the fact that she was a person he trusted and he wouldn't fight back even while burning alive was just… too much. I guess he couldn't stick by his own suggestion to think the worst of your enemy. Heh.
I turned to Old Hubba and said "Let's just get this over with." He nodded sagely. Then he seemed to remember something and said "Oh! Right. The loot from this village, of course." And he handed me a Rescue staff. I simply put it on strap on my back where usually my iron lance would be. And we headed towards the castle. I felt emotionally drained, but we still had Celica to deal with, so I grit my teeth and moved on.
When we arrived, Celica and Alm were already fighting, him unable to get closer because of Celica's tome. She suddenly shouted "Seraphim!" taking out another tome and a ball of light crashed into Alm, ending his life as well. I dashed forward, with a barrier cast on me by the old man as all the Arcwind shots and Seraphim were knocking harmlessly into me, not even managing to slow me down. I pointed my lance at Celica's neck and said "Yield."
She looked dumbfounded that I could resist her magic so easily, but got over it quickly and with sadness in her eyes said "I… yield." And she spread out her arms while closing her eyes.
A quick thrust in her chest ended her life just like the rest of them.
*CHAPTER COMPLETE!*
Turns: 13
MVPs: Nick
Why does the universe feel the need to mock me by reminding me that I'm the only one standing? This is why we should leave strategy to Robin. He clearly knows what he's doing, instead of me.
I was engulfed by a blue light as Old Hubba waved at me, and suddenly I was no longer there.
I was taken to a blue void, with nothing around except from Marth who was standing directly in front of me.
"Well met, milord. I decided to accompany you in your travels, if that is okay? The first time we were good comrades, although luck was not on our side."
Roy also talked about the other timeline. How do they remember it?
"I'm sure you feel drained from the vicious battle we fought in, but rest assured that Roy is fine, although saddened by Lilina's unwilling betrayal. In fact, they're discussing about it right now." I smiled at that. I know that those two are very close, and the betrayal from a person close to you hurts just so much. I should know.
I focused back on Marth, who seemed to be still talking "-and I suggest giving him some time to rest, since dying is a very draining experience. I would appreciate some as well."
"When our quest is finally over, I would love to show you Altea. I'm sure my comrades would appreciate it as well. And…" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, suddenly losing that feeling of nobility that he gave. "Caeda would like to make amends for your lance. It was never her intention to break it in the first place. So…" He took a lance from… somewhere. Why does everybody have Hammerspace besides me?! I gotta talk to Miriel about that.
"Here you go." And he gave said lance to me. And then I gasped. This was the Wing Spear, the best weapon in Fire emblem shadow dragon. "I'm sure that for now, you'll make better use of it than she could." And suddenly, the wound in his heart flashed in my eyes, if only for a brief moment.
"I look forward to being alongside you in battle." He said, and faded away leaving me in the blue void.
"Yeah… Me too."
A/N A slightly more serious chapter. I don't have much to say aside from begging you to post reviews to tell me what do you think of the story and posting the final stats of Nick's party, this time with Marth added to it. I'm using for him the Lodestar class from Fates because anything else wouldn't do him justice. I also forgot to add Roy's class last chapter, but he's obviously a mercenary.
Nick
Lv 9 Exp 51
Class: Soldier
Hp: 17/25 65%
Str: 12 50%
Mag:9 55%
Skl: 12 60%
Spd: 14 60%
Lck: 6 45%
Def: 8 30%
Res: 16 65%
Skills:
-Riposte
Items:
-Killer Lance Mt 10 28/30 Hit 85% Crit 30%
-Wing Spear Mt 8 28/28 Hit 90% Crit 10% Effective against mounted and armored units.
-Rescue
-Illusion Charm
Supports:
Miriel: B
Kellam: C
Roy: C
Roy
Lv 11 Exp 14
Class: Mercenary
Hp: 0/29 85%
Str: 13 55%
Mag:1 35%
Skl: 14 70%
Spd: 14 55%
Lck: 7 55%
Def: 8(+2) 40%
Res: 9 25%
Skills:
-Dual Strike+
-Aegis
-Patience
Inventory:
Roy's Blade: Mt 10 34/40 Hit 90% Bonus +2 to Defense
Vulnerary 3/3
Supports:
Nick: C
Lilina: S
Marth
Lv 15
Hp: 31 75%
Str: 14 55%
Mag: 2 30%
Skl: 22 60%
Spd: 21 60%
Lck: 20 70%
Def: 14 35%
Res: 10 20%
Skills:
-Gentle Blade
-Charm
Inventory:
-Phantom Falchion: Mt 8 Hit 85% Effective againt dragons. Holds only a fraction of its original power.
I'm mad cause I had to change Marth's growth rates and stats around a bit because his growth rates from Awakening were God-tier with aptitude and trash-tier without it. His fates growth rates also were not okay because they barely reached 390 WITH his insane Luck stat at 85%. And I refuse to give aptitude to anyone who isn't a farm boy named Donnel. Also I wanted to make him stronger than he was in awakening but his Fates base stats were too strong. I had to nerf him, goddamnit, NERF him to the ground to make him plausible and not make him able to simply stomp the entire bandit camp by himself. I had to reduce his base speed by fucking 4. Also I couldn't find anything funny enough to write an Omake about aside from the Jontron Reference that took only a few lines and wasn't worth writing separatedly.
Anyways now that my Ranth (heh) is over, I'll see you later, Ninni51 out! *drops mic*