All right, it's time to finally get this story moving somewhere! Now let's sit back and watch the story unfurl.
So in case you haven't noticed already, this is a combination of elements from the Greek and Norse underworlds, and Dante's Inferno. Now, since each circle of hell needs explaining, I'll tackle that as we go along. Also, expect tons of cameos from Fire Emblem characters
Greil's mercenary group was summoned to Hades' imperial grounds in the center of the underworld. On the prompt of acting quickly, Greil and company move out quickly with Ike, Maria, and Fiordiligi all in tow.
Thousands of questions race through their minds; however, two prominent questions stood out in the group's mind. How could the prisoner of hell have escaped with such efficiency that the mercenaries of the underworld could do nothing about it? What did Ike and his two companions have to do with it?
They finally make it to the royal grounds of the underworld, awaiting their answer...
Chapter 6: Briefing
"The master is ready, sir."
"All right. Lead the way."
And Ike followed Greil closely as the group was led into a large chamber.
The chamber was actually so large that the darkness in the royal grounds of the underworld caused there to seem to be no walls or ceilings in the room. However, before them there was a faint glow of two balls of light hovering above makeshift thrones of branches and leaves. The balls of light, one of which was a bright gold and the other a more subdued grey, were the only things that significantly lit the room up; the black flames that rested on the columns on either side of the room seemed to make things just a little darker and more obscure for the group to see, but it especially bothered Fiordiligi as she rubbed her eyes upon entering the hall.
As they approached, the balls of light flashed brilliantly, and then the two balls of light took on human forms. The golden ball of light transformed into a lady of untold beauty whose body gave off a golden light as she stood in front of the group, golden hair falling along her shoulders onto the short golden dress that adorned her. Next to her, the grey ball of light shifted into the form of a rather well-built man in strange armor, his muscles contrasting against his grey skin and the beard on his face telling tales of hardship and woe.
These two figures approached the group slowly, and when they were close enough, Greil bowed his head respectfully towards the grey man, the spirit replying in kind.
"Good day, sir Hades," began Greil.
"Cut the introduction," said the male spirit. "We don't need it when we're so short on time."
"My, so blunt!" said Fiordiligi quite suddenly. "Why are there no formalities, for crying out loud!"
"This is the underworld," replied the female spirit. "There are no need for formalities here."
"I'm guessing you're one of the people that's alive, then," said the male spirit. "There were supposed to be three."
"They're with us as well," added Lloyd quickly.
"As I've noticed," said the male spirit with a nod. "I'm sorry. How rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Hades."
"And I am his wife, Persephone," added the female spirit with a nod.
"And you two rule the underworld," said Ike. "I get it. But I've still got something that's bothering me..."
"What is it?" asked Hades, quickly showing signs of being annoyed by Ike's sidetracking with a slight frown on his face.
"If this is the underworld, why isn't Yune or Sharotal or Latona or whatever other gods or goddesses there are out there here?" asked Ike.
"Oh, them?" asked Hades with a scoff. "They're not actually gods."
"What?" cried Maria, offended at how lightly Hades was taking this. "You mean we've been told lies all our lives?"
"To keep it simple, let us just say that those are not the true gods," intervened Persephone calmly, hoping to keep a conflict from coming into fruition judging from her slightly perturbed face. "The gods you worship are guardians of your continent; the true gods reside somewhere else. But this is not the time to be telling such tales, especially when time is short."
"Okay," said Linus with a shrug, noticing Persephone's plight. "Now that we've got that out of the way, what happened?"
"Well, the first thing that we noticed was these three over there," said Hades, pointing a finger at the three living people. "We were able to feel their presence before they came here."
"Which reminds me," added Fiordiligi quickly. "What the bloody hell was that that pulled us into this place?"
"That would be some arcane magics," said Hades. "Only a certain boatsman in hell can use it. I don't know why he did that, but if he did that must mean something big happened."
"Which is where that escapee comes in," elaborated Agniezska.
"Precisely," said Persephone with a nod. "I had heard from a trusted friend that a soul managed to escape the underworld to enter the land of the living."
"Oh, no..." said Andrew. "That can't be good..."
"Considering none of us can go back there to send him back to hell, I would say that as well..." said Hades.
"Fear not, my liege," said Agniezska. "Fiordiligi here has offered to learn the binding arts."
"What?" cried the king of the underworld, glaring at the blonde as she backed away instinctively at his yelling. "But what is this, a living woman learning arts of the dead!"
"I can assure you that your worries are baseless!" replied Fiordiligi with fervor as she gained her composure after Hades had yelled at her.
"But it will take you forever to learn!" bemoaned Hades, pacing around and gesturing widely. "At this rate, we'll never have this guy back in the underworld!"
"You underestimate my worth, good sir!" replied Fiordiligi assertively. "I've been in a battle where Sharotal entrusted her holy staff to me! If I can master that I can certainly master some binding arts!"
"Besides, she's making headway!" pointed out Agniezska.
"Oh, all right, fine," replied Hades with a wave of his hand. "Do what you want."
"Meanwhile, we are getting massively sidetracked," said Soren. "You told us a long time ago you knew how to get out of the underworld if you were a mortal..."
"There is?" asked Maria, eyes lighting up quickly. "How?"
"Through the bottom of hell is a hole," replied Hades with a nod. "If you go through that hole, you'll be taken to a random continent. It doesn't really matter where you wind up, just that you're back in the realm of the living."
"So we have to climb down and we'll be back home?" asked Ike.
"It's not as easy as it sounds," replied Hades. "Especially now with that runaway, everybody's probably going crazy down there."
"Should we accompany them, then?" asked Jaffar cooly.
"That would be a rather good idea," said Persephone.
"Yeah, besides, you'd need a guide through some parts of hell," said Hades with a shrug. "Sure."
"Is there anything else you'd like to address?" asked Hades.
"What was that you said about guardians?" asked Ike, hoping to bring the subject back up.
"You still want to know about that?" asked a slightly peeved Hades. "Time is short, you know. We don't have time for this!"
"Fine, fine, forget it," said an annoyed Ike.
"No, really, we want to hear it!" demanded Fiordiligi. "And you will tell us now, or so help me Sharotal I will--!"
"All right, fine!" burst Hades angrily. "I'll tell!"
"Hades, calm down!" pleaded Persephone quickly. "This is nothing to get worked over. Now take a deep breath."
The king of the underworld did as he was told to do.
"Now, will you kindly tell us what you meant?" asked Fiordiligi again.
"Of course," said Hades with a nervous nod. "In the beginning, there was nothing, but as time went by stuff was created."
"Sounds pretty standard to me," said Ike. "What then?"
"Well, the gods were created first," continued Hades. "And then, the earth and the sky and the stars were created as well."
"So that happened," said Fiordiligi. "So what happened after the world was created?"
"Well, we created humans first, you see," said Hades with a wink. "But these people kept on fighting with each other because some evil force was posessing them to do so and we were powerless to stop them. It was so bad that they destroyed themselves time and time again, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. From there, we knew our mistake; so after the human race eradicated itself, we created many more races of men to inhabit this earth, along with a set of five guardians to ward off the influence of this evil force."
"So it was Sharotal, Ashunera, Latona, and two other people we don't know about," said Maria. "Am I right?"
"Sharotal was not Greljedo's original guardian, though," said Hades. "The true guardian was Ilemyr."
"What?" cried Fiordiligi. "That demon that destroyed the continent was supposed to be its guardian?"
"Somewhere along the line, there was a great surge of evil from within," said Persephone with her head hanging down slightly. "And from this surge of evil came a many great phenomena; The Scouring, the split of the Zunanma into Beorc and Laguz, the sudden change of heart within Ilemyr, the start of the Thousand Years' War, and the wakening of the Demon King. All of this came to a head in the Great Flood, caused by Ashunera, the youngest and least experienced of the guardians."
"So then things mended themselves on their own," said Ike. "What could've caused all that?"
"We know not," replied the king of the underworld. "That knowledge is reserved for the gods on the mount. And since I'm down here..."
"Well that's pretty stupid," said Maria, frowning a little at this development. "I'd think you'd need to know that information!"
"They don't see it like that," said Hades with a slight frown on his features.
"Just because he took me to be his wife..." said Persephone with a slight shake of her head. "But if you aim for the Mount of the Gods on the continent of Delmerg, then you can find out this informtion yourself."
"Delmerg?" asked Fiordiligi. "We'll keep that in mind."
"In the meantime, anything else you might want to ask us?" asked Hades.
"Where's the entrance to this 'hell' place?" asked Maria.
"Oh, that?" asked Hades with a scoff. "Greil knows where it is. Are there any other real questions that we can take?"
"Not that I'm aware of, no..." replied Greil.
"Then you are all dismissed," said Hades with a nod. "Head to the edge of the underworld. I'll meet you there."
Greil nodded, and then he led the way, his underlings following him as Ike followed his father.
As they were exiting the palace and entering the underworld proper once again, Maria could have sworn she felt a familiar presence in the area.
"Maria? Ike? Fiordiligi?" asked a male voice from behind them.
The three people mentioned turned their heads quickly, Greil's troupe stopping as they beheld a young man that the three living people recognized all too much.
"My goodnes..." said Fiordiligi, staring in shock at the sight before her.
"Ephraim?" asked Maria.
The king of Renais indeed stood in front of them; however, there was no head on his neck. Instead, his head being cradled in one of his arms, and the smile on his lips seemed to be creepier the more he looked at them. Nervously, Andrew stepped forward to look at the man.
"P-prince Ephraim?" asked the young man nervously. "What're you doing here?"
"My wife beheaded me, that's what!" said the king angrily. "And now I have to hold my head for all eternity. Can you imagine something so unbelievably inconvenient?"
"I'll say..." said Ike as he looked down at the king, the rest of the mercenary troupe surrounding him. "You know your wife was posessed, right?"
"Yeah, but she's still in hell," said Ephraim with a shrug.
Fiordiligi gave Ephraim a curious look, her brows furrowing as she assumed this look.
"Why?" asked the lady quietly.
"Suicides apparently count as 'we're sending you to hell' material," said Ephraim. "What're you guys doing here?"
"We're still alive, but we got sucked here against our own will," said Maria. "And we've been separated from Willie and Kuranga!"
"Wait, Kuranga rejoined you guys?" asked Ephraim incredulously. "But I thought he tried to kill your--!"
"That doesn't concern us now," said Fiordiligi, laughing nervously as she brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "And you're still learning the ropes here?"
"I'll have to join a mercenary company soon," said the king. "Although, what with holding my head in my arms I'm not sure I'll be too useful."
"Oh, nonsense!" replied Fiordiligi with a wave of her hand. "I'm sure we could all use the skills that you obtained in your life."
"That's nice to know..." said Ephraim, gazing down at the floor as he pulled his head so that it was farther from falling out of his grasp than it was before.
"Well, it is true, so keep that in mind," said Ike. "Anyways, we've gotta get going here; we're still alive and we need to get out of here."
"That's fine, then," said Ephraim with a wink of his eyes. "Tell L'arachel I say hi."
"Sure thing," said Fiordiligi, the lady bowing respectfully as the two of them parted ways and the mercenary corps went on their way.
As soon as the group was far enough from the royal grounds of the underworld, Andrew sent a confused glance at Maria, eyes glossing over in the confusion.
"L'arachel?" asked Andrew. "As in, the princess of Rausten?"
"Yep," nodded Maria quickly.
"My liege married that woman?" asked Andrew. "I don't believe you!"
"As usual, we'll probably prove you wrong," said Gregor as they walked along.
"But it doesn't make sense!" cried Andrew desperately. "L'arachel was the most shielded princess in the world; hell, I didn't know she existed until I entered the knighthood!"
"Well, Andrew, let me put it this way," said Fiordiligi with a shake of her head. "Since you had died, L'arachel had turned into a prideful hussy who thought all of her actions were just and righteous."
"I'm confused..." said Andrew, holding his chin as he thought about it. "That's not what she was like at all."
"Well, then, she obviously must have changed then!" said Linus, pinching the muscle tissue of Andrew's shoulder and eliciting a hiss of pain from the deceased youth.
"Okay, okay, fine," said Andrew, trying his best to resist the tempation to rub the spot where he had been pinched and failing slightly as his hand came to rest on the spot that Linus had pinched.
And the group continued on in relative silence, Ike following Greil as they walked on in the mist.
Eventually, they saw a strange blueish glow emanate from somewhere within the mist, Greil smirking as they approached.
"Ah, here we are!" he said. "The gate to hell."
The group walked forwards to find a large blue portal that let off a slightly subdued glow in the mist. Ike looked around it to find a magic circle embedded in it.
"So the gate to hell is a magic circle?" asked Ike. "How could anybody escape this?"
"People have their ways, Ike," replied Jaffar just a little coldly.
"And since we're here, we can enter, right?" asked Lloyd.
"I think so," said Soren. "Hades did not say anything about seeing us off."
"And that's why you need to not assume things, Soren," came the voice of Hades from nowhere.
Without much more preparation, Hades and Persephone both appeared to the group as the hovering balls of light that they were initially seen as.
"W-wait!" said Agniezska. "What are you two doing here?"
"Following you, of course," said Persephone plainly. "If we want to know what is going on here, then we shall come too."
"But what about the grounds?" asked Lloyd quickly. "What're you going to do about them?"
"Don't worry about it," said Hades as the ball glowed a little harsher. "We left Mercury in charge."
"That troublemaker?" asked Greil with a frown on his face.
"We trust his judgement," replied Persephone. "Besides, he is not really a goofball the way you all think he is."
"Uh, who?" asked Ike with a confused look.
"You'll meet him some day," replied Hades. "Now, we have things we need to invesigate. Let us get going, shall we?"
"Of course!" said Greil. "Is everybody ready?"
"Yes, sir!" said Andrew with a nod, everybody else following suit.
"Then let's go." said Hades as he hovered to the center of the gate.
Quite slowly, the group entered the blue circle, and then Ike felt a rush of wind surround him and take him through a strange place full of colors. He looked around, hoping to see signs of the people he knew and was quite relieved to find everybody else looking around in much the same manner he was. They were stuck in this tunnel of colors for quite some time, the minutes seeming to be very short as the colors rapidly alternated so that a different color was predominant in every case.
And when the tunnel had dissapeared, the first thing Ike felt was the strongest wind he had ever felt in his life.