The best part about having daily routines is…
Being able to blink and find out that weeks have passed.
Or something.
So what did you do for the past few weeks?
Magic research involving wind and thunder…
No fire?
No fire. It doesn't burn, so it's not as important.
Anyways, magic research, training with whoever is generally around the barracks, usually Stahl, riding lessons with the squires that showed up…
Squires?
I guess they would still be Cavaliers.
Emmeryn still has her reputation of being extremely anti-war so she can't exactly muster troops, but Ylisse needs a standing army to counter whatever bullshit Plegia might be planning. Robin came up with the brilliant idea of drawing new recruits from the wealthier citizens of Ylisstol to build an all-cavalry unit for the purposes of "responding to the Risen threat that plagues Ylissean countryside" as an alternative force to the Pegasus Knights.
You pitched in with the idea.
Well, yeah, that too.
The active mind had suggested that the unit be composed of anyone relatively wealthy enough to provide their own horse, as opposed to just the nobility as Robin had suggested.
What the passive mind said. Anyways, so the new recruits are being put through their paces, with Fredrick and Sully teaching them in turn, and with me tagging along for extra riding lessons and acting as an instructor when they're a little swamped.
It's a little odd to be teaching people older than me, I have to admit. A majority of the citizen cavalry are composed of fairly wealthy 30somethings who were shop owners or traders or the like. The rest is composed of noble teenagers who are in the unit per their parent's wealth and blessings.
I don't think any parent wants to send their child off into battle, but that's the lie we spun.
And they bought it. Well, most of them.
...
Magic research and lessons have gone over pretty well.
I figured out that wind can also be used as a means of propulsion for the self, provided that I have a place for them to shoot out of. The caveat being that if I give myself too much speed I will splatter against the wall and that will be very bad for my well-being.
During his trial runs with the wind-as-acceleration spell he ran into a wall and had to be rushed into the infirmary by an observing Maribelle.
That wasn't fun.
Thunder on the other hand…
Is not real electricity. It doesn't arc, it doesn't hit the…what, closest position of negative charge like real lightning. I think, I don't remember the properties of electricity very well.
Point being I can protect against it by letting it explode against something else.
But, and this is the big one: Thunder does provide a repulsive effect with each other, assuming low enough charge.
At high charge they blow up as if two spells hit each other. Lissa had to heal his arm up from that particular experiment. Several times.
So if I were to, say, have a barrel charged with a few thunder spells, I could conceivably accelerate an object up to insane speeds and make a rail gun before gunpowder is invented.
He tried that. It kind of worked. The projectile accelerated by the thunder spells didn't fly forward.
Guess where we ended up. Go on. Guess.
At this point I have a maid constantly following me the instant I leave the confines of the castle. A maid or Lissa, depending on if she's free or not.
Science is hard.
…
…
"Where, pray tell, are you going?"
I stop.
I'm halfway out of the castle.
You could run for it.
"I'm going into town?" I answer, a little meekly.
Maribelle huffs. "If you'll wait for a moment, I shall arrange for a maid to accompany you."
At this point they expect me to end up in the hospital every day.
You have ended up in the hospital every day.
"I'm only going to visit a blacksmith. No magic involved, I swear."
Maribelle doesn't believe me. "You've said that every day."
Damn.
…
And now I'm out in the town being followed by a dolled up maid.
This isn't doing wonders for my ability to blend in.
You've already gained a reputation for being a little insane, given the palace's recent tendencies to suddenly explode in bright colors. The people know who you are. In fact they're already trying to stay the fuck away from the man being followed by a maid.
Wonderful.
…
"Hello!" I say once I step into the blacksmith I'm looking for.
"Ah! Sir Ash. Good timing, your order is finished." The blacksmith says. "I must admit I've never made tools like these before, especially not in this size."
The tools he's referring to is a set of four steel rods, as well as a hollow, iron cylindrical base with four holes drilled into it.
As it turns out, trying to build a rail gun with only two rods caused the projectile to fly in unreasonable directions. But that was probably because I was firing nails.
You got some strange looks when you showed up in your firing range with a large crate of nails.
I'm pretty sure Lissa made a little money by betting that I would end up injured again back then.
Nobody's willing to bet that now, but I'm getting sidetracked.
"I could imagine; your work is as good as your reputation." I say, examining the rods. They were smooth, and had enough space for me to fill it up with something powdery. I'm a little worried that they're not going to last.
But then that's why they're made to be replaceable.
"What do you plan to do with something like this?" The smith asked.
"That's my little secret. And yours, if you would be so kind."
The smith shrugs. "As long as I get paid."
I toss him his asking rate, plus a little extra. "That'll be adequate, thanks."
He gestures to the box of rods. "Pleasure doing business with you, sir."
I pick up the box and carry it away. Oh. Damn.
"And not a word from you either." I tell (a little too rudely) to the maid.
She curtsies and I feel bad.
"If only because you'll be in danger once this blows up." I mutter.
…
…
"Oh, Ash, you're oh gods you have another box." Lissa says when she sees me carrying the box of rail gun parts to the courtyard. The terror in her voice is immense.
"Yep." I on the other hand sound totally happy about all of this.
She sighs. "I'll get the hospital bed ready." And totters off.
Totters?
Ylisse has no drinking age.
Uh, anyways…
In case you didn't register, the maid that accompanied you was swarmed by other maids who offered her their condolences. You are not a reputable person.
Science never is.
…
"What manner of self-injury are you planning to cause today?" Miriel asked lazily from her perch on the…second story balcony. She likes high places to read from, apparently.
"If everything goes well, no injury to my own person." I say quite proudly.
…
Ok, so…first, each rail will have to be filled with spirit water.
Spirit water.
Spirit dust mixed with water. Spirit dust is weird, it's doesn't mix with water but it causes the water to glow blue, and when the water evaporates—which happens disturbingly fast when spirit dust is involved—the dust isn't dry at all.
The dust is also heavy as hell. One bottle half the size of a 12 ounce soda can is like twenty pounds.
This stuff makes no fucking sense.
…
Welp. Fuck.
Yeah.
…
"Did something happen?" Miriel asks when she noticed that I had stopped moving.
"Just…realized that I had forgotten a factor." I sigh.
This gun is going to be pretty heavy.
Good thing I've been doing nothing but physical labor (kind of, sort of) for the entire time that I've been here.
…
Anyways, fill the four rods with spirit water…
…
Wait for it to dry…
…
…
Now place in the casting paper...
I found out that a single sheet of paper with a spell circle can cast spells when mixed with spirit dust. It still needs to be activated by the caster, but this way I could…
I could make mines from this. Nifty. I'll save that for later.
…
Screw them in…c'mon fit goddammit
FIT I SAY
THE GOD OF FURNITURE COMPELS YOU
God of Furniture...Ikea?
There we go. Whew.
…
Load in the nails…or, rather, a nail.
…
Test the weight…
Nope. Way too heavy for me to aim with one arm. It's about four feet long, from rail to base, and the weight distribution means I need to double hand it if I want to aim it.
Wonderful.
"That is the most incomprehensible tool I've ever seen." Miriel said with a note of laughter in her voice.
"Yeah, well…if it works, I can care less how it looks. Function over form and all that." I say, putting it down and setting up a targeting dummy against the outer wall.
This thing will definitely not have the penetration power of the stereotypical sci-fi rail gun. But it's definitely going to hit harder than a bow.
Ok. Grab weapon handle…I can't hold the rail portion of the gun. This was poorly designed.
You designed it.
So let's…rest my trigger hand on my other elbow, like the XCOM snipers.
Focus…
Activate the rods…
The four rods are now glowing faintly and crackling with electricity, psuedo-electricity, whatever.
Feed a nail into the chamber (the hollow iron base that uses more spell power to hover the nail away from the walls)
And…pull trigger!
FVOOM
…
O…kay. Wow. Uh…I'm now a…
Wow.
I uh…
I may be doing something dramatically evil here.
Like, immensely, irrevocably evil. Holy shit.
Is this what the inventor of the machine gun felt?
Uh…
…
"Is…is that...?" Miriel breathed, looking at the wooden post the test dummy was tied to.
Or rather, the stump of it. The dummy itself is pinned to the wall by a nail, and judging by the amount of straw that fell out of the dummy's back, its backside is entirely broken.
If…if that's what's going to happen to a human, I'm…uh…I may want to drop the power some just so I'm not committing a war crime with every shot.
Yeah…yeah. I think I'll do that. I can't control the power of the rods without physically removing the spell paper and replacing another one, so…yeah. I really should do that.
"It's…a lot more effective than I had anticipated." I finally say, still staring at the dummy.
…
I should take a moment and reconsider this decision.
…
…
…
What is there to reconsider? We want a game-changing advantage against Plegia, Valm, Grima, everything evil, and here it is in the form of the prototype rail gun.
Well, yeah, but odds are 99 percent of its victims is going to be the hapless soldier drafted to fight for Plegia.
Coupled with hatred for Ylisse, don't forget that.
I haven't; their hatred is just another form of Patriotism. Their love for their country, their hatred for the injustice brought upon their heads just because of a difference in religion, all of it is still patriotism, even if they're on the opposite side.
Their religion revolves around an evil fuckoff dragon.
The Grimleal revolves around an evil fuckoff dragon.
Either way, I'm dropping the power output.
Having the ability to end a battle faster than it started is an invaluable asset.
We might end a battle but we're going to lengthen the war.
Look, just put in two spell papers with half power, that way you'll have a trump card for the morale damage. If you can kill the enemy leader with such finality that the enemy will fear you, then naturally they'll be less likely to fight.
Not quite sure about them being less likely to fight, but fine.
…
…
I hear the door to my room-slash-workshop creak.
"Ash, what is that thing?" I hear Lissa ask as I tune my new rail gun. I need a name for it.
Sasha?
It doesn't have enough dakka to be worthy of that name.
"This? This is my weapon." I say, patting the gun base.
You also said that with the barest hint of the Heavy voice.
I'm trying to push the serious amounts of death that I will be dealing out of my head.
You're in a pseudo medieval age. People fight by hacking each other to pieces. You're going to be pretty damn civilized, all things considered.
There's no skill in pulling a trigger.
There is skill in building the damned gun from scratch. You wanted to walk down this road. Own up to it.
"Are you ok? You look a bit pale." Lissa asked, staring at me.
"Yeah, I'm…fine. Just fine." I say.
I don't think she believes me.
Hell, I don't believe me.
"Are you worried about something?" Lissa asks, sitting down on my bed.
I sigh. "I'm worried that I'm walking down a path I can't come back from." I stare at the gun.
A future where Ylisse become the aggressors due to their superior military technology.
You give yourself way too much credit.
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Lissa grumbles.
"It…nevermind." Especially worrying is if this gets reverse engineered.
How? It took you needing prior knowledge and extensive field testing according to a form of methodology that the world hasn't even seen yet; the closest person who can possibly reverse engineer this is Miriel, and she's on your side.
"Well, if you're the one behind it, then it should be ok, right?"
…What?
I look at Lissa, and she smiles at me.
"Chrom says he trust your judgment, even if he doesn't agree with it." She giggles. "And I trust you, too. I know you'll never do anything to hurt us."
Lissa…
I am going to end up proving you so wrong in the future, I can just feel it.
For now though, I smile. She is really good at cheering people up.
Responsibility is tempered, not granted. We have the power…
So we must train to use it responsibly. Yeah.
…
…
[The next day]
…
…
I find Sumia rushing about with her armor, collecting Pegasus Knights.
With her flashy, in-game sprite armor, instead of the leather armor she had before.
"Sumia, what's the rush?" I ask her after she had stopped to catch her breath.
"Bandit attack. One of the major towns is being sieged by bandits; Chrom wants us to go help."
As if on cue, Chrom walks out from one of the side rooms.
"Ash, I assume Sumia told you the situation?" Chrom fiddles with the Falchion slung at his waist.
"Bandits hitting town, need rapid response. How far away are they?"
"About two days from here." Robin said, looking at a notebook. "At flying speed."
"How are bandits sieging though? No, why are bandits sieging?" Maribelle asked; she volunteered as a healer for the group, her reasoning being that healing on Pegasusback isn't much different from on horseback.
I think she's speaking from experience, which scares me a little.
"We don't know either. The village sent a messenger a before they were enclosed. Regardless, the shepherds are riding to their aid." Chrom declared.
I nod. "I'm going too." Per Fredrick's suggestion the rail gun is constantly slung on my back so I can get used to its weight during the inevitable military marches.
I've also entertained the concept of calling it the Balmung, for its eventual duty as an anti-dragon weapon.
"Are you sure?" Chrom frowns. I've spent almost every afternoon in the hospital so far, except the past two days.
"Yeah, I'm good to go." I say. "Well, almost. I need ammo. Be right back."
…
I rush back to my room to stock up on nails.
Industrial grade tools for an industrial grade war.
No kidding.
…
Soon enough, the Pegasus riders were ready and we were off!
Of the eight Pegasus riders in this expedition, Sumia's the only one I recognize.
And apart from me, Robin, and Chrom, the rest of the Shepherds in attendance are: Vaike, Miriel, Virion, Ricken, and Kellam.
…
Wait, Kellam?
KELLAM?!
He doesn't have the oversized armor. He's dressed like a light soldier.
Oh my god what if I've ignored Kellam since I've gotten here holy shit
…
Ok, freakout done.
No, not quite.
…
Ok, done for real this time.
…
First day ends, we camp.
Chrom worries that the town can't hold out long enough.
Robin worries that we would be too tired if we rush at full speed toward the town.
I worry because I don't see Kellam anymore.
Like, he has physically phased out of existence.
"Ricken, do you see Kellam anywhere?" I ask him because I am genuinely terrified.
"Huh? He came with us?" Ricken…is of no help.
…then again I'm not sure why Kellam is terrifying.
"Wait, did Kellam really come with us?" Ricken started asking the general public.
Kellam then speaks up. "I did, Ricken; did you need something?" He's standing right behind Ricken, right next to me.
Ricken seems to have swallowed the scream he had cued up. "Not really. Ash was asking for you though."
"Yeah, hi. Were you with us all this time?" I ask him.
"Well, yes." He scratches his head. "I was surprised you didn't notice me, actually, what with all that magic you used. I volunteered to look after you but nobody heard me, too."
So I've been stalked by a man for the past three weeks and didn't notice.
Correction, you've been watched by Kellam for the past three weeks.
I'm gonna…go scream at something now. Be right back.
…
…
…
So, as it turns out, Kellam is visible as long as you have him in your field of vision. Once he's gone you have to spend minutes to reacquire him.
If I end up shooting him in the back I swear to god it will not be my fault.
You told him to not stand in front of you last night. It'll be fine.
…
We arrive near the town and oh shit I forgot to make a scope for the gun.
God dammit.
Oh well.
We arrive at the town edge and…there's a disturbing lack of smoke and fire and signs of pillaging.
Don't see a sentence like that every day.
"Robin." I'm worried that this is a trap.
"Yeah." Robin's eyes are focused.
"Even if it is a trap, we must ride to the aid of any citizens of Ylisse." Chrom said. So he came to the same conclusion.
Chrom is an attacker but he isn't stupid. Ok.
Or maybe he's insane, since he just told us to charge into a trap.
I really wish I made a sight for this thing.
Good thing I brought a spell book and some knives as backup.
…
"Ash, what would you be now?" Robin asks me as we advance closer to the town.
What would I be? She waves to the large thing on my back. Ah.
"A mage-like unit, I suppose." I say after a moment. "I can melee but I would rather like to stay at range."
"Got it." Robin nods, her brain probably going a mile an hour. "I wish we brought more melee power then." She sighs and then turns around to face the town.
I point to the dismounted Pegasus knights, every last one of them quite cute and not dangerous looking, factoring out their spears. "And they don't count?"
"Not really." Robin says without turning around.
"Why aren't they mounted anyways?" I ask her.
"Siege warfare. Lots of missiles. Bad for flying." Robin says quickly.
"Ok."
…
Yeah, the insane lack of combat in the town is definitely suspicious…
Focus spell power, prepare wind shield.
I got Miriel to teach it to me and then modified it to spin more for more projectile blockage.
…
"Incoming!" Robin yells a split second before the sky suddenly darkens.
Holy shit they want us killed.
Release spell power!
Miriel came to same conclusion, and the two of us blew enough arrows to FUCK ow that hurt
Cover most of everyone.
"This is definitely a trap. We need to do some more scouting." I say to Robin.
Ignore the damned arrow in my shoulder. Ugh this shit hurts.
"Sir! Behind us!" One of the Pegasus knights yell while a second barrage fly at us from the walls.
Fuck it. Gun time. Bring out rifle, hope that Miriel can cover all of us alone…
She isn't alone; Ricken is picking up your share.
Behind us is Cavaliers. Four of them. My magazine size is three rounds. Fine by me.
"Back, back!" Chrom shouts, and we scramble away from the town while the cavaliers bear down on us.
Credit to the enemy archers: they waited until we were close enough for several volleys before opening fire.
…
Ok, they should be close enough. Ignore the searing pain in my shoulder…
I should be able to hit them from here.
Aim!
"Ash! What are you doing?!" Chrom demands, watching me suddenly plant my feet down and look down the barrel of this freakish thing.
No time to reply.
Focus spell power…
And…
Fire!
FVOOM
…
First shot, miss!
The nail moves around too much in the chamber. Fuck.
The force of the nail flying by slowed the horse down a little though. So I guess that's good. Probably.
The pain is not making it any better.
Here's some adrenaline and endorphins to make it better.
…
Second shot.
"ASH!" Robin is half desperate and angry, especially since I'm disobeying orders.
It's not like we can run away anyway.
Ricken is being a total boss by shielding me with his wind spells, since I'm still barely in range of the archers on the walls.
Ok…
Focus…
And…
Fire!
FVOOM~ I'm gonna do this every time you shoot because your gun makes like no noise~
Yeah! Clean hit.
The man was knocked flying from his horse. Literally flying from his horse.
Even at half power this shit is…oh I wasn't actually at half power was I. GOD DAMMIT
Nothing's going right.
…
Because one of their members suddenly flew off their horse, the other three slowed their charging long enough for Virion to pick them off with his insanely good aim.
For the record, I killed my guy instantly while Virion's targets fell off the horse, but are probably alive.
Either way the charge threat is gone.
"Let's go." I tap Ricken on the shoulder. He nods.
And we run the fuck away because FUCK arrow rain.
There was like a thousand arrows near Ricken's feet. The little guy's pretty good with wind.
…
"Well, that was different." Vaike says dryly while being healed by Maribelle.
"Yeah. I knew it was too odd to be anything but a trap." Robin seethed.
Two knights are dead and the rest of us all had arrow wounds. Miriel in particular came uncomfortably close to being killed due to the sheer volume of arrows she had to fend off.
"What's done is done." Chrom sighed; the man doesn't like seeing his people die. Then again, none of us do. "What should we do next, Robin?"
"We're taking that town." She says almost instantly. "They're obviously not on our side, and letting them roam free is going to cause nothing but trouble for the rest of Ylisse."
That's…a little bit of a stretch, Robin, but I agree in concept.
"Ash. How far does that weapon of yours reach?" She asked me.
"Longer than my vision." I say, tapping my glasses.
Active mind forgot to mention: He got a pair of glasses that gave him pretty good vision during the three week time skip.
"And it operates by magic so Virion can't use it." She mutters, scribbling furiously in her notebook again.
"Should we call for reinforcements?" Kellam asked. He seemed to be…actually, not fine at all. He was probably covering for the lady knights despite the fact that we can't see him.
"They won't make it in time." Chrom said, staring at the town in the distance.
…
But…
If they're bandits, then why do they have so much fire power? If one man can shoot an arrow in a volley then they should have a hundred archers, easy.
I doubt all of them would be archers, so there would be melee troops inside the town, too.
"Are there any bandit groups large enough in Ylisse to qualify as an army?" I ask out loud.
"Not that I…know…of…" Robin says, trailing off.
Whirrr click.
Fucking. Plegia.
"Plegia is trying to start a war." Robin breathed. "With us as the aggressors. Those…" She finished her sentence with an incomprehensible and stifled scream of rage.
"And they're going to sacrifice a few hundred of their own men to do it." Virion sounds amazingly angry.
Also, good to know that we're on the same page.
"We need to stop them right here, right now." Robin declares, probably drawing battle plans in her head.
"And we need to do it before night falls." I say, looking up at the sky. That gives us…maybe two hours until sunset, probably more than that. Hopefully more than that.
Robin nods. "Once night falls they will ride out and attack us, or we'll lose them in the night entirely. Let me think." She then wanders a little ways off with her notebook, muttering to herself.
In the meantime…
Maribelle plucks the arrow HOLYFUCKTHATHURTS shoulders. She plucks the arrow from my shoulder. And then heals the wound with her staff.
It's still a little sore, but at least it's ok now.
Reload the gun. And I need to remember to recalibrate it more and then give it a scope.
Which means I need to find a glassmaker. Wonderful.
Oh well. Focus on the task at hand.
…
Robin came back in a short hurry.
"Ash, how's your aiming on horseback?" She asked me worriedly.
I can barely aim with my feet planted. And I tell her as such.
She nods. "Ok, that's better than I expected."
…Really? She had so little faith?
"Ok, here's the plan."
…
…
…
Robin is insane and a genius.
Ricken and Miriel have taken to the air with their wind spells.
Once they've reached a decent height (based on Robin's judgment)…
She took a deep breath, and fired a puff of…well, fire. Into the air.
The Pegasi dove towards the town, and once they've reached what they think is arrow range, the Pegasi pulled back to hover in place, flapping their wings furiously toward the walls.
The wind their wings create then gets a boost from the two spellcasters, and the end result is…a lot of arrows flying in every direction but the right one.
A second puff of fire.
Virion and I are flown in.
I have my rail gun, and Virion has his bow and like five quivers of arrows.
Aided by the wind, Virion just fires arrows at an ungodly rate into the wall's guards: people dressed like Ylissean militia. The arrows fly fast and not very accurately, but the end result is the same; the wall guards are diving for cover.
Good to know that they're not the…
Wait. They might not even be Plegians at all, given by how poor their morale is.
"Sir! That one!" The knight I ride with yell and point to a man who seems to be giving orders.
Ok.
Gun comes out. Focus spell power…
Tighten my legs because I don't want to fall off…
"Dive!" I order. And she dives at him.
Robin determined that this was the only way I could hit a target.
If the Pegasus was flying smoothly at the ground in a worryingly fast fashion.
I will be spiking her food later for this.
For now…
Focus…Aim…and….
FVOOM
WHOA GEEZ I almost fell off. Even with the tiny recoil.
We whiz by the man, and I see…
The man's head and body disconnected by the force of the nail that drove the body into the ground.
I really need to reduce the power, later.
Or increase it. I'm not sure anymore.
Oh well. Debate later, action now. Chamber round two.
The knight goes back into a holding pattern, circling above the town while being protected by Miriel and Ricken.
This is Robin's plan: In the event that the soldiers were not actually Plegian (which was a qualifier she probably considered but didn't voice) we were to nullify their ability to fight and take out all of their military heads. The rest MAY drop their weapons as a result.
Either way, the soldiers who saw their captain get dismembered by an unknown power are certainly cowed enough to run away and not shoot.
Which is good for Ricken and Miriel, since they seem to be tiring from the strain of keeping up their spell constantly.
We need to hurry.
"Where's the second one?" I ask my knight.
Your knight.
Note to self: Ask the brave lady her name after this battle is over. She has some (proverbial) huge brass balls for diving into a hornets nest just so I can get a clear shot.
"There." She points to the second guy, who seemed to be trying to whip the runners back into formation.
"Go."
…
FVOOM
I only got him on the shoulder. But I got the whole "let's not use both spell sheets" thing working.
Which meant the resulting force of the hit spun his body like an ice skater on caffeine mixed with steroids before he lost his balance and was spun into a wall and shattered his head into said wall.
I think if I hooked him up to an electrical generator he would power a town for a day.
No mercy there. Load third round.
…
What's that feeling…?
Horror movie?
Yeah.
"Dive! Now!"
The knight didn't question my order and dove a little.
A wave of purple…flame…thing flew over our head.
That must be Flux, or something similar.
Look around. Who…
The asshole wearing the large ominous robe at the town square. Of course.
Oh he's actually still shooting at us.
"Drop me into the town!" I order.
What are you doing?
Being stupid.
The lady seems to agree, but given that the man's focused on us and not Ricken and Miriel yet we don't have much of an option. Need to kill him before he kills all eight of us.
She agrees that I'm insane and stupid, not to my plan.
But we're being shot at, so she can either go back and leave the other four in danger, or…watch Chrom and Vaike (and Kellam) charge in to their death.
We dove.
And landed among the rooftops…
Shit.
I pull her roughly off her Pegasus.
And her Pegasus is hit square in the chest with a flux.
Despite it having the appearance of fire flux doesn't burn; the Pegasus is just twitching in pain before it falls over dead.
Fine. I can see your shitty mage robes. Focus…
FVOOM
…
I missed. I knew it. I don't know if I can avoid getting hit by a spell if I stay still to reload and snipe…
Ok, plan B. I drop the gun and pull out a dagger.
Even though I missed his ass he's still staggering from the force. Charge!
It's a good thing these roofs are solid or this would backfire really fast, really quickly.
Distance…closer…closer…
A Street. Fine. Jump down, roll. Get back on my feet.
Just like practice.
Continue running. He's got his footing back.
Start zigzagging.
He raises his hand, probably to spell me to little pieces…
And a spear flies at him, forcing him to dodge.
Must've been the lady knight. Naga bless her soul for putting up with me.
Also her throwing arm is insane. I don't think this distance counts as two squares.
He got his footing back obscenely quickly though.
Fine.
Focus spell power.
Fly! My dagger of…stabbiness!
Judging by how his body moved that was definitely a hit.
Charge forward faster!
Nevermind how tired I am, nevermind anything. The man is dying.
I have my second (and last) dagger.
Time to channel a little Assassin's Creed.
…
The first knife didn't go deep enough, man's still standing. Shit.
He's casting.
If I dodge now I lose momentum. Fuck it.
RUN FASTER!
Oh god we're gonna die.
His hand goes up…that is black fire…
Flying at my face. Ok.
GUH
It's worse than Miriel described.
Flux literally hits as many of your nerves as it can and convinces them that you are in fact burning to death while being cut to little pieces.
Focus!
I have but one desire in life.
"And that is to see this knife buried in your face!"
You yelled that out?
I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING OVER THE SOUND OF MY NERVES SCREAMING
Target: really damn close. He's also a little cowed at how a man cloaked in black flames is running at full speed towards him while yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs. Well, "an" obscenity.
SERVES HIS ASS RIGHT
JUMP
PIN his ass down.
Me plus my armor plus my knee in your chest means you're not going anywhere, asshat.
"Ha! What can an Outrealmer do to the likes of the Grimleal?!" The man snarls.
…Isn't that like the most common psyche out tactic used in every story ever? But then again…
It's not like my status as an Outrealmer is exactly classified information.
"Guess how many fucks I give." I snarl back, and bring my dagger down.
…
…
Whoa, what the hell was that?
…
…
The wind spells seemed to have stopped…
What's going on? Something black and evil looking just flew from the dead guy.
I'm gonna leave my dagger in his throat just in case.
Er…I think I'm gonna wiggle the dagger some. Just in case.
Paranoid much?
…
So what happened?
Before that, what happened to the lady knight?
And I need to re-find my gun.
…
"Hey! You ok over there?" I ask her.
I sound a little…ok, a lot shaky. That flux must've hit a lot harder than I thought, now that my adrenaline isn't coping with it.
"I'm alright, sir." The lady knight said, still from her rooftop.
Ok, so…how do I get up there?
"Hold on, I'm coming down." She said with a grunt. "This thing is oddly heavy."
"It's filled with spirit dust, yeah." I take some deep breaths to try and sound un-shaky. Doesn't work out all that well. "You can just toss it down here; I'll do mainte-whoa!"
She jumps down and lands like a…what would she be? A cat? She lands with a soft grunt, but she seems to be fine.
"Here." She unslings the rail gun and hands it over, which I take…and nearly drop on the ground.
I…am actually shaking a lot. Apparently flux hits deep.
"Are you…" She asks, before coming to the conclusion that I am definitely not ok.
Especially since I seem to be having trouble standing.
Ok…gonna be passing out now.
…
…
…
I hear…voices.
Uh…focus? Focus.
Try to focus.
"Chrom! Chrom! He's awake!" I hear someone yell. Apparently something in my brain broke since I don't know what kind of voice that was.
"How long was I out?" I ask. I sound raspy.
"Four days." I hear the same person respond. (Probably the same person)
The last time I ever passed out it was for like, five seconds.
"Seriously? What happened while I was out?" I sound like I need water.
"Get Maribelle." Thank you mystery person. My eyes also don't seem to be working. "The knight you were with brought you to the front gate in a hurry after you had passed out; she said you had dark magic damage. Maribelle stabilized you and you've been resting ever since."
…All of my five senses don't seem to be working.
And yet you can hear.
…Yeah, that was poorly phrased. Four point five of my senses aren't working.
"What happened after the battle?"
"Well, uh…after the enemy mage was destroyed, all the soldiers died."
…
What?
"Any ideas on how it happened?"
I can't tell what the tone of the voice is but she (let's face it, it probably is a she) is probably angry.
"It was some odd variant of a dark magic spell. The spell seems to be designed specifically with the purpose of killing people for no strategic gain." I hear a sign. "I've never seen magic like this."
So that weird dark thing escaping was the dark magic?
Would it qualify as a bomb of some kind?
Hmm…
"Ah! Maribelle. He's up, can you…?"
"Just a second." I hear a voice belonging to probably Maribelle.
And then…nothing.
And then…
Something.
I can feel again.
I feel…warm.
And a little squeezed.
And…uh, slightly red in the face.
Hearing is returning to normal…
I can hear Maribelle softly chanting very, very close to my ear.
…
Touch returning to normal…
I can feel something really really soft really really close.
I feel really really awkward.
Also lucky.
But mostly awkward.
…
Smell returning to normal…
Maribelle wears perfume, but thankfully not overwhelmingly so.
…
Vision returning to normal…
…
Yeah, she's giving me a hug.
I'm confused as to why but I sure as hell am not complaining.
…
I'm going to assume taste is also back to normal, since my mouth tastes dry as all hell right now.
"There, that should do it." Maribelle sighs. "I say, you're nothing but trouble, you know that?" She says, while letting me lay back down.
"Sorry. What was that all about?" I can't help but ask.
She stares straight into my eyes, as if daring me to think about anything suggestive. "For some reason restore staves didn't work on you at all. So we had to resort to the oldest cleric trick in the book."
"Physical touching?"
She nods. "Direct transfer of magic." She taps the staff she's holding and…pops the head off. She then swaps on a different head from a pouch at her waist.
Is that how staves work? Exchangeable heads? I remember Fredrick covering this at some point.
"It seems to have worked. How do you feel?" Robin asked, walking back into the room with a small smile on her lips.
Maribelle huffs. "He should be perfectly fine in a few moments, the fool." And then she struts out of the room.
Robin grins. "Oh I can't wait to spin this one."
I shake my head. "She would undo all that healing, so please don't."
Robin fakes disappointment. "Aww. Oh well, how are you feeling?"
"A lot better." Streeetch. Wow, I feel really damn stiff. "So…what do you think happened to the town?"
Robin scowls. "Best guess? Whoever that mage was showed up and turned the entire town into some kind of demented trap, probably to force a horrid decision from Emmeryn."
Hmm…
"She does nothing and Ylisse is the 'attacker', or she does something and kills off a town to kill one mage." Ugh. "We seemed to have done the latter."
"Yeah, but we have a corpse to show for it." Robin smirked. "All thanks to what is likely your idiocy."
I sigh. "Don't remind me." I get up, and sit back down again because whoa dizzy room is spinning.
"Sit tight, I'll get you something to eat."
"Where am I, anyways?"
"The town hall." In the town we decimated, got it. Robin disappears out of the room and I lie back down.
…
What does this mean?
This means Plegia has someone who's also stirring things up.
Not necessarily. Reality isn't dictated by memory limitations, so it could've just been Plegia advancing along the path of technology.
And Ylisse won't?
Not…government sponsored research. Not war time use technology anyways. She's too…patient, for that.
So there's a very realistic chance of Ylisse being outpaced on the home front before the war begins…
Shit, it's also close to the end of the month.
…
Robin came back with some bread and soup.
I'm hungry as hell so it is delicious.
Slow down or you will gag.
I gag on air, c'mon.
…
"Wow, you have a lot of control for a hungry person." Robin said, surprised. "I was expecting more wolfing down."
"Oh believe me, I want to." I say between bites.
…
"How's Plegia on the war front?" I think I can stand properly now; I feel the strength born of wheat and…vegetables!
"They haven't made a move, but considering what we've seen they might not have to." Robin scowls. "They might have other ploys hidden in Ylisse, after all."
"Yeah. Hmm…" I…hobble, out of the room. Muscles not really atrophying but fairly non-responsive, but we're good.
"What?" She asks, following me outside.
Lordy it's bright.
…
It seems like the rapid response corps was deployed here…and their first order of business is to dig a lot of graves.
Not pleasant, but I guess it would give them a good shock on exactly what they're signing up for.
So where's the asshole mage?
Ah ha.
"Can we confiscate his robes as evidence?" I ask, tapping the corpse with my foot.
"Evidence?" Miriel asks.
"As proof that Plegia was trying to do something bad." Not that it would matter, since of the three countries in the continent Plegia is the only country that cares about Plegia's reputation.
And yet they tried a terrorist attack.
Yeah, so I guess not even Plegia cares about Plegia's reputation.
"I can't imagine them caring one way or another." Maribelle remarked, overseeing the burial preparations.
"Yeah, well, I had high hopes." I sigh.
…
Maribelle sudden shrieks in surprise, and we turn to see…
…all the corpses vaporizing.
In the similar purple puff that the Risen dies in.
…The implications behind this are disturbing, but at least they left their worldly belongings behind.
Is that a good thing?
"What…" Robin was the first person to find her voice.
The cavaliers were too stunned to be annoyed at having done unnecessary work.
…
I get to have my spent ammo back.
…
Or not, since it crumbled in my hand.
Is this why they have so much power? Because they nearly shatter on impact?
Yikes.
You seem to be trying to ignore something.
Plegia…Plegia could be killing people to resurrect them as Risen. I…I don't know how or why they want to do that.
"We…we should get back to the castle." I say, before taking a breath and repeating myself with a lot more conviction.
Chrom seems to shake himself out of whatever his thoughts were. "Yes, you're right. Plegia could be planning something else here. Let's hurry."
…
…
"Ash! You're…what's wrong?" Nino asks me the instant I set foot into the castle.
The fact that she just appeared out of nowhere and was accepted as a guest in the castle got her some bad attention, but Nino is just unabashedly nice, so she's well liked enough to be accepted in a few social circles.
I wave absentmindedly at her and shake my head. The previous two nights had more Risen appearance than normal and it put all of us on edge.
I also bought a telescope meant for sailors that'll act as a sight until I get something better.
…
Let's just…do some more training.
And calibrating with this new scope.
…
…
…
"Yo." I look and see Vaike tap me on the shoulder.
It's been another week, and Plegia has been oddly silent.
This only affirms Robin's suspicions that Plegia has something planned, but she can't act on it since it would be rooting out each and every settlement for Grimleal members.
The previous king started his crusade against the Grimleal in much the same way: a religious purge in Ylisstol.
"Hey Vaike." Goes without saying the week of odd silence has put all of us on edge.
"I heard on the grapevine you might get an office in the castle soon." He grinned. "Hope you like paperwork!"
I smile slightly, because I heard the same rumors.
The sitting nobility are hell bent on not letting that happen: class warfare and all that.
In the meantime, I put in an order for a scope with a telescope manufacturer in the city (hellishly expensive, it was) and I got a belt to hold my ammo boxes. So now I can carry more nails, but I can still only load three of them.
I also made a wind-based nail launcher that attaches to my left wrist, so I now have short ranged death without needing to worry about throwing knives.
They work better than my rail gun despite the lack of firepower.
…
As long as I keep busy I can stop driving myself into a mental corner with thinking of all the possible bad things that could happen due to Plegia's odd inaction.
"Oy, you listenin'?" Vaike demands. I've ignored him the entire time he was talking.
"Sorry. Got a lot on my mind." I shake my head. I know that thinking too hard won't help, but still.
"You too? Sheesh, all of you walk around like the sky's gonna fall on your head." He shakes his head. "What's the use worrying about something that hasn't happened yet?"
We worry because it hasn't happened yet, Vaike.
"Y'know what, let's get you set up on a date."
…wait.
"What?" That came out of nowhere.
Vaike grins. "Maribelle wants to visit her family but Lissa of all people don't want her walking around without a guard. Guess who Robin suggested?"
…
Robin, I swear to god I will murder you in your sleep.
…
…
"So Robin's suggestion was taken after all." Maribelle sighs when she sees me walking towards her.
I came to the realization that her abduction might come very soon, so I figured…what better way to stop the abduction than by being there and killing every asshole that shows up?
Given that everything works out like I expect, which is, uh, pretty naïve of me to think so, actually.
"You're oddly well-armed for a family visit." Maribelle says, after noting the fact that I'm carrying my rail gun, a sword, two knives, and two spare packs of nails.
I have enough ammo to kill like a hundred people before needing to move close range.
Also to set up like ten tents.
…
Also she said something about a family visit.
…
Suddenly the Plegians don't seem to be so terrifying after all.
"What are you waiting for? Let us be off." Maribelle huffs.
I…uh…
ROBIN.
I SEE YOU GIGGLING OVER THERE
WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!
You spiked her food.
Well, ok, fine, but WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?!
Sigh.
…
"I don't see why I need a guard for this." Maribelle grumbled.
"Lissa cares about you?" I venture.
"That much is obvious, but I don't see why they would've sent you along." She says, throwing me an uncharacteristically dirty look.
"Maybe Ricken would've been a better choice?" I say lightly.
She turns a little. "Why him?"
Oh right. She doesn't feel for him until after the rescue.
"He's another noble, right?"
"A discredited one. He's a nice enough boy, but…" She trails off. She then launches into a speech about the proper behavior of a noble and the expectations of the aristocracy.
I take it you listened to none of it.
Not a single word.
…
Eventually Maribelle figured out that I wasn't listening and wouldn't speak to me for the rest of the day.
…
[Night]
…
I think it says a lot about the state of the world when the glowing eyes of doom show up and we don't even bat an eyelash.
Also, she gets the tent and I get to sleep outside.
Given how ridiculously pleasant Ylisse is at night I'm not complaining.
As long as the Risen don't show up.
I wish we stopped at an inn instead, but the nearest one burned down.
The undead are all arsonists.
…
[A week later]
Her family's mansion is…sizeable but not overly amazing.
Like her?
That would be rudest thing to say out loud. Also it makes no sense.
"We're here." She says with a tired sigh. "If only you weren't here, I could've gotten home faster."
…
No servants?
Aren't we a bit spoiled by having maids around every corner?
Well, I guess, but she would've sent word along that she was coming home, right?
"Was this a surprise trip?" I ask her as I lead both horses to the stable.
"No. Why do you ask?" She sounds surprised at my question.
"Just wondering." I shrug, and she shakes her head.
"Regardless." She knocks on the door.
…I'm getting some really weird vibes here.
It's just your paranoia acting up again.
…
Soon enough, a butler opens the door for her.
"Lady Maribelle, welcome home. I apologize for my lateness." The butler said with a deep bow.
"It's quite alright. Come, Ash." She says with a regal toss of her hair.
"I'm afraid your weapons will need to be left here, sir." The butler gently, but firmly.
"Yeah, sure." I untie my sword and daggers and place them on the table.
He eyes the rail gun on my back.
But since he doesn't know what it is it doesn't count as a weapon.
To be fair you can't really snipe indoors.
True.
…
"Mother, father, I'm home." Maribelle says with a wide smile and goes in for a hug.
A hug that her parents happily give her.
"And he is…" Her mother says with a glint in her eyes.
Oh. Oh no. Oh hell no.
"I am her guard for the trip." I say with a bow.
I am not going down that route. Ever.
"Ah, I see." She says, a little dejected. "Thank you for your services."
Maribelle sighs slightly. "Mother, you weren't hoping that this man is somehow my fiancé, were you?"
I am not dressed for the part, for the record. I'm wearing a fresh suit of armor with certain areas (namely, where the rail gun straps cut into my shoulders) reinforced by iron.
Also, she skipped the boyfriend/girlfriend phase.
We do not cut a very dashing or noble image. And remember that marriage for love among the nobility wasn't exactly the most common thing back in the day.
"No, of course not." Her mother says with an air of nonchalance.
...
And then the three of them gets to play catch up while I get shooed out of the room.
…
The mansion is pretty sparse. It looks and feels like a rich person's house, but in a way that suggests that the family in it isn't exactly very well off.
I wonder if that makes them landowners around here.
Traditional medieval nobles tend to be landowners, since traders weren't exactly held in high regard.
Yeah. Not sure if that pattern is in play in Fire Emblem though.
"I trust the trip was without danger, sir Ash?" The butler asked, watching me wander around the house.
"Apart from the occasional Risen, nothing of notice." I say.
Undead Vapor Zombies are now "nothing of notice."
I know, right? Humans are weird.
The butler chuckles. "I see; you seem to be quite skilled as a fighter. Lady Maribelle can be a little difficult to get along with, but I hope you will continue to favor her with your friendship."
I laugh. "A little? She's really difficult to get along with. I don't know what she's thinking half the time."
"She allowed you to accompany her on this trip; I assume you were given the job per suggestion from Lady Lissa?"
They're good friends. I almost forgot. "Yes, I did."
"Then she has at least decided to tolerate you." The butler laughs, accompanied by some of the maids around them. "That, for her, is a large step forward."
I'll say.
…
Stop beating around the bush?
Yeah.
"I have a question for you."
"Go ahead, sir Ash."
"Who are the people sneaking around the house?"
The butler froze for a fraction of a second. "You are aware that Emmeryn doesn't have total popularity among the nobility, correct?"
I nod, trying to look casual. "I had assumed as much, yes."
There were a lot of nobles whispering around the castle nowadays. Given that they weren't there before it didn't take a genius to guess what made them speak out all of a sudden.
"Maribelle's parents are one such family, and they do not approve of her…position, in the Shepherds."
He turns his head and looks at me. "Protect them. I beg of you. Protect them from this idiotic decision of theirs."
…
Shit.
...
I dash to the door to grab my sword moments before I hear glass shatter and doors being kicked in.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck
Go upstairs, go go go!
"Ash! What is this infernal racket" Maribelle manages to say before…
Someone in plain, villager clothing jumps through the window.
These guys are smart.
Charge him.
The man raises his dagger, but my sword has longer reach and I stab him on the shoulder.
The weight on my back makes it hard to maneuver but something tells me I should hold on to my gun's status as a weird looking toy.
Two more men burst through the door.
"Drop your weapon, guardsman. You're making our jobs harder." I hear a voice behind me.
Turn my head and look.
…
From a window I didn't see, someone else jumped in and has a Maribelle in a choke hold and at knife point.
"You brute! Unhand me!" She shouts.
The man sighs and stabs her in the back with the knife, drawing blood but judging by Maribelle's expression it wasn't dangerous to her life.
"We're in charge here, bitch. I suggest you shut your mouth before we do something worse." The man says in her ear.
"Sir Ash, drop your sword." Maribelle's father says softly.
"You were behind this, weren't you." I say quietly.
He nods. "This country needs a better king. Emmeryn is far too soft."
Damn.
"Do what the man said, brat. Drop your weapon." Maribelle's handler snarls.
Can I break out of this?
How can I break out of this?
"I won't say it again. Drop. Your. Weapon." The knife goes a little deeper. Maribelle doesn't even flinch.
I guess we know why Brady is a badass.
Let's do this.
I drop my sword.
"Good boy." The man says dryly.
My left wrist is still pointed at his face.
Focus spell power…
Fire arm nail one.
The man's head reels back as a nail suddenly finds itself implanted in his head.
I twist around. There's four, five of them behind me.
Firing arm nail two.
Now there're four alive and one crippled.
"Window! Now!" I shout at her.
Maribelle scrambles out of the window and I follow suit, using the little time window we've got from the surprise of having nails suddenly fired at them to get some distance across the rooftops.
Reload the arm gun.
Reloading.
"Ash, how did you…" Maribelle gasps out, finally having had enough and needing to take a break.
"Your butler warned me." I say, unslinging my rail gun.
"I should thank him later." Maribelle says. She sounds like she's in a lot of pain. "Give me a moment." There was some shuffling behind me.
I point the rail gun at the mansion and look through my scope.
…
[3rd person camera time!]
…
The man that was in charge of the abduction walked up to Maribelle's frightened parents.
"So, you let her get away." He says with a snarl.
"We had no idea that the guard she had would be so…underhanded." Maribelle's father spat. "She can't have gone far. Pursue her!"
"Oh, she can't have gone far, indeed." The man laughs. "To think her own parents would use her as a bargaining chip, you Ylisseans are rotten to the core."
"Pah. She's a suitable sacrifice for Grima." The father said with a dismissing wave of his hand. "We are faithful worshippers of the true god. Any daughter of mine that isn't is of no importance."
"Ooh, how deliciously disgusting." The man grinned.
And then ran the father through with his sword.
"And how pathetic." The man growled. "To think that you would go against your own country. Plegia spits on your so-called loyalty."
He then turned to his men.
"Kill all of them."
And then died because his head exploded.
…
[Back to me!]
…
"Got him." I grin. He really shouldn't have been standing near that window. These adjustments are great.
Loading second round.
"You ok over there?" I ask her while not taking my sights off of the window, or the people that were now trying to stare out of said window to see where the shot came from. Oh the poor, poor pre-sniper era idiots.
Technically Snipers exist.
"I will be momentarily." She said. "That asshole poisoned the knife." She added in an undertone.
I guess we know why Brady is a badass?
Also, to all of you idiots crowding near the window…
Here's a shot at maximum power, just for you!
…
Wow, that is a lot of red that just splattered out of the window.
We might not have run away far enough for them to miss us, but the ridge of the roof we're hiding behind gives me plenty of cover, especially since they don't know what to look for.
Still, how many did I get? Maybe all of them?
You're oddly happy about this.
I'm trying not to think about it.
…
Refill magazine.
…
"I think the coast is a little bit clear." I sigh, after seeing no more movement from the house.
"Great. So what do we do next? Go back to Ylisstol?" Maribelle said, sounding a little strained; whatever that poison is it must be getting to her.
"Let's find you an antidote first. C'mon."
…
I have to admit, mingling with the crowd is now suddenly terrifying.
But leading Maribelle by the hand feels even more terrifying, especially because she's actually trembling.
"Did…what's going to happen to my parents?" She wondered.
"You do know they sold you out, right?" I'm still a little amazed by that fact, especially since I don't know why they would do it.
I guess he wanted himself as king? Bit of a stretch, though.
"That may be, but they're still my parents." She said with finality.
I can't argue with that.
Based on what we saw from the scope one of them, or maybe both of them, aren't alive anymore.
Better not tell her yet.
Sorry, Maribelle's father. I'm mildly glad that you were stabbed in the chest long enough for the man to push you away from the window and place himself squarely within my line of sight.
I guess we can spin that as "he died to protect her" in a weird twisty kind of way.
…
Ah ha, apothecary.
"Maribelle, how've you…who are…what's…" The man stuttered.
If she grew up here everyone would know her. Makes sense.
"She needs an antidote." I say sharply. The man blinks and grabs one without a second thought.
Maribelle takes it, mutters thanks, and downs it without a second thought.
"So he's finally gone and did it, that crazy bastard." The man says with no small hint of venom in his voice.
"What? Her father?" I ask him.
He nods. "The man's gotten more and more delusional after you left, Mari." She doesn't seem to mind, probably since he's known her since she was small. "I can't believe he would try to sell his own daughter."
It's not like they had money woes, right?
"Where they having money issues?" I ask.
His response is a single laugh. "As if; he hated Emmeryn and would've loved to see this country burn just to spite the poor girl."
So the misogynistic asshole had a daughter and hates the girl ruler. Where have I heard this one before?
"Come to think of it, for the past year or so he's been pretty vocal about a change of leadership. I guess he snapped." The man shrugs. "For what he's done to you…if he dies, good riddance."
…
"He never liked my father." Maribelle murmured. "So don't believe everything he said."
"I won't." But I'll keep it in consideration.
I agree with the good riddance part though.
…
I hear hooves.
"Get behind me." I say and unsling my…I'm just gonna call it a rifle from here on out because that's kind of what it is.
Look through the scope…
On the horse is a pointed hat, barely visible over the horse's head and flopping mane.
Ricken.
"Ricken, what are you doing here?" I demand as soon as he came to a halt.
"Plegia." Was his single answer.
…
Once more with feeling!
FUUUUUUU
.
.
.
{ === + === }
Let the science train roll out of the station!
For the record I'm only using topics that I myself are aware of
(This'll show up a lot later, where I conceptually know things but can't bring them into "reality" even with timeskipped research)
