But, with my midyears over, I should be able to get back into a regular writing scheme again... But no promises. In other news, FIRE EMBLEM IS THE GREATEST GAME EVER! I know that you guys know that yourselves, but I'd just like to reaffirm that. Seima no Kouseki, or the Sacred Stones as it had been officially dubbed, is just as good as I'd hoped it to be. Fave characters so-far are Colm, Forde and Amelia. I've also been playing Seisen no Keifu, since it's said to be the best of the series. Not as pretty at the GBA games, but who cares about that anyway. A very enjoyable game, with bandits that walk as if they have hemorrhoids.
Rant of the Chapter: Right. This time I'm complaining that a lot of countries outside of Japan and America don't get a lot of games and Anime. Including mine! Even though Australia is a well-developed country and we're now best buddies with America, we still get crap all! We've only just getting the Inu-Yasha series, and as far as I know we're not getting FE 8! That's crap! The only reason I've been able to play Seima no Kouseki is because I've got the ROM, but playing it on the computer is nowhere near as fun as playing on the GBA. So, Come on! Send us some stuff! I'm waiting! I WANT FE 8 GOD DAMN IT!
Sara Jay: Thanks for your continued support. However, I'm not fixing my single quotes. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I write. Anyway, this is a first person fic, the only thoughts here are the person's that the chapter is centered around, and even then it's just part of the regular text! And even then, when I do write in 3rd person perspective I usually put thoughts (in brackets), because I think that it's really confusing when people just use different quotation marks. There isn't much difference between 'This' and "This". It's just the way I write, I've done it for over a year now and I'm not changing just yet.
GunpowderWizard and friends: This should count as four reviews. It's not fair! Anyway, I'm glad that all four of you are enjoying this. I'd offer GunpowderWizard advice on Halo 2, but I've never played it. Oh well.
Mandy: Hey, I like long reviews, It makes the review page seem bigger! And don't worry, I'm not going to break up the group. It just seems natural that Lugh, Rei and Chad should stay together. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter, I was just sort of worried that is wasn't up to the standard of my previous ones. That and I was afraid that people were going to think that I was cramming in FE 7 characters, even though this is a FE 6 fic. Since I got such a good response for it, I don't think I will change it, but I will let you know if I do.
Lack Thereof: I don't think I could do Rei without having him be wise-ass. He just seems that sort of way. Glad that the previous chapter surprised you in happy ways. Let us hope it'll continue.
Urei Sachi: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, YOUR FIC ROCKS! Damn, I just feel so humbled that you'd write something based on my writings. Grah! Thank you so damn much! You even mentioned me! Self esteem going up!
angelfish: Welcome to the reviewers list. Glad you enjoy it. Cass will be turning up soon, though when I don't exactly know.
I had to cut this chapter down, so It'll be in two parts. I mean, this part alone is 6 pages! So, you'll have to wait for the rest.
Disclaimer: Hahahahahaha! Since my exams are over, I can now go over to Japan and kill the CEO of Intelligent Systems! Fire Emblem, soon you will be mine! BWAHAHAHA- Oh, shit... I'm broke. Damn. Until I get enough money to fly to Japan, I don't own Fire Emblem.
The Saga of the Discarded
A Fire Emblem fanfic by Kiri-Ryu
Chapter Seven: The Ostian Rebellion (Part One)
Chad
Our journey to Ostia was an eventful one, completely opposite to what Lord Roy said it would be. We were waylaid by bandits numerous times along the path, and although we were able to repel them, they still slowed us down and delayed us from reaching our destination. But these small skirmishes had not been the main delaying factor in our journey. No, it had been our brief stops in towns that had halted our progress.
The first had been in a small mountain village, which was being harassed by a group of bandits that had occupied a nearby abandoned castle. When Roy agreed to help the villagers, I felt admiration for him. I know well that many Nobles are too high up in their political mightiness to see the needs of the common man. Indeed, the former Marquess of Araphen almost completely ignored the plights of the people that had lived in country. Unless, of course, they were of noble birth. Father had said that not all Lords were like that, but I had found it hard to believe. Sure, there was Lord Raymond, but his title was a thing of the past. He lived as commonly as the rest of us. The other lords, I had nothing but contempt for them, and a reasonable amount of fear of them as well. For these were the people who could order you to be decapitated at a whim. But my views on nobility had been challenged, and slowly changed, by Roy. He was the heir of one of the most powerful titles of the land: he was the son of the Marquess of Pherae. But he did not turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the commoners, indeed he fought for them.
We had charged into battle, and had sweeped the land free of the bandits that had plagued it. I had joined the ranks of the front line for that fight, scouting ahead for brigands that had hidden themselves amongst the trees. Depending on the size of the group, I either alerted the other members of the Army about them, or dealt with them myself. The taking of someone else's life is still something I'm uncomfortable about, but I know that I have no choice. It's either them, or dozens of others of innocent villagers that should have nothing to do with these wars. Like Father.
It had taken us the entire day to dispose of the bandits, so Lord Roy had decided to let us rest in the abandoned castle. It was there that we had met up with Saul and Dorothy of the St. Emiline Church. After a brief discussion with Roy, they decided to aid us in out journey. Father Saul was... Different. Whilst he maintains a veil of holiness and virtue, he is little more than a perverted man with an eye for the ladies. Dorothy, who's meant to be his guardian, seems to guard everyone else from him, including Princess Guinevere.
The matter of the princess is an odd one. She travels with us to end the war, even though she is betraying her brother, King Zephiel, to do it. Once again, she distorts the views I have on the people from Bern. She is kind and compassionate, and often accompanies Lugh and myself at the back of Merlinus's wagon. She listens to our tales of the Orphanage with a small smile, and almost always apologises for the destruction of it.
We had left early the next morning, continuing our journey to Ostia. After a few days of travel, we had reached Toria, a providence just east of Ostia. Roy had decided to pay a visit to Lord Orun, the Marquess of Toria as well as the half-brother of Lord Hector. Alas, what seemed to be a brief reprieve from the war quickly turned into another battle. Wagner, a former advisor of Lord Orun, had turned traitor, assassinating the Marquess and attempting to kill all of us. We were forced to retaliate, killing Wagner and the group of traitors he had with him. It was disheartening for all of us, killing in a place that was meant to be a safe haven from the war. We cleared out the castle, finding a prisoner in the process. Her name was Sue, and she was a Sacaen nomad. Her tribe, the Kutolah, was decimated by Bern's invasion, and she had been forced to flee to Lycia. Only, she had been captured by Wagner, and was going to be used as bait to lure the Sacaen guerilla forces out into the open. It appalled me that someone could use such dirty, underhanded techniques, but then again I had never seen Bern do anything else.
We have traveled far since then. Sue had decided to join our army, both because she felt gratitude to Roy for rescuing her as well as because it gave her a chance to strike out at Bern. I understood completely, for was that not the reason why I joined myself?
We had rode for four days straight, and we could now see the City of Ostia on the horizon. I was walking ahead, on scouting duty with Alan.
'It'll be good to see Ostia again.' The Pheraen Knight commented to me. 'Have you ever been there before?'
'No.' I shook my head. 'We were always too busy helping out Father and taking care of the little ones to visit many cities.'
'That's a shame.' He said sympathetically. 'I really hate to come back here with such ill-tidings. I've always enjoyed coming here, and it makes me feel that I've betrayed the city by bearing the news of Lord Hector's death to his daughter. Still, I suppose-'
'Is that smoke?' I interrupted him, my nostrils flaring. The red Knight tuned his head and sniffed the wind.
'St. Emiline, I think you're right.' He said, shock evident in his voice. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus on the city in-front of us. 'The gods, Ostia is in flames! Get on!' He offered me his hand, and I jumped up onto his horse. He wheeled it around and galloped off to the main camp.
'Alan, Chad, what's the matter?' Lord Roy asked us when we reached him.
'Milord, Ostia is in flames!' Alan reported.
'In flames? St. Emiline, Lilina!' Lord Roy swore. He turned around and faced the rest of the company. 'To arms!' He shouted out. 'Ostia is under attack!'
The camp exploded into a frenzy of activity. People moved to Merlinus's wagon and retrieved weapons and supplies. Armour was donned and horses were mounted. The Lycia Alliance Army moved forward at a swift pace, urgency in their footfalls.
Alan stopped his horse and let me dismount. He then wheeled around to join the front lines. I moved swiftly to the wagon, where Lugh was waiting, fear and apprehension in his eyes. I had no words to offer him, so I remained silent.
'Lugh! Chad!' Lord Roy's voice called out to us. 'Forget about protecting Merlinus for the moment, we need you on the front line!'
We looked at each other, then scrabbled to obey our leader's commands. As we approached Ostia, we saw the extent of the damage. Much of the city was destroyed or on fire, and we could see skirmishes within districts of the city. The army, which minutes ago was in such high spirits, looked down upon the war-ravished city in shock. Then, with steely determination, they moved forward.
'Who would have thought?' Lugh said to me, a sad smile on his face. 'We finally get to see Ostia, and it's burning before our very eyes.'
'C'mon Lugh.' I told him. 'Let's go save that little bit that's left then, so we can come back and see it when it's been rebuilt.'
He turned to look at me, then nodded and moved forward, his Fire tome in his arms. I drew my dagger from it's sheath, feeling it's reassuring weight in my hand, then I followed him into the burning city.
Dodge the incoming sword. Duck under his arm. Thrust the dagger behind me, force it through the flesh of my attacker. Ignore the blood that sprays upon me. It is only blood, it will wash off. Ignore the smell, the coppery taste, the bright crimson that sprays past you. Breathe. Take the blade out of his back and wipe it clean with your shirt. Ignore the stain. It is necessary. It is either them or me. Ignore the bile building up in the back of my throat. Keep breathing.
'Chad!' The commanding tone of Lord Roy snapped me out of my stupor, and I quickly turned towards him. 'I want you to go with Rutger and check out all the houses in this district to see if there are any survivors'
I nodded to his commands, then turned to Rutger. The Sacaen man nodded to me, then we left. We ran through streets, opening the doors of each house we passed, calling to the people to flee whilst they had the chance. When we encountered a locked house, we called out. If that didn't work, I picked the locks, just to make sure that there was truly no one left there. We were occasionally attacked by rebel soldiers, but they soon fell to Rutger's dancing blade.
We were on the last block when a knight whirled around the corner. Rutger readied himself, his sword's point aimed towards the knight.
'Are you members of the Lycia Alliance Army?' The Knight called out. I looked at Rutger, who shrugged.
'We are.' I called back. 'What business do you have with the Army?'
The Knight relaxed, pointing his spear tip downwards.
'My name is Zealot.' He said as he trotted his horse towards us. 'I'm the leader of an Ilian Mercenary company. I wish to speak with your Warlord.'
I looked at the man. He looked to be in his mid thirties, his hair was a steel grey colour as were his eyes. He wore field-plate armour which was stained a light blue colour with white edges. He seemed trustworthy enough, and the fact that he hadn't tried to kill us yet was comforting. I turned to Rutger for his advice.
'He seems to be telling the truth, and he doesn't seem the type of person to backstab us.' He commented to me. "I see no harm in taking him to see Lord Roy.'
So we led Zealot through the war-torn streets of Ostia, searching for our commander. We eventually found him; he and several other members of our army were engaged with a band of revolutionists. Rutger and I darted forward into the fray. I unsheathed my dagger and plunged it into the unprotected side of a sword wielder. He turned his head to look at me in surprise, then the sword slid from his grasp and clattered onto the ground. As he fell, I grieved for him, as I did for all the men I slew.
'Thanks Chad.' Bors, who had been fighting the swordsman, said to me. The armour knight placed a hand on my shoulder, then moved off to help someone else. Eventually we killed the last person. I cleaned the blood off my dagger's blade, sheathed it and moved to Lord Roy. He sighed warily, sheathing his own sword.
'Lord Roy.' I said, weariness in my own voice. 'A man named Zealot wishes to talk to you.' I indicated to the white-armoured knight, who was beside Lance, cleaning off his spear tip. He turned at the mention of his name, then he wheeled his horse around and trotted towards us. He dismounted and looked Lord Roy up and down
'Are you Lord Roy?' Zealot asked, Lord Roy nodded in response. 'Hm, I was expecting someone a lot older. It's impressive that someone as young as you could command such a fighting force.'
'Thank you for the compliment.' Lord Roy said gracefully. 'What to you want?'
'I am Sir Zealot, the leader of an Ilian mercenary company. My troops and myself would like to be placed under your command.'
Lord Roy was even more surprised than I was. 'This is a bit sudden.' He said in response. 'Why do you want to join with my army?'
'We were hired by Lord Hector to fight alongside the Lycia Alliance Army in the upcoming war against Bern.'
'Lord Hector passed away over a week ago.' I said. I then winced, realising that I had butted into the conversation of two high ranking officers. But neither of the seemed to mind.
'Chad's right. With Lord Hector dead, your contract is broken.' Lord Roy continued my train of thought.
'I already know of Lord Hector's death.' Zealot said sadly. 'All will grieve his passing: he was a true warrior. And in his memory, I wish to continue the terms of our contract.'
Who was Lord Hector, to be able to command such loyalty even after his death? I briefly recalled my meeting with the Marquess. He had been regal and awe-inspiring, but at the same time, casual and kind. When he had first seen me, he had blinked, then sworn loudly, cursing someone's name. Then he had sighed, half-smiled at me and ruffed up my hair. It had been so... So un-noble. And throughout that day he had continued to be un-noble, playing with the little ones, helping Father out and even cutting up some firewood for us. He hadn't been afraid to do the same work that the common man did. Had that been why people had been so loyal to him? That despite his higher station, he was not afraid to work like everyone else?
'... going to retake Ostia.' I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Lord Roy's voice. 'It shames me that barely a week after Hector's death that his own men would rebel like this. We have to recapture Ostia, for Lord Hector's sake... And for Lilina's sake as well...'
'I understand.' Zealot nodded. 'I'll gather the rest of my men and we'll help you as much as possible.'
'Thank you.' Lord Roy nodded
'Save your thanks for after we retake the castle.' Zealot moved to his horse and mounted. 'We must concentrate on the enemy right now!' He lifted his lance, then galloped off into the city.
'Chad.' Lord Roy called my name, and I turned to face him. 'Go and tell the rest of the troops to meet outside the castle gates. We have to strike at the heart of the rebellion. Once we've done that, there will only be a few pockets of resistance left which we should be able to deal with easily.' He turned to look me in the eyes. I nodded to his commands, then I ran off to find everyone else.
We were all assembled in front of the castle portcullis. There were twenty-two of us now, including Zealot and his men. There were three Armour knights standing in front of the gates, two of them were carrying lances, the other held a guisarme. They looked nervously at the assembled army
'We shall not move!' The armour knight on the left called out. 'Lycia alliance sku-ack!' His hands flew up to his throat and he clutched at the arrow that now stuck out of it. I turned to see Wolt notching another arrow into his bow. The other two armour knights looked at each other. The one on the right dropped his lance the backed off, palms facing us. At least one man was smart enough to choose not to die.
'Coward!' The final knight called to his companion. I saw him tightening the grip on his weapon.
'... Devias?' I turned to see Bors stepping forward.
'Bors!' The armour knight stepped forward, relief in his voice. 'You've returned!'
'Devias...' Bors shook his head. 'I can't believe that you would rebel in Lord Hector's absence. Are you so disloyal?'
'Bors, I-'
'What you have done is unforgivable!' Bors said angrily, but was there also sorrow in his voice? He lowered the tip of his spear at Devias. I watched as the two knights charged at each other. Devias was hit in the shoulder by Bors initial thrust, and his blood seeped out of the wound. Bors withdrew his spear, then readied it again for another thrust. Devias moved with quickness I would not have imagined possible for a man injured such as he was. He lowered his guisarme so that it was level with Bors' feet. He then thrust the polearm to the left side of Bors. He yanked the polearm back, the hook on the side of the guisarme's blade catching on Bors' foot. Bors, surprised by this tactic, was tripped. There was a loud clank as the heavily armoured man fell onto his back. Devias, with a triumphant roar, raised his weapon. People in the army, myself included, ran forward to help Bors. But I think that I was the only one to hear the low murmuring that was Lugh casting a spell, for almost everyone yelped and jumped back when Devias' guisarme burst into flames. With a surprised cry, the knight threw away his weapon. Bors, given this distraction, grabbed his own weapon and trust it upwards. Devon looked at Bors in surprise, then looked at the spear that had penetrated his armour and entered his chest. He made a small noise in the back of his throat, before slumping down on the shaft. Bors dropped his weapon, then stood up. He sighed in a depressed manner, then he turned to Lugh.
'Thank you Lugh.' He said sadly. 'Your quick thinking saved my life.'
'No problem' Lugh said quietly. I paused, then walked over to him.
'You OK Lugh?' I asked him.
'Yeah, but Bors seems depressed, doesn't he?' He asked me.
'I bet that both he and Devias trained together. It must've been hard for him to kill someone that he's grown up with.' Could I do the same thing? If Lugh turned treacherous, could I be the one who thrusts the dagger into his chest? Or if Rei turned up, a shaman for the Bern army, could I kill him? No, I could never do that. But Bors could and did.
'Chad!' Roy called out to me. I turned and moved over to him.
'Yes?' I asked.
'We need to get over this wall.' He told me. 'Do you think you'd be able to?'
In all honesty, I don't like heights. I can't remember the exact reason why I hate heights, but I know that the incident that happened when I was seven probably helped. I hadn't liked heights even then, but by the combined taunting of Lugh and Rei, they had managed to get me to climb onto the roof of the orphanage so that I could retrieve the ball that we had accidentally kicked up there. As I retrieved the ball, I had hovered over the edge of the roof, gloating over my conquering of the dreaded heights. And then, as if to remind me that humans were not meant to be above the ground, one of the shingles of the roof slid loose. I lost my footing, fell off and landed badly on the ground. Father, upon hearing the loud crash and a cry of pain ran out to see what had happened. It turned out that in the fall, I had broken my leg. I spent ten miserable weeks in a cast. Since then, I had swore to never to get higher than, say, five feet off the ground.
And now Lord Roy was asking me to climb what I estimated to be a fifty foot wall.
I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of his idea, which would have involved at least five swear words and would have made the late Lord Hector blush. But to say such thing would have been rude, and Roy would have probably cut my daily rations in half, so instead I said: 'No, Lord Roy, I don't think I can climb that wall.'
Lord Roy opened his mouth to say something, but paused when he was cut out by a grinding noise. We turned to look at the portcullis, which was slowly rising. We moved over to in front of it, then once it had risen fully we moved under. A purple haired man was standing beside the crank that controlled the portcullis, a slightly cocky expression on his face.
'General Roy of the Lycia Alliance Army, I presume?' He asked
'Who are you?' Lord Roy responded. 'An enemy?'
'Good heavens, no. I'm on your side.' He bowed, wobbling slightly. 'Greetings. My name is Asthor. I used to work here in the service of Lord Hector.' He indicated to the castle behind him. I thought that he looked a little odd. His eyes had a yellow tinge to them, and his movements were a little unsteady, as if is was drunk, but not drunk enough to loose all coherent thought.
'Excuse me,' I turned to see Merlinus approaching, an indignant expression on his face. 'But what kind of work were you doing? You certainly don't look like one of Ostia's servants.'
'My, my, aren't we a little rude, old man?' The purple-haired man waggled his finger at Merlinus, who reddened angrily. 'Well, I understand what you're thinking. See, I'm a spy. I go on secret information to gather information, steal things, check on people-'
'I know what a spy is!' Merlinus yelled angrily. I knew that he didn't like to be patronized, and this man was determined to do exactly that.
'Hmph, well, so much for a warm greeting for helping you out.' Asthor folded his arms and swayed a bit. 'But if people can tell that I'm working for a noble just by looking at me, then I'm not much of a spy then, am I?'
Defeated, Merlinus went back to his wagon, grumbling unhappily. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lugh trying his hardest not to laugh at the sulking Merlinus.
'Anyway,' The spy continued, turning to face Lord Roy. 'For a month now I've been running around Lycia to gather the latest news. When I heard about Lord Hector's death in Araphen, I returned here as quickly as I could. Then I see those idiots Leygance and Devias have caused a rebellion!' He shook his head.
'Leygance was in on this too?' I turned to see Bors stepping forward, anger evident on his face.
'He was the one who orchestrated it.' Asthor responded, then he sighed. 'I wish to join with you, Lord Roy. I wasn't able to get to Araphen in time to save Lord Hector, and I don't want to be too late to save Lady Lilina.'
'Lilina...' Lord Roy said worriedly. Was there something going on between the two nobles? It certainly sounded like it to me. 'You're welcome to join us. Do you know what's happened to Lilina?' Lord Roy continued.
'Of course.' Asthor said a little cockily. 'Investigating into these matters is my job. Lady Lilina is locked in a small room near the center of the castle. And that bastard Leygance is probably sitting on the throne like he owns the place.' He snorted disdainfully.
'We have to hurry then' Roy said, drawing his longsword from his sheath. He then turned to look at us. 'To arms once more!' He called out. 'We have to defeat the remaining rebels and rescue Lady Lilina!'
With that, he turned around and slowly stormed off to the castle, the rest of the army following behind him. I trotted next to Lugh, who nodded at me, his grip tightening on his spellbook. I turned and looked at the castle ahead of us. It looked tall and imposing, not at all like the warm and opening castle I had imagined it to be. I swallowed nervously, adjusted the grip on my dagger, and continued into the legendary impregnable Castle Ostia.
Mreh, This chapter was really hard to write. Since a lot was happening around Chad, it seemed in parts that it was in 3rd person. But I can't think of any way to change it, so you'll have to live with it.
SHAMELESS ADVERTISING
For those who don't know Urei Sachi had written a introspective Lugh and Rei fic based on Saga of the Discarded, called "Relative Truth". It is very good, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's reading this. GO AND READ IT NOW! (Hypnosis beams coming out of the computer and forcing you to go and read the fic.)
Chapter 8: The Ostian Rebellion (Part Two) (Still Chad's POV)
R&R Please!