Jax Smallbine: You see, a concept as simple as a physical form for elements is basically water for fantasy story writing. It will fit just about anywhere. I simply chose Tales of Symphonia's incarnation because I feel it would be the one to do it more justice. That, or I could've put in the MGQ variant of the spirits, but let's try to keep this story T rated as long as possible, yeah? (regardless of the fact that I'm gonna add torture scenes) I do not plan to add much more into the mix (Maybe some spells, but I don't know right now). I sincerely hope that nobody is disappointed by this addition, but since I recently started playing the tales games (they were on sale on Steam :D) I just couldn't not throw them into the mix. So yay.
Some Guy In An Ambulance: I think you're referring to the knights in this game? Soldiers have never been known for boasting great defensive stats, but rather an even spread across the whole board and realistically, the armor only protects key points like shoulders and chest. Under that is pretty much cloth (Gaiden's soldier outfit has no helmet) The only exception is RD Aran with his 70% defense growth, but in other games they're more around 35-45% growth. Nick's simply a wimp when it comes to being attacked physically. Never having worked hard in his (my) life and never having fought before makes it so that he can't take a decent hit, and he's not bulky in HP either. I feel like Nick's focus on speed and magic (which I will find a way to get into play, don't worry) would make him closer to a grounded Dark Flier, or for a better comparison, more similar to a more Magic oriented Nephenee. Oh, and he's currently wearing no armor and can't defend himself with magic so don't expect him to tank a hit anytime soon.
I have been having some issues recently so I hope you people won't mind if the chapters coming once a week and may come earlier or later (depending on how I feel). Just don't count on this story being over anytime soon, eh? I'm planning to branch this into Fates and/or Heroes (although the Heroes series would be more about lighthearted shenanigans while Fates would be more serious and dramatic, since I oh so love writing drama. And I hate it. I have a weird relationship with drama, where I'm particularly good (or at least I'm better at it than other genres, I think) but it leaves me a sobbing mess for the days after because I imagine the plight of the characters I write about) so yeah. By the way, the first chapter of False beginnings is up! Go read it! But I'm getting sidetracked here. Anyways, enjoy the chapter, please read and review or from next chapter on, you'll have to pay 4.99USD a chapter to feel a sense of accomplishment about unlocking every different chapter. Toodles!
Chapter 10: Sickle to Lance
Hangovers, despite being a recurrent factor in my life, sucked. Sadly, they were also quite necessary to, as Gaius would say, "functioning as a decent human being." Whenever somebody mentioned his unhealthy obsession with sweets. I'm frankly surprised that he managed to maintain an healthy physique, although that may be partly thanks to Lady Maribelle.
Their mangled corpses in the jaws of a Necro Dragon, barely even recognizable as human-
Yeah let's get off that train of thought right now ok? Ugh. It hasn't been even 5 minutes that I woke up and I already feel the booze calling me. If Inigo was here he would pester me about it to no end. Inigo… I wonder, where is that idiot? Him and Belle crossed the portal together… They're probably following the plan then. Way better than I did…
"Alright kiddies, here's what we're gonna do when you go back into the past. Cynthia, Lucina, you'll play a crucial role here: to meet up with Chrom and join him the Shepherds after being defeated as the champions under the pretense of being Feroxian mercenaries sent by Basilio. While you look indistinct enough that any resemblance may be attributed to coincidence, Cynthia, Lucina, you're gonna have to mask your identity. Your blue hair and mark would be a dead giveaway. For the same reason, I cannot have you wield Falchion for now. I know that it's Chrom's last memoire but- "Lucina cut him off first though "It's alright." She smiled, turning towards Severa, our resident second hand lord, and handing her the sacred blade "I can trust you to do a good job with this while I'm gone?" Severa seemed genuinely surprised for a second, before putting her "tsundere" mask back on, as uncle would call it. "Of course I'm gonna do a good job. Who did you take me for, Lucy?" She huffed, but she was smiling.
"Right, onto that, Severa, you will go by sea here" he pointed to an island to the west of plegia where there were the numbers 10 and 18 "-and deal with whatever obscenities are situated here like pirates and risen, together with Brady. Stay on guard for any news of the war against plegians ending, and when it does rendezvous post haste at the location we decided. Any objections?" He asked. Brady was about to protest, but a kick to the shin by Selena shut him up. "Right. While in Ferox there are pretty strong people, we should still send some of you guys to make sure the situation doesn't get out of hand. Noire, Kjelle, you'll be working respectively in East and West Ferox to make sure that everything goes alright. I myself will place a binding rune at the Ruins of Time so that any influence made by Grima" Their name alone sent a shudder through everyone" is sent there. I doubt that he'd send anybody, but you can never be too careful." We all nodded. "Yarne and Laurent, you two will work in Ylisse, Yarne to investigate the rumors of a possible Taguel colony in the west" Yarne, despite everything, looked like Nagamas came early, even though it was like 3 days ago and we don't celebrate it "while Laurent will continue the research on water based magic." He sighed. "Finally, Owain, Inigo, Gerome, Rose and Belle will scout for seeds of revolution in the Valmese army when Walhart's conquest takes place and unite them, and Nah will check in this island to the east of Ferox for any signs of unnatural activity on Grima's part. Everybody ok with the plan?"
If I knew how much the plan was gonna suck, I would've never agreed with it… of course I had to mess it up before it even started… Sadly though, I was going to have to play my part if we wanted to avoid Grima's world domination… and as much as I wished to, I couldn't hang around with Nick any longer. It was too bad… Lucina and Cynthia are spoiled rotten since they get to be with their relatives. Or maybe not, since they can't tell them about being related. It's so confusing…
Then I suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, Rose." He said in a much more casual tone. "When you meet my other self, can you give this to him?" he said as he handed me a card.
I took the cards out of my pocket. They felt nice to the touch, both filled to the brim with his mana, representing that they belonged to him… it was somehow both reassuring and grim at the same time. I read their names. I realized that, despite being handed these cards by them, I never actually got to read their names.
First I turned the much more obvious card. "Prince Marth, Savior of Altea." And under it, a set of statistics that made it look like they were from a card game.
LODESTAR, LV15,HP31,STR14,MAG2,SKL22,SPD21,LCK20,DEF14,RES10
Huh, aside from magical capabilities the prince did not look bad at all, I mused, realizing that uncle had given me a pretty decent card. So a stranger that barely even knew me cared more for me than my own uncle, I suddenly thought bitterly.
I huffed. "Well, let's see you as well Mrs… Hauteclere?" I stared at the card, unsure of what else to say. The card read "Hauteclere, Divine Blacksmith". Staring back at me was a muscled woman with auburn hair, covered in soot and wearing an apron and a bandanna, topped with a hammer slung over her shoulder. Alright… what about your stats?
WARRIOR, LV10,HP43,STR22,MAG10,SKL16,SPD19,DEF20,RES13
I let out a low whistle as I read the stats. I had the prince of Altea with me, andt he old man was still in his prime. It's too bad I'm gonna have to end up giving him to Uncle. It would've been nice to have bodyguards. I decided to summon Marth, having made my mind.
"You call, milady?" He asked, looking around for any signs of battle around us. I shook my head and smiled sadly at him. "Prince Marth, please stay here to wait for my uncle. I'm gonna have to leave." He nodded at me. "I see. I suppose I couldn't persuade you not to go away, could I?" He shook his head in amusement. "Please, take care of yourself. Peril waits around any corner to strike." I then handed him the other card "Uncle wanted me to hand this to himself when I saw him, but I guess I'm not gonna be around for a while. Could you handle this instead?" "Of course. I will make sure to give it to him." I turned towards the door to leave, when suddenly a hand landed on my shoulder "He would be proud of you." My eyes widened as I registered what he had just said. "Remember that. Always." "Right." And with that, I left. Damn, dust is getting thick in the air. Some even got in my eye. That must be why there's tears in my eyes.
2 days later
I woke up feeling much more rested than before, but still feeling like someone decided that my head was a good place to drop a rock. I was also still in the portal thick molasses thing where I couldn't breathe but I really didn't need to. But how do I leave? I remember the other me telling me that I should've gone to Donnel's village…
I felt the… thing… shift around me as I thought that, and suddenly I was in the sky, pretty close to a village that seemed to be attacked by bandits.
Then I was being dropped at very high speed and holy shit oh my god I'm gonna die-
But the liquid absorbed the fall as we got to the ground, and suddenly I was breathing air again. Covered in unidentified liquid and just had an heart attack, but relatively harmless. It also seems to have let me free when we landed, so that's cool. I still have no idea what that was, but s'okay.
I hear a scream from behind me as I see a villager running towards me, being chased by someone else. I think that's Donnel? Ah, right. Bandits.
"Save yerself! Run!"
I just stared dumbly at the boy in front of me making frantic gestures as he tried to get me to run away with him.
"Oy! Look! The piglet's found a friend! Bwah hah hah!" And there's stereotypical bandit N.3014. Neato.
"Hold on, what's going on here?!" I ask. Haven't even been 5 minutes since I'm awake and I'm already getting into a fight?
"You die now, that's what's going on! Hah!" And the bandit began charging towards us. I put myself in front of Donnel protectively. No idea why, since I'm wearing no armor, but according to the other me I'm a Shepherd, so a common bandit shouldn't be a problem for me, right?
I just stared at the guy charging at us. Well, me, since Donnel is currently running away because he's scared shitless. As for me… Well, I was about to take this bandit seriously, but he's slow. I remember this chapter being relatively easy because I would always do it when my units were level 6-7 but really, what the hell is this guy doing?
I just shifted slightly to the side as his axe is about to chop me in half. While he's slow, I don't doubt that being chopped in half hurts.
We repeat this song and dance while Donnel's staring in a sort of shocked awe for a while before I get tired and knock into his head with the butt of my lance twice, knocking him unconscious. That was disappointing. When did I get so good with a lance anyways? I'm sure that I couldn't do that before.
"Can you tie this guy up?" I ask Donnel. I don't have any rope, and if he doesn't either we're gonna have to do something else. Sadly, he shakes his head no. I feared he would say that.
"Well." I huffed. "Then we're gonna have to make do like this." I reverse my grip on the killer lance as I thrust it into his chest. The unconscious bandit whimpers, but doesn't wake up, so I just repeat the process until he dies before returning the lance to its rightful place on my back. Also apparently that was enough to snap Donnel out of his trance, because he comes up to me and shouts "That was amazing! How'd ya do that? You just dodged out of the way like it was nothing!" He's basically in my face. Personal space, much?
"Hold on. Now that there are no nuisances, could you tell me what the hell was going on? There must have been a reason that guy was chasing you. Was your village attacked? Oh, and who are you?" I asked. I knew that it WAS attacked, but I couldn't tell him that now couldn't I? Without the view from the air I had before the village's barely in sight.
"Ah! Right! That rotten-toothed pig stinkin' bandit ye just ran off attacked us! Damns them… 'nyways, name's Donnel and please help me! I'm the only one who got out, n' barely! Please, ya gotta help me save me folks! Ma's all I got in this world!" He says in just one breath. Alright, sure. I was heading there anyways, and seems like there's no Shepherds here to take care of the bandits. Does that mean that canonically Donny gets killed? That's sad. I thought paralogues were canon. Or maybe this is AU. I don't know. Anyways…
"Sure. Lead the way."
There were a couple of differences here than canon. Like, the fact that the bandit didn't come back so he couldn't warn the enemy of our arrival, and the fact that the enemy's hands were already full dealing with someone else. Oh, and it didn't immediately become night. It barely took us half an hour to get there.
Marth. Holy shit did the prince of Altea put the bandits to shame. He was dodging left and right with ease, looking like he was barely grazed by the enemy as he continued dodging. However, since six bandits were dogpiling on him, he had to focus on dodging so much that he couldn't counter and he seemed to be tiring. In the meantime,
"Come on Donny! We need to save your village, right?" I told him. He was shaking like a leaf, but nodded…
And charged in the middle of the group attacking Marth (which consisted of four axe wielding bandits and two archers), shouting like a madman. I had to go after him to prevent him from getting himself killed since it was sort of my fault. With his bronze lance there wasn't much he could do, but luckily, the bandits seemed to realize this as well and focus on Marth once again, who in the meantime had already dealt with one of them with his Falchion. I held two of the axe wielding bandits at bay abusing the long range of my lance while managing to graze their shoulders and nick the left one in the side. One tries to jump onto me but I jump back, holding my shield up to block an arrow. The more wounded guy decides to chuck his axe at me and I hold up my shield again, making the hand axe impact against it. Even though I blocked it, it still hurts like a bitch. I decide to return the favour and gripping the killer lance like a javelin, I chuck it at the bandit who clearly didn't expect it because he just stood there frozen as the lance lands square in his eye, ending any chance that he could have at banditry. Damn, that's morbid.
I look for a second towards Donnel and see that him and Marth are still dealing with the other four bandits, locked at a standstill as the two archers keep chucking arrows at them. Damn. No help's coming my way then.
Alright, alright, what to do… angry bandit coming at me…
An idea comes to my mind. Maybe if I just…
I unstrap the shield from my arm. I know it's not a good idea but I've got to try. I shout "LUNA!" before launching my shield at the bandit, captain America style. As it travels, its edges suddenly become sharp as the shield cuts straight into the bandit, before bouncing off to kill the bandits attacking Marth and going towards Roddick and killing him as well, before returning to my hand, without a single stratch or imperfection on it.
Yeah, right. I wish.
What actually happened is that I did launch my shield like a frisbee towards the bandit and as it impacted against his chest, I began running. My shield arm is still throbbing from the hit I took so it's not like I was gonna use it anyways, but at least it makes for a useful distraction as the bandit, confused, doesn't notice me picking up my Killer lance again and charge towards him. I try to come up with an epic quote to say while I kill him, but nothing comes to mind while I pierce his chest. A shame. While I normally would feel sad, or guilty, or anything, these guys are BANDITS. I don't care what their life stories are, they still turned to robbing and killing people and enjoy it. I have no mercy to offer for these guys.
I turn towards my other two fellows in time to see Donnel let out an animalistic roar and holy shit he just rammed his spear up that guy's ass ow ow
The other bandits are dead as well, and while Donny looks a bit bruised and his pot slightly more dented, he looks no worse for the wear than me, if a bit winded. Marth remains somehow without a scratch and looking fabulous as always. Asshole.
"So, are there more of them, or did you take care of the rest, Marth…?" And then I realize something. This is Marth. Prince of Altea. Very much four thousand years old. With the blue einherjar aura around him. Seeing my confusion, he says "We'll talk later. Right now there are four more bandits inside, and their leader. We should proceed with caution. Also, if I may, why are you not summoning Roy?" I have Roy? It would've been nice to know that beforehand… but I'm also magically exhausted, and I have no idea how to summon him. I simply shake my head no before telling him "We'll talk later about that too." And so we started sneaking inside the building. Well, more like not making our presence immediately known, but whatever. It's not like you can exactly sneak in a building after having fought outside quite noisily.
I took a peek inside and saw that there were the four bandits, two archers, a thief and a brigand to be exact, plus Roddick sitting leaning against the wall smirking to himself with a woman kneeled before him with tears in her eyes, gagged, both facing towards us. And around them a sickening scene… the corpses of the villagers hanging from racks as if they were in a butchery, their bodies opened us for us to see their guts. Had I eaten something in the past few days, I think I would've vomited.
"Well, well well. Lookie who arrived here. The little rat and his friends. Decided to get rowdy with my boys, eh? Welp. I've decided to get rowdy with the little villagers. How's that? Sounds pretty fair to me." We stand in the doorway, stunned at the spectacle going on before us. Donnel's trembling and tears start leaking out of his eyes. He looks like he can barely keep the lance between his hands. Roddick raises his Silver axe, making us all raise our guard. "Oh. By the way. This nice lady was your mother, wasn't she? Look at how pretty her face is. Yes. Very pretty indeed. So pretty that I'll let you see it up close!" And with that he brings his axe down onto her neck before tossing her head our way. We're all just frozen. Donnel's trembling even more than before.
"So what will you do, lamb? Run away like before from the big, scary wolf? You're pathetic. Come on, c'mere and let me bring this nice axe down your neck. Don't you wanna see your mommy?" he spits on her body for good measure, and apparently that was the last straw because Donnel suddenly snapped and charged forward, screaming. It wasn't a comprehensible scream, something that only someone in that much pain could do. As he did that, all hell broke loose.
Marth began fighting the archers as Donny went for their leader with as much rage as humanly possible, being twice as fast and hitting twice as hard as before. I was faced with the bandit, who tried to slash me across the chest twice with his axe before decking me across the face, surprising me. As I reeled back nearing the wall, an arm snaked around my neck bringing a knife to my throat. As I struggled to avoid being gutted like a fish, the first bandit came towards me and tried to give me a new haircut with his axe, but I gently refused and suggested my friend take it, by grabbing his arms and turning around so I was facing the wall and the thief was facing the bandit. Not expecting it, the bandit dug the axe into his buddy's head, killing him. As soon as I felt his grip slacken I turned back towards the first bandit who was now disarmed and pointed my lance at him as he tries to charge me, only to get impaled by my killing lance, snapping it in two with his weight. Damn. I have just the Wing Spear now.
I turn towards the rest of our squad to see that Marth was dealing with the archers while Donnel's still duking it out with Roddick. I briefly wonder if I should help Donnel but right as I'm about to step in he suddenly jumps back before charging and shouting "This is for Ma'!" And he impales him. He retracts his lance and "This is for Pa'!" Again "For Jerry!" Again "Fo' Susan!" Again "For Rose!" What? "For everyone!" And with one final stab he ends the bandit's pathetic life. He drops to his knees next to his mother and starts crying "*sob* Oh Ma'… if only I was stronger…" I step in to put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Donnel." And I truly am. I'm fairly sure that this was my fault. I didn't see it coming, but me killing that bandit made it so that they wanted to take revenge on us. I'm not gonna be stupid and say "Ah it's all my fault boohoo" because it's not. It's like, 10% my fault. It was still this kind of scum who did this. I'm not gonna blame myself, because I honestly could not know, but I WILL make up for it. I will protect Donnel. I'll make sure he gets to join the Shepherds. He needs a family more than anything now. This stupid war suddenly feels that much more real.
Then the last bandit decides to ruin everything by shooting me in the fucking side. You know, my unprotected, very much made of flesh side. I'll admit to it being my fault, since I wasn't paying attention, but still. Emotional moment, yo. This is supposed to a be a cutscene or something.
Marth beheads the fucker for good measure.
As I'm still keeled over, Marth comes close to me and says, with a gentle smile "We must remove the arrow. On my 3, alright?" Oh no. Nonono "1" But he's already removed the arrow. "MOTHER FUCKER PIECE OF SHIT GODDAMNIT WHORE ASSHOLE!" Both of them are staring wide eyed at me after that string of slurs. I just give them both my best deadpan and ask "What? Any of you gonna help me or you want me to bleed out?"
Donny rushes over to me and uses a concoction of herbs and stuff before covering my wound with bandages. It feels funny, but better than having an open wound
"Thanks for da help with da bandits." He spat the word bandits with as much venom as possible. "'m sorry… could ye let me bury these bodies? Them folks need a proper burial instead of being hung like pigs." We nodded and stepped away. He needed some time to grieve as well. I also needed to explain the situation to Marth since he seems to know me.
"So… you seemed to know me. Sadly, a failed divination seems to have-" "It didn't go like this the other time." Marth says, somber. Huh?
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The last time we did this we protected the village. All the people were safe. We made it out like heroes. But this… this is but a slaughter. How many people need to die in this sick scheme of Grima?"
"I don't know. What I do know, is that we're working so that the future may shine brighter. There will always be evil and war, but there will also be the good guys like us to protect the peace." Holy fuck did that sound cheesy. But it needed to be said.
"I know. I should probably dismiss myself. I need some time to myself. Milady Rose left you a gift." And suddenly, two more cards appeared in my pocket. I took them all in hand and read them.
Marth, Savior of Altea
Hauteclere, Divine Blacksmith
Roy, Young Lion
Huh. I hope I regain my memory soon so that I can remember what these people meant to me. As I ponder that, I realize that Donny's walking towards me.
"Have you made up your mind about where you'll go? I don't think it would be wise to stay in a ghost village. I would suggest traveling with me to Ylisstol." "Yeah. I wanna become an hero my Ma' n' Pa' would be proud of." He smiled. And with that, after salvaging whatever was salvageable, we headed off towards Ylisstol on a grim, if thankfully slightly lighter note.
That happened. It sucked. But you know what? It's okay. Also, I'm adding OCs left and right like there's no tomorrow. Thankfully we won't have them all at the same time as Rose left and we won't be seeing her for a while. Also, yay, I spoil even more ships! Go me.
About Hauteclere, hmmm… Well, I always thought it weird that there was an axe that could rival the power of the three Regalia (21 might and works as an elixir, yo) and have it just pop out of existence with unknown origins. Meanwhile, all the way in Valentia there is a blacksmith who can forge the Fucking Falchion™ and other divine weapons like it's nothing. So I went like "Hmmmmm…" and there you have her.
I don't really have much to say about this chapter aside from posting stats. I originally planned Donnel to not have aptitude but in turn have decent bases, but his growths are terrible without it. So yeah, I can strip Marth of it, but definitely not Donnel. Also, have an omake. Read it. *drops mic*
Nick
Lv 12 Exp 27
Class: Soldier
Hp: 12/27 65%
Str: 14 50%
Mag:12 (0) 55%
Skl: 14 60%
Spd: 16 60%
Lck: 7 45%
Def: 9 30%
Res: 18 (0) 65%
*in which the () are current stats.
Status:
-Memory Loss
-?
Skills:
-Riposte
-Toss
Items:
-Killer Lance Mt 10 28/30 Hit 85% Crit 30%
-Wing Spear Mt 8 28/28 Hit 90% Crit 10% Effective against mounted and armored units.
-Rescue 5/5
Supports:
Marth: C
Marth
Lodestar, Lv 17 Exp 31
Hp: 33
Str: 16
Mag: 3
Skl: 24
Spd: 22 60%
Lck: 22 70%
Def: 15 35%
Res: 11 20%
Skills:
-Gentle Blade
-Charm
Inventory:
-Phantom Falchion: Mt 8 Hit 85% Effective againt dragons. Holds only a fraction of its original power.
Supports:
Caeda: S
Nick: C
Donnel
Villager, Lv 4 Exp 23
Hp: 20 105%
Str: 7 75%
Mag: 2 35%
Skl: 5 65%
Spd: 6 70%
Def: 6 65%
Res: 2 40%
Skills:
-Aptitude
-Rage (From RD)
Inventory:
-Bronze Lance
-Silver Axe
-Vulnerary
Omake: Nobody knows how to cook
"Alright *huff* we've done it!" After leaving the village, we've realized that we had no provisions and no money. So what did we do? We hunted a boar. Well, it was mostly Donny since I'm still wounded, but still. Now we gotta eat the boar. But then I remembered something from Robin's support conversation with Donnel.
He doesn't know how to cook.
"Alright. We've caught a boar." I say.
Donnel hums in response.
"I don't know how to cook it." I continue.
"I don't either." He says.
"So…" I trail off before an idea lights up in my head.
"Come, Marth!" I shout. After telling him of my situation, he reminded me how to summon an einherjar. It's easier than I thought.
"Enemies?" He asks, looking around.
"Well… no. But neither of us know how to cook a boar, so…"
"You summoned me. To cook a boar." He says, with an annoyed expression on his face.
"Kind of?"
"No, let me reiterate that. You summoned me" He points to himself.
"Yes?"
"The Prince of Altea."
"Yesss?"
"A prince who never had to cook for himself."
"Well…"
"Not your brightest idea, huh?"
"Definitely not." I sigh. This is proving harder than I thought.
"Well then. Roy!" I shout.
"You called?" He asks.
"We need to cook a boar."
"Why not ask Marth? I think he knows how to cook a boar." He asks, curious.
"He doesn't know how."
He turns towards Marth, who just shakes his head.
"Well, can you do it?"
"Well, the servants in the castle always cooked for me and father…"
I sigh. Well, last chance.
"Hauteclere! Come forth!"
"What do you want, kid?"
"Well, none of us know how to cook a boar, and we were wondering if…"
"SO let me get this straight. None of you know how to cook a boar, so you asked me to cook?"
"Well… yes?"
"I work with metals kid, not meat."
We all just stared at the dead boar, impaled on Donny's bronze lance.
"Well… I don't really like boar…" I begin.
"I hate boar meat." Donny "confesses".
"Us Einherjars do not need to eat." Marth says.
"I'm actually intolerant to boar!" Roy chuckles.
"I'm on a diet." Hauteclere says, with a dead serious face.
Nobody ended up eating boar that night.
