- Chapter Nine -

Playing with Fire

I awoke in a dark room. Cold. Dark cold surrounded me... Even the thick, fluffy covers couldn't protect me from the chill of the night. Oddly, I felt awake. Fully awake. I pushed aside the sheets, realizing that the pain in my side was gone. The bandages were still on, though. Maybe Lissa applied some numbing salve or something. I'd best not overdo it, just to be safe. I fumbled around in the dark room, searching for a mobile form of warmth. My hand smacked against the door, and I felt a fluffy coat hanging from a peg. I grabbed the cloak hastily off of its hanger, wrapping my torso in its furry warmth. With a struggled tug, I yanked on the thick wooden door, making it creak under the strain.

I took a step out into the hallway. No one seemed to be there. Faint torch light glowed from the other end of the hall, and I found myself slowly walking towards it. I looked around the corner. No one there either... But what's over there? I walked towards a more subtle light. A cold waft of air hit me in the face like a wall of ice. I shivered as my chin buried itself into the warm hood of my coat. I took another step forward and realized that it was moonlight. I found myself looking down over the courtyard, where several knights patrolled the grounds. Quiet crackles of flame accompanied the gentle howls of wind as I looked for someone. Anyone, really.

... Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... That's odd. It sounds like footsteps. Maybe it's one of the guards... Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... They're getting closer... Maybe it's not? It sounds like they're behind me... Odd. I turned to look behind me. Nobody was there. Strange... I looked down the hall to my right. No one there... A shadow fell over me as a I looked forward again. I turned my head to the left...

"Hey." The gruff voice called. "Trouble sleeping?" I looked up into the silhouette of a man, it looked like. But the voice was a dead giveaway.

"H-Hello, L-Lon'qu." I muttered through chattering teeth. The swordsman stepped forward, out of the shadows, allowing the torch light to illuminate his face. He rested his elbows on the balcony next to me, sighing as he too looked out over the courtyard.

"If you're cold, you should go to the barracks downstairs. Frederick started a fire down there." Lon'qu said, still staring straight ahead. Suddenly he stiffened, eyes widening like a cat before chasing its prey. "Something's not right." He muttered, eyes scanning the courtyard. "Go warm up. I'll check it out." He added, pushing me to the side as he walked towards the stairs, barking at a guard who stood in his way. Without hesitation, the guard stepped to the side, and Lon'qu disappeared down the steps.

"Go warm up? How can he stand this weather? Even if he lives up here..." I mumbled to myself. I walked off towards the opposite end of the castle, catching a glimpse of a flickering light in a window downstairs. My feet scurried down the stone steps, boots clopping as I marched forward. When I reached the room, I realized that I couldn't see through the window. It was frosted up. Eh. Might as well... I breathed softly on the glass, rubbing my coat sleeve around in a circle to clear up the image. I tried to peer inside, but all I could see was a fire and a few people talking around it. One figure I recognized to have orange hair. ...Oh Lord, no. Oh well, it's worth it. I took a deep breath before tugging on the door. I pulled myself in the room, gently easing the door back into place. The warmth of the fire instantly began to thaw out my body, and I was still meters away.

"Bubbles! Just the person I wanted to see!" Gaius called, hopping up from his seat on the ground near the fire. Stahl lay curled up in a pile of blankets, eyes closed as he breathed softly. He was asleep. Cordelia sat with her hands under her legs, leaning forward from the couch towards the fireplace. Frederick squatted near the blazing fire, prodding at the ashes with a stick. Gaius threw a wad of candy wrappers into the fire, then proceeded. "I've been looking up on yo–"

"Gaius! You don't throw candy wrappers into a FIRE!" Frederick cried, frantically trying to fling the plastic trash out using his stick.

"Sorry, Sir Lancelot. I'm fine with it as is." Gaius retorted, not bothering to look back at Frederick, who stopped prodding to give the candy-loving thief a cold glare. Gaius rolled his eyes. "He's glaring at me, isn't he?" He asked, popping a mint into his mouth. "Anyway, Bubbles. I've done some spying on ol' creepy dark Mage like you suggested. I... Uh... Well, there's good and bad news..."

I shrugged as I began to walk over towards the couch. "Okay... Go on."

"The good news is... That I haven't found her spying on you at all lately!" Gaius forced a smile as he crunched down on his candy. Then his face fell. "And because of that, the bad news is... I can't find her at all."

"Oh... I see." I said, sitting down in front of the fire, watching Frederick pull the last few wrappers out of the flames. Gaius sat down beside me with a sigh, and began to unwrap another candy. "Don't you ever wonder if you'll get diabetes?" I asked, watching him as he stuck the lollipop in his mouth. He paused, then looked up in contemplation.

"Why, no. I don't. Why's 'at, Bubbles?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because at the rate you're going... Let's just say you're on the fast track there." I smirked. Gaius' face fell again, and he frowned immediately afterwards.

"Ya know what? I'm gone. Good bye!" He announced, shoving his candy into his pockets. He stood and made for the door. "I'll go and eat my sweets in peace."

"You mean into pieces, right?" I smiled. The door slammed behind him as Gaius stormed away, candies and all. "Somebody's got a temper..." I murmured, scooting forward towards the fire.

Frederick stopped prodding the ashes, then threw the stick in. "That should do it." He said, pulling himself to his feet. "You two should be off to bed. It's getting late." He reached down and slung the sleeping Stahl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "After all, we have an early morning tomorrow. Good night." He said. Heavy feet retreated towards the door, Stahl bouncing up and down with every step he took. The door squeaked open... Then once again closed. I was alone. No wait...

"How are you recovering?" A soft voice asked from behind me. At that, I began sweating, nervousness taking control. How was I supposed to talk to her?

"Goo–Wel–Fine. Fine." I tried to grin, looking at her from the corner if my eye. That didn't come out right. Oh wait... She's coming towards me...? Crap, what am I supposed to do? And now she's sitting beside me. Cool. That's... Cool... Oh boy, my cheeks are ablaze... And no that's not from the flames. Why was I having these sudden changes in my feelings? Did I really have a crush on her–? Oh... That makes sense.

"You don't sound too confident." Cordelia stated, gazing into the fire.

I gulped silently, hugging my knees to my chest. "Well, it's all thanks to Lissa's healing. How long was I out?" I asked, burying my face into my knees.

"Just a day or two. You had major blood loss, but nothing worse." She said, scooting closer. Wait... Closer...? What is she doing? What is she doing?!

A loud clank and the door burst open. Thank God! Whew, that was close... Oh dear. There's Lon'qu. He doesn't look too happy. The swordsman grunted at the sight of us, and Cordelia immediately pulled back from almost leaning on me. "Ae'dyn, you might want to see this!" He exclaimed, hair tossing in the cold outside breeze.

"What's going on?" I asked, standing to my feet. I grabbed my coat, and Cordelia followed right on my heels. "Is there something wrong?"

Lon'qu frowned as he continued gruffly. "Plegia's here. And it looks like they're ready to fight a war."


"I don't like it. How many do you think there are?" I asked skeptically, as Chrom and I gazed out at the army in the distance. Not much could be seen under the cover of night, even from the high walls of Castle Ferox.

"Easily seven hundred. Just a small army. Seems they're here to bargain, not fight." The Prince replied with a frown, his eyes dancing in the dim torch light. "I don't like it either."

"I'd say there's about a thousand..." I answered, folding my arms as Chrom looked back at me.

"We'll see."

A loud crack of wind thudded against the wall repeatedly. Hooves hit the stone floor. "Captain!" I recognized Cordelia's voice as another set of wings landed beside her.

"They don't appear to be here for hostile intentions." Sumia stated, unfastening the harness and jumping off of her Pegasus.

The other knight nodded. "We flew directly over them. They had a few mages, but they merely eyed us instead of attacking. It's just a small group of Plegians." Cordelia sighed, looking back over her shoulder at the dark shadow of the distant army.

"At least seven hundred of them." Sumia added, nodding in agreement.

Chrom chuckled in amusement, laying a firm hand on my shoulder. "Good guess."

"Sure." I smirked in reply, gazing out past Cordelia. "What do we do now, Chrom? It's your call."

The Prince gave a heavy sigh before frowning angrily. "We offer parley."


"Chrom? Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, close behind the prince as he strode towards the Plegian general's tent, cape flowing in the cold morning breeze. The sun had not yet risen, but there was a slightly brighter tinge that lit the sky near the horizon, signaling the upcoming dawn.

"The bastards already took my sister from me! They don't deserve to live!" Chrom seethed, eyebrows furrowing as he clenched his fists firmly at his sides.

"Chrom, you're overthinking this. Take a deep breath and–"

"I don't need your remarks at trying to ease my stubbornness. I've made up my mind, and someone's gonna pay the price!" Chrom nearly shouted, leaving me to fall behind while contemplating his words. He wasn't thinking. He was acting. And that was something that a leader shouldn't do under these circumstances.

"Chrom! Be quiet! This whole camp can hear you! If you talk bad about them here, I promise you their forces won't be so–"

"-So what? They won't be so forgiving? They've come to wage war, and Naga be praised, I'm going to kill off every single one of their sorry corpses!" Yet another nonsensical remark... This was getting out of hand.

"Shut up, Chrom!" I breathed through gritted teeth. "Every one of them can hear your ranting! Try to think! You're a leader, not some bloodthirsty, vengeful rage-king!" I paused to take a breath, and the words seemed to finally penetrate into Chrom's ears.

He turned slowly, stopping in his tracks as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're right. I'm better than this. Look, I'm sorry. Let's try to deal with this humanely... If we can. Maybe there's a way to avoid another war. God, if there was only a way to bring her back..." He looked up into the starry sky, somewhat diluted by the torchlight of the Plegian campsite that we had been walking through for the past few minutes. The Plegians had organized a small committee to discuss the terms... And it involved walking straight through their sleeping army.

Chrom and I both didn't like it one bit, so we had decided to take a few other arms to help raise the confidence. Frederick was a human wall. He could just as easily thrust a spear through a man's torso as could he block a striking halberd before it hit his impeccably spotless armor. Lon'qu had the skill and speed that legends were made of. Taking down him would take more than fifty armed soldiers. Something this camp had only in sleeping droves. I had positioned Sumia and Cordelia up in the sky, watching in case something went wrong. That way there would be witnesses. It wasn't wise for Chrom to meet with the general face-to-face, due to the likelihood of it being a trap, but the Prince had refused to stay behind, and thus had begun his now widespread ranting about how horrible the situation was. By now, half the continent knew how bitter the Prince's feelings were towards the Plegians.

"As sad as it is, there isn't a way to bring her back. But you're meant to take her place. She would've wanted you to be strong." I said, gazing at my friend as his hair draped from his head like a curtain. Finally, he looked back up, a slight glimmer of a tear in his eye. "Come on, where's the Chrom we all know and love?" I added with a grin, making him smirk slightly in response. He quickly wiped the tear from his eye with the back of his hand. He sighed forcefully, and regained his composure as we began walking once more towards the General's tent. "There's something here that is meant for much more. Something that keeps us all together. Something, that I think, even fate can't destroy. We can't let those ties end loosely."

"You're right. After all, such bonds are the true strength of our army." Chrom said, then paused and gazed forward as the tent neared into view.

"Where'd you hear that?" I asked, smiling to myself as I realized that the real Chrom was just starting to return. Why does that sound familiar...? I wondered to myself.

"I think I said something like that a while back..." Chrom muttered as he tapped his chin. "But it doesn't really matter too much. We have a deal to reach with these... Uh..." He obviously stopped in search of a better, less-insulting word. "... These clowns." He smirked lightly as we approached the large tent. This was going to be the one meeting that I dreaded to attend.


"Prince Chrom... I strongly suggest that you take heed to my king's offer." A well-tanned man with a long draping robe boomed in a gruff tone. He had a battle scar across his left jaw that ran all the way to his chin, and it was still pink, meaning that it was probably fresh to some extent. The man's bushy eyebrows and bald head would have given him the appearance of a tough guy... If it wasn't for the fear in his eyes that glistened as if trying to tell him that he should be careful about who was in front of him. Before Chrom or I had a chance to interject, he continued. "You have already slaughtered our best troops in that unfortunate encounter near the midmire. And both of our armies lie in shambles as it is. Would you be such a fool as to–"

"If anyone's being a fool here, it is you, General Byan. Your pig-faced king has taken the life of my own sister, and I intend to end his mad reign. Are we clear?!" Chrom said stiffly, a furrow in his brow telling the unfazed Plegians to back off. When Chrom had his mind made, there were few who could stop him.

The General sighed, backing up with his hands in the air. "Clear is a point of view. From your side of the window it looks clear. From my side, I see death and destruction following in your footprints." He whispered something to another officer, who turned to talk to a guard. The guard rested his hand on a concealed book beneath his robes. At this, Lon'qu flinched, tapping his sword hilt with his hand as he eyed the guard keenly. "I didn't think it would come to this." He waited for a response from Chrom, but was given only silence. He grunted and turned to look outside. "So be it, Ylisseans."

A flick of a hand. Lon'qu flashed out with a streaking sword. Screams filled the tent as the guard was cut in two by his blade. Another guard released a blast of lightning that caught Frederick in the shoulder, sending him crashing to the floor. Within a matter of seconds, the entire room was ablaze. Chrom unsheathed Falchion, impaling a counsel member who was about to cast a fire spell on us. By this time, I had drawn Ragnell, and I blindly ran towards a guard that was behind the thick cloud of smoke. A cry of pain confirmed my trajectory.

Frederick yelled through the noises, "We'd best get out of here!" But gained the attention of only two of us. Lon'qu kindly sliced through the two remaining guards that blocked the exit, and we began to leave. Then I saw Chrom. He was standing over a cowering General Byan, who was pleading for Chrom to change his mind. The Prince ignored this plea, and instead raised his blade. What happened next was only known to me by the screams and splats that rang out through the tent. The three of us ran out of the tent, and Chrom followed soon after. "Come! There's little time before they raise the alarm and the whole army attacks us!" Frederick shouted as our footsteps quickened into a run.

A few Plegians tried to stop our escape, but were either slammed into the ground by Frederick's fist, cut in two by Lon'qu's blade, mauled into pieces by Falchion, or stabbed by Ragnell. When at last the forest approached, our fears had been realized. "They raised the alarm!" Lon'qu yelled, watching as Plegians began to pour out of their tents, charging straight for us.

"Damn it! Move!" I cried, ducking as fireballs flew sizzling over out heads. We pushed past the bushes, dashing through the underbrush. As if right on cue, an opening appeared, and two Pegasi and an armored horse stood in the field. Sumia and Cordelia jumped up in surprise, gasping as hordes of Plegians tore through right after us. "Go! Go! GO!" I yelled, trying to dodge while running and not pulling a Sumia. The two girls hopped on their saddles, and quickly reached out their hands towards us. I glanced back as we ran up to the riders. Hundreds of warriors stampeded after us, hands and weapons flying. Frederick swing himself up on his horse, somehow able to both run and jump with all his armor on. Lon'qu leapt through the air and landed on the horse's rump, pulling himself onto the saddle behind Frederick. The two quickly took off riding through the frosty grass. Chrom lunged forward onto Sumia's Pegasus. I desperately grabbed Cordelia's hand, swinging myself up behind her. "GO!" I shouted, and both Pegasus left the ground not a moment too soon.

Balls of fire and lightning crackled overhead. Taking off to the clouds, we finally escaped the vicious assault. "Oh Naga, that was close!" Cordelia gasped, taking a deep breath as she gripped the reigns tightly in her hands.

"Thanks... for the lift." I panted, clutching onto her stomach as the wind pounded my face. Finally we leveled out, and rose above the low clouds, out of the range of the Mages. Through the blanketing fog, I could barely make out Frederick's horse, which rode unimpeded through the plains below. Ahead of them lay a forest, but the Plegians were too far behind to be able to catch up anytime soon. After a few minutes, Castle Ferox came into view, and Cordelia threw the Pegasus into a dive. That got me thinking. "Hey, what happened to Caeda?" I asked over the wind.

"She couldn't make it. We had to put her down after she got wounded in the midmire. A Wyvern bit her in the neck... I tried to break free, but there's not much you can do. It was a long fall, but that happened shortly after you passed out. In fact, that's why you were on the ground." Cordelia explained.

"Wait, you caught me before I hit the ground?" I asked. If so, that made sense why I saw a flash of red right before I blacked out. Cordelia nodded in reply, and a rush of air silenced my response. The Pegasus flapped her wings rapidly as we prepared to land in the Castle courtyard. Hooves clopped on stone as we landed with a forceful plop. "Thanks." I said, unwrapping my arms and hopping down. I turned to help her off, and my body froze. Why aren't I moving? I forced myself forward with a jerk of my hand, and began to feel a warmth against it. I blinked in shock as I realized that I had helped her down from the Pegasus with my hand. She... She was holding my... My hand. Okay. I felt a heat burning in my cheeks as she smiled warmly at me. It sounded like she said something, but I was too lost in thought.

"Ae'dyn?" The soft voice echoed through my head. I blinked a few times, then regained my focus, only to see that she was still right there. "Ae'dyn, are you blushing?" Cordelia giggled, brushing aside her hair as she walked past me.

I followed after her immediately. "Who, me? No, I'm not blushing." I stammered, hoping I sounded confident enough.

Cordelia looked at me through the corner of her eye. "Oh come now. You don't seriously 'like' me, do you?" She deadpanned, face blank of any sign of a laugh.

"Nope. Not me... No..." I replied as I fought back the blush. Why was I acting like this? Cordelia is my FRIEND, not my love. Did I seriously have a crush on her? Was that it? Why Cordelia? Was there something else I liked about her? What was it? No, I had a crush on Sumia. No one else. My mind raced as we approached the strategy room, where the others already stood. I couldn't begin to think about being in a relationship. Especially with anyone but Sumia. Definitely not now. Not when we're in a war. Not when I need to focus on the task at hand. Apparently my body and my mind weren't in sync. I heard a deep sigh coming from Chrom as I entered the room, and thus the planning for the upcoming battle began.


"With their commanding officer now dead, that army will be forced to flee back to Plegia." Chrom said, gesturing to the map, and drawing a path with his finger towards the west. "Gangrel will march here to take us on himself no doubt. Unless..."

"No Chrom, there isn't an 'unless'." I stated, folding my arms in front of my chest. Chrom opened his mouth again. "No, don't finish that, you'll–"

"We must attack Plegia before Gangrel–"

"Naga! Do you want to become like your father?! Is that it?" A silence followed that almost shamed me for saying such a cruel thing. "Slaughtering Plegia will not help ease the pain of Emmeryn's death! If you want retribution, then take it out on the man, not the country!"

"My father was unjust. He cared not for life, nor did he have the brain to think about what he was doing–"

"You speak of him as if he was a mindless monster–"

"And you know what? He just might have been." Chrom continued. "If Plegia is in disarray, then now is our chance to strike. If we catch them off guard before they have time to regroup, then we'll have the upper hand."

"No." I muttered, teeth clenched. Chrom glared daggers at me, eyes glassy with annoyance. "There's a better way to go about this."

"I'm not going to let him stand for what he's done."

"You know what Chrom? He'll pay. Naga bless Ylisse, he will pay. But you don't have to be death's agent!" I found myself on the verge of trying to hogtie the Prince so that I could gain some control over the situation.

"Yes I do. Marth said so herself." Chrom retorted, obviously amused with his response.

"You made a mistake, milord." It was Frederick who interrupted our heated argument. Chrom turned to him in slight reluctance, shaking his head.

"Go on, Frederick."

"Milord, they won't attack us up here. They can't afford to. That party was meant to offer a peace treaty. The General said so himself." Frederick moved in closer to the map laid out on the table, pointing to Ylisstol. "They've got what they came for. They killed the Exalt. Now unless he plans on coming after you to murder the last of the family, he'll stay put. He's not dumb enough to fall for attacking a fully gunned Ferox. He knows they have an army here."

I saw this as an opportunity to speak up. "You know, he does have a point, Chrom. There's no sense in going after him if he's–"

"Shepherds, we march for Plegia!" Chrom yelled, walking out of the room with heavy footsteps.

"No!"

Frederick hesitated. "Um, Milord, that's not exactly–"

"No! No, Chrom! Dammit! We can't do that!" I yelled desperately, leaving the table to shout down the hall. "Dammit, Chrom! Get back here!" Just then, someone came up behind me, running towards Chrom. "Sumia..." I looked in horrified shock as the girl I loved ran up to Chrom and kissed him. My jaw dropped in stunned silence. First he decides to obliterate an army for the sake of vengeance, and now he's managed to win over the only girl I might forever love. So that's where her heart truly lied all this time.

I couldn't say another word. I had to think this out. I ran past the war room, out the double doors, and into the courtyard. From there, my feet flew up the stairs and I soon found myself in my room. I felt like a teenage girl fleeing the wrath of her angry mother. Crap. What's next? Sumia leaves me over some cold-blooded Prince. Emmeryn dies because of my failure. Everyone gets almost slaughtered because of my carelessness in the midmire. And now we're marching blindly into a brawl with Plegia we could not possibly hope to win.

After a few minutes of stressful thinking, I decided that I'd better go with the plan and help strategize. No matter how unruly Chrom was, he couldn't win this war without some source of brain. And it definitely wasn't going to come from anyone with the likes of Vaike. I reached for the knob, but a rasp on the door stopped me cold.

"Ae'dyn?" It was Chrom. Outstanding. "Listen, I know you really disagree with me, but I honestly think that–"

"Shut up." I mumbled, and was met with silence. Breathe, Ae'dyn. Breathe. "Look Chrom. I just have one question."

"I'm listening." He sounded almost upset. I could understand why.

"What would Emmeryn do?" The words pained me to even say her name, but it was true. And beyond true, it was completely relevant. The silence that followed made me slightly worried. Worried that I had pushed it a bit too far.

"She would have forgiven them." The reply was slow. As if spoken by someone who had a burning fever. I opened the door, peering through at the Prince who had his head bowed low. "It wasn't Gangrel's fault she died. She did it to save me from another war. She did it for the people. To protect our hope. To keep the Fire Emblem out of the wrong hands." Now we were getting somewhere.

"Look. Let's think this through. We can't jeopardize the peace that she died for. But we've got to fight for it whenever we can. If we were to put an end to all this corruption, we'd need to do it now. There is a way to make this work, if we just plan before charging into battle. If we can meet Gangrel's forces before they regroup, we'll have the advantage. Just like Frederick said. It'll have to be fast though."

"You are right. Thoughtlessness is a risk I can't afford to take. My father would have killed them all, my sister would have forgiven them. But for the protection of the peace that Emm offered the world, we must defeat the only source of corruption we face." Chrom smiled, clapping me on the shoulder. "Now let's get back to that war room, friend."


A/N: I've been getting advice to shape up the structure and length of my paragraphs. Let me reassure you, I will fix this problem in later chapters. In fact, I already have. I am incredibly busy and don't quite have the time to edit the paragraphs right now. I apologize if this bothers you currently, but starting a few chapters from now, it will not be happening much again. Thank you for understanding.

I will hopefully be able to upload another chapter before Christmas. Sadly, I don't have a special chapter for the season, but I might do something else for on the side... Keep your eyes open.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review if you have any comments, critiques, or questions related to the story itself!

And as always, my friends, have an incredible day!

- Shadow