Disclaimer- I am officially flat out broke XD…and it sucks…a lot…so yeah, I don't own anything

Restoring Honor

Chapter 9- To Stay?

A tall man with dark violet cropped hair and lavender eyes stood at the wooden doorway of a small house in the northern part of Caelin city proper. He had a large leather bag tossed over his shoulder and two saddle bags at his side. It looked as if he was readying himself for a very long journey.

A young brunette boy of about five years tiptoed down the old wooden stairs of the house. It was early–the sun hadn't even crept over the eastern horizon.

The little boy rubbed at his sleepy sea-green eyes with one hand while grasping a stuffed teddy-bear in the other. "Papa?"

The man at the door was startled out of his daze and turned around, mumbling curses under his breath. "Ah, Sain, what are you doing up so early?" His voice was dripping with false sincerity, a counterfeit smile resided on his face.

"Papa, it's so early, you never go to work this early…" The young Sain made his way down the rest of the steps and into the living room.

"I know Sain, but today is a…special day. Papa has to go to a neighboring town for work."

Young Sain frowned, unsure of what his father meant, "Are you going to go to Pherae again?"

"Ah, yes, yes I am. I need to pick up a few things, a new shipment of special liquor for the bar."

"Oh, okay." Little Sain smiled a genuine smile– he was always in good spirits, much like his mother. Cheerful and playful even in the direst of situations…

"Sain, you must promise me something," the tall man motioned for the boy to come over to where he was standing.

Little Sain walked over to his father, curious as to what he could want.

"Now Sain," the man knelt down next to the boy. "I don't know when I'll be back, but you must promise me that you will not tell your mother I have left for Pherae today, is that understood?"

Sain nodded his little head, holding his stuffed bear close. "I will papa; you can count on me."

"That's a good boy," he ruffled the boy's hair and smiled softly before standing and picking up the saddle bags. The tall man opened the front door quietly as to not wake Josephine.

Little Sain grinned up at his father, still hugging his stuffed teddy-bear, "Papa, I love you and have a safe trip…"

The violet-haired man stopped after hearing those words leave his son's mouth, but he didn't turn around to face the boy. "I-goodbye Sain…" He would never come back to this place…he would never see the little boy grow up into a man…and it was his choice to do so, he had never truly wanted a family; Sain was only an accident after all.

The tall man silently walked out the door without glancing back at the little boy with the lively sea-green eyes clutching a worn stuffed teddy-bear.


His lower lip trembled as he wiped at his eyes willing the tears to go away. "He's not coming back, is he mama?"

Josephine looked down at her normally cheerful son. The sight nearly broke her heart. She had never seen a look of such sadness in her entire life…The grief stricken boy had waited by the front window everyday for months, and everyday the boy's spirit would break just a little bit more.

"Sain…your father…he-" Josephine stopped, unsure of how to break the news to her five year old son. How could she tell him that his father wouldn't be coming back…?

Sain sobbed and sniffled, tears welled up in his expressive eyes. "Mama, he said he would come back…and he's not…he's not coming back, is he mama?"

"Sain…my son…no, your father isn't coming back…" Josephine wrapped her arms around the little brunette boy.

The young Sain clung to Josephine, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Why mama?"

Josephine but her lip, no five year old child should have to go through such hardship…Oh, how she wished she had listened to her father! If she had listened, then Sain…Sain wouldn't have to go through such grief…Josephine closed her eyes and hugged her son fiercely, afraid that if she let go, he would disappear as well.

"Why?" Sain choked out. "Why mama? Was it my fault?"

"Oh Sain!" Josephine cried out, feeling tears run down her cheeks. "Sain, it could never be your fault…your father…he's not a very good man…it was never your fault…he did it…he-I'll tell you when you're older…but it was never your fault sweetie, never…ever your fault."

Sain stopped sobbing, but the tears kept falling, "Mama, please…please don't cry…"

Josephine buried her face in her son's messy brown locks, "Oh Sain…you're such a good boy…"

Tears gently rolled down Sain's cheeks as he hugged his mother and made a promise to himself right then and there. He would never be like his father–he would never make a woman cry as his father had made his mother cry…never.


Dawn. Sunlight burst though windows on the eastern side of the castle, and little birds twittered their songs outside the panes of glass. Guards and servants hustled and bustled about the castle doing their daily tasks. All in all, it was just another normal morning at Ostia Castle.

"Lyndis!"

"Ugh, I feel…Hector, I think-"

Oh no…Hector hurried over to his spouse, who was currently leaning over the side of the bed. She had just thrown up…again. She continued to retch and gag until her stomach emptied itself of all its contents. Lyn then coughed a couple of times before lying back down.

Hector frowned, "Lyndis, I think we should call in the medic."

"But-!"

Lyn attempted to push herself into a sitting position, but Hector pushed her back down.

"Sweetie, this has been going on for more than a week…you've vomited all over my armor twice already. I think it's time to find out what's wrong."

"But Hector…"

"No way, you are not going to talk me out of it like yesterday!"

Lyn groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. "I don't understand why you're not sick too. It's not fair, it's just not!"

The great lord chuckled. "Hah! This probably happened because you give me grief all the time, every single day! Lady Luck has decided to smile down on me, if I do say so myself."

The blade lord pulled down the blanket and glared at her husband. "You better watch out, Hector, Lady Luck may be quick to leave you."

The blue-haired man laughed at his wife. "Hah! It's rather funny to see you threaten me in your current state! You look like you've just crawled away from a losing fight."

Lyn kicked the lord off the edge of the bed. "Take that you pig!" She then proceeded to cross her arms and pout.

Hector hit the stone floor with a loud thud and winced slightly. He would have a rather large bruise where Lyndis had kicked him. "Jeeze Lyn! Can't you take a joke?" he said, getting up and brushing himself off.

No response from the Sacaen woman.

"Fine, don't talk to me, and don't apologize!"

Still no response…

"Ugh! Women!" Hector threw his hands up and marched over to the door when an evil idea struck him.

"You know Lyndis…Serra and Erk did arrive a few days ago, perhaps I'll send Serra up to check you out." The blue-haired royal grinned wickedly.

A look of horror emerged on Lyn's face. "You wouldn't dare do such a thing!"

"Oh, my lovely wife, but I would." He opened the door. "I'll see you later then, bye!"

Hector heard the sound of a glass smashing against the door. Damn, that was a close call. He looked at the closed door before making his way down the hall, whistling a jaunty tune. Even though she was sick, it was still fun to rile Lyn up. "Time to find that medic…"


Florina sighed and snuggled against a particularly warm pillow…a pillow that currently had his arms wrapped around her and was snoring softly. Wait…arms? And snoring? Last night! The sleepy maiden promptly opened her eyes and sat up rather suddenly, causing the top of her head to collide with Sain's chin.

"Ah!" Sain quickly removed his arms from around Florina and gripped his jaw, wincing in pain.

"Oh, Sain! Are you alright?" the lavender-haired maiden asked the former knight, ignoring the fact that she too had received an injury.

"Ugh…I'm fine, I think…" Sain rubbed his sore chin–it felt as if he had a couple day's worth of beard on his face…odd.

The Pegasus knight bit her lip as she reached out to run her hand along Sain's face. "Oh Sain, I'm so sorry…" Florina felt tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"Ah, it's alright Miss Florina, I assure you I'm quite alright…" The brunette smiled up at the petite woman residing on his stomach to assure her that he was indeed alright.

"Oh Sain…" she sniffled, "it wasn't a dream–you're really here..." The small knight embraced Sain, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "For so long I thought you were dead," she sobbed. "It's all my fault…if I had-"

"Shhhh…" Sain wrapped his arms around Florina once again, "It was never your fault, stop saying that…" He gently caressed her long lavender curls, "Florina, I meant what I said last night–I'll stay with you if you wish it."

"Oh Sain…" Florina started crying harder. "I wish for nothing more…"

The former knight smiled, continuing to idly stroke her hair as the minutes ticked by. Neither of the two wanted to move from their current positions…


Priscilla took hold of Heath's arm as they walked to Ostia town proper. "Oh Heath! I'm so excited, what do you think we should do first?"

Heath scratched the back of his head, a faint blush tingeing his cheeks. "Well, I don't really know, honestly…I suppose we should get something to eat first, I mean, after all, we sort of skipped breakfast."

"That does sound like a good idea…let's go to the market then, I've never been before." The red head tugged at Heath's arm, urging him to move faster.

Heath just gave the healer a small smile and let himself be led around. After all, what kind of trouble could Priscilla get them into?

"Oh Heath! Look over there! There are fruit stands! And it's all very fresh!" Priscilla started making her way across the market again, Heath in tow.

Heath sighed, they'd been at the town square for quite some time–a couple hours maybe–and Priscilla had drug him from stand to stand. That girl certainly had energy when she wasn't worried about something or another…The wyvern lord smiled, he rather liked it when Priscilla was smiling and happy. She should be carefree more often…

Priscilla stood in front of a fruit stand selling assorted melons, "Heath, I think we should get some…the merchant said they picked them just this morning…it would make a wonderful little picnic snack for tomorrow…"

"Ah, alright, how many do you want to get?" Heath unhooked his pouch from his belt.

"I think three should be good…oh, I just love melons…" Priscilla clasped her hands together and grinned. Since her home in Etrurea was so far north, it was rare to grow–or even acquire–melons, especially fresh ones.

Heath handed the merchant a few coins before putting the melons in a cotton bag where some other fruit was currently being stored. He then looked over to where Priscilla had been standing, only to find her gone. "Oh dear, where has she gone off to now?" The green haired man slung the bag over his shoulder and started searching for the healer.

The healer in question had made her way over to another fruit stand, and was looking at oranges and bananas, waiting for Heath to walk over when…

"Watch out where you're going, wench!"

A ragged-looking man, with his hood up, dashed by Priscilla, knocking her against a wooden pole. He had a rather large purse in hand and continued running through the market…

"Hey, you, thief! Get back here!"

Several rather large merchants passed the auburn haired woman soon after. And just as Priscilla was about to move away from the stand, a particularly big merchant ran right smack into her before continuing on his way.

"Ahh!" Priscilla was once again knocked back into the wooden pole, but this time with enough force to cause the stand to fall down…and into another stand.

"Hmn…I wonder what's going on over there…" Heath looked over to the area where two stands just fell over and a fairly big crowd was starting to gather. The green-haired man thought it best to investigate and jogged over. "Hey you, what happened over here?"

One of the bystanders closer to the front of the crowd looked back at Heath, "Some thief just ran through here, and some guy knocked over this girl."

Heath bit his lip…I hope it's not Priscilla…"Is she alright?"

The man looked over the crowding people. "Dunno, sure is a pretty little thing though. Red head…I think the owner of the stand is gonna give her hell…"

The wyvern lord cursed under his breath…a red head, it could be Priscilla…


"Hey you! Little girl! How are you going to pay for this mess? Eh?" The owner of the fruit stand towered over Priscilla.

"That's a month's worth of baskets you destroyed with your clumsiness!" The neighboring stand owner looked down at Priscilla as well.

The auburn haired woman bit her lip as tears started to well up in her eyes, "I'm so sorry, it was an accident, the other man, he ran into me and-"

"Save it for someone who cares! You're going to pay for this whole mess, because quite frankly, I don't see any other man here; there is only you!"

A short man with a green braid looked over at the fallen woman from the front of the crowd…was it? It was Priscilla! He had to do something!

Heath clenched his fists; he couldn't get through the crowd! How was he going to find out if it was Priscilla? Damn these people!

One of the merchants raised his hand to smack Priscilla across the face. "You're going to pay, you little brat."

Priscilla closed her eyes and turned her face to the side, waiting for a blow that would never come.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's not polite to his a woman?" The braided man grabbed the merchant's arm. "Now I want you to apologize."

The merchant was stunned. "You Sacaen devil! Let go!"

Priscilla opened and looked up toward her savior, Guy? When did he get here?

Guy snorted, "Alright, if you won't apologize…then…" The little swordsman grabbed the merchant's arm with his other hand and flipped the large man over his back, right into the already devastated fruit stand. He then turned to the other merchant, "And you? Will you apologize to this lovely lady here?"

"Like hell!"

The merchant from the basket stand rushed toward Guy, but the Sacaen swordsman dodged him easily before turning around and delivering a roundhouse to the man's side. The large merchant fell to the ground unmoving…

"Priscilla, are you okay?" Guy knelt down to the blushing auburn haired woman.

"Oh Guy! Thank you!" The healer sat up and pulled the swordsman into a tight embrace.

Guy blushed as he helped Priscilla to her feet. "Come on…all these people are kind of making me nervous…"

Priscilla nodded, "Alright…let's go then…I need to find Heath, he's probably worried about me…"

"Oh? You're here with Heath?" Guy responded, sounding somewhat dejected…"I should probably go then…"

The healer bit her lower lip, "Oh Guy! I'm sure you can spend the rest of the day with us…he won't mind…"

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude…" Guy mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, look, I think I see Heath up ahead…" The valkyrie made her way over to the worried wyvern lord, who was trying to make his way through the dispersing crowd. "Heath!" she called out to him.

"Priscilla? Priscilla! You're alright!" Heath ran up the healer once he spotted her and pulled her into a fierce embrace. "I was so worried…"

Priscilla wrapped her arms around the lanky man. "I'm okay Heath…Guy came to my rescue…"

Heath released his hold on the petite woman and looked down into her brilliant green eyes. "Guy? The swordsman?" he asked.

"Yes…the very same…he's over there." Priscilla pointed over to the Sacaen swordsman leaning against a building several paces away.

"Oh, well then…" Heath rubbed the side of his neck.

"I know today was supposed to be just the two of us…but can Guy come along too?" Priscilla asked.

"Well…he did save you…so-sure…he can come with us as we explore the city…" Heath smiled at Priscilla.

"Oh Heath! You're the best!" The auburn haired woman stood on tiptoe to give Heath a quick peck on the lips before tugging him toward Guy. It was going to be a rather interesting day…


"Oh no!" Florina made a move to sit up, this time being careful not to bump into Sain's chin again.

"What's wrong, Miss Florina?" Sain questioned.

"It's Hero…oh no, oh no…" The Peg knight slid out of Sain's arms and off of him completely. Florina then got off the bed and made a move toward the door. She was so careless! How could she forget?

"Hero? Who's Hero, Miss Florina?"

Florina froze, oh no, Sain didn't know about Hero–how would he react to such news? The petite woman bit the side of her cheek and wrung her hands together. Sain would leave her, she was sure of it! "Ah, well…Hero is, that is to say…" she trailed off.

Sain sat up and got off the bed slowly as to not become too disoriented. Why did Florina freeze up like that? He was feeling a bit weak and dizzy, so he steadied himself by grasping onto the nightstand by the bed. "Florina, who is Hero?" he asked again.

The youngest of the Pegasus sisters turned around to face Sain, tears welling up in her cerulean eyes. "Sain, Hero… she's your daughter."