Birth and Re-Death

Chapter 11: An Abundance of Neck Injuries

I open my eyes. "Son of a bitch."

"Good evening, Randall?" Lucina seems a bit puzzled at my irritated swear.

"Oh, hey Luci," I grumble. I stretch my arms and legs a little, reminding myself what they feel like when they aren't filled with metal and wood and pain.

"Luci…" she says, pulling off her mask and setting it beside her.

"What? Not a fan?" I ask, sitting up properly and turning to face her.

"No, just the opposite, really. In the future, you used to call me that all the time," she says, not quite looking at me.

This must be a really big deal for her, I realize. To her, it's only been a couple months since she left that world behind, after all. She had to give up on me, in a way. I wonder if she feels guilty about that. I can't imagine she doesn't. "Is that alright?" I ask.

She considers for a moment. "Yes. It's a little piece of the world I left behind. I don't think future you would mind if you stole his nickname for me."

I figure I may as well let her get her worries off her chest. "So, what drives a woman to break into my bedroom this late at night?"

She looks worried, trying to choose her words carefully. "Do you...know about–?"

"Oh, yeah. Our fair Exalt is gonna have a surprise visit, right?"

She nods. "So you do know what will happen, then…"

"Sometimes. Don't worry, Emmeryn will make it out just fine," I say, standing and placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"She will?" Lucina asks, looking at me with almost childlike trust in her eyes. She really does see me as a father figure, huh? I hope I don't come between her and Chrom because of that.

"You and I will make sure of it. Okay?"

She closes her eyes, a small smile on her face. I feel some of the tension leave her shoulder. "Of course we will. Thank you, Randall."

I can only put off the more pressing worry on my mind for so long, though. I withdraw my hand. "Now, if you're feeling better, I'd like to focus on not getting killed tonight."

Her eyes snap back open. "What? Why would you be in danger tonight?"

"Because in a couple minutes, Virion is going to knock on that door and request my help with something that could very well get us, and Robin, killed."

"Robin…" Lucina says, then shakes her head. "I had no idea such a thing ever happened."

"Shouldn't be a huge deal, but if I get careless it's easy to get pulled in over my head," I say, walking over to my small desk and pulling out a small sketchbook. I draw a few shapes that loosely mirror the barn and the surrounding area. "Now when we get there, there will probably be enemies here, here, here, and here, as well as at least one inside the building," I say, marking each spot with an X. "If we want to guarantee Virion's safety as well as ours, Robin and I will need to dispatch these guys," I indicate the guys on the ground, "without tipping off Mr. Roof Man. We will also have to be quick about it, because Virion will almost certainly be attacked inside the building when his negotiations fail."

"So you clear the outside, including somehow getting onto the roof, then break in and rescue Virion, all while remaining undetected?" Lucina asks. "You think you can pull that off by yourselves?"

I shrug. "I guess we'll find out."

"Why not recruit more help from the Shepherds rather than doing it alone?" she asks.

"I assume because Virion is involved in some illegal business. I'd bet he trusts Robin because he knows Robin sees the value in his contribution to the group and doesn't seem to have as many moral scruples as your old man, and I'd wager he can tell there's more to me than I've told the Shepherds, so he assumes he's got some leverage over me. Apart from Robin and me, though, I imagine he doesn't trust many of us."

"I never knew he was so shrewd," Lucina says. "The stories you would tell of him gave a different impression." She pauses. "Apologies. I mean the future you."

"I getcha. Anyway, I'm hoping that I'll be able to–"

Knock knock.

We both jump a little at the sudden noise. "That'll be him. Scoot!" I say, but she's already moving and halfway to the window. Crap. "Wait! I wanna see how you do the disappearing thing!" She's already gone. "Nooo!"

I stalk over to the door before he can knock again and fling it open. "Yes, Virion?"

"Ah, excellent; I thought I had heard some talking in here, so I reasoned you must be awake," he says. He peers inside around my shoulder. "Is there not… anyone else here?"

"Nope," I say simply.

"But… were you talking to yourself, then?"

I don't want to have this conversation again. "Look, what do you need?"

He hesitates for a moment, giving me a suspicious look, but eventually he goes through and explains his predicament again. After agreeing to help, I pull on my robes, grab my staff, and head downstairs with Virion.

Robin is, as before, sitting in a chair, looking particularly annoyed. "Hullo Randall," she yawns. "Looks like you got dragged in as well."

"Looks like it," I shrug. "You look like you slept well."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Well, not all of us can sleep the whole afternoon away. I had to spend the day trying to form a plan of action with two of the least helpful–" She cuts herself off. "No matter. The point is, this isn't how I planned to spend my evening." Huh. Wonder what that was about. Trouble with the Exalted siblings?

"Regardless," Virion interrupts, "I thank you for extending a helping hand in my time of need. I will feel a great deal better about meeting this gentleman knowing the pair of you will be backing me up."

"How much gold are you supposed to have for this guy, anyway?" I ask.

Virion looks away conspicuously. "Well, let's just say it's not the sort of sum a man can come up with on such short notice."

Robin chimes in. "Short notice? How long ago were you notified of the deadline?"

"I received a message from the man via carrier pigeon yesterday evening while we were still on the road here," he replies.

Robin shoots me a look. I'm thinking the same thing, I can tell. "Yeah, they're definitely planning on just killing you," I say. She nods grimly, looking back to Virion.

"What? Why on earth would they do that?" Virion asks, eyes flitting between the pair of us. "If they haven't received their money back from me when I die, then their investment is for naught, right?"

"If they have a larger plan in the works, it may be the case that the lord in question is looking to tie up any loose ends that may complicate matters further down the line. What are the chances that you are the only illicit contact he has?" Robin says. Virion says nothing. "Exactly. It might just mean that there is a larger plan at work that you are merely a part of."

My breath catches. Could this lord be connected with the group that plans to assassinate Emmeryn? Someone must have been housing all the Plegian attackers, after all. Maybe Virion had information on them and was being paid off, but now the lord is showing a little muscle to try and make some of that money back before offing the unnecessary variables.

"Yeah, you're definitely gonna get the axe if we don't step in," I say.

"Then the pair of you need to help me get out of this situation alive!" Virion cries, then remembering where we are, lowers his voice. "I don't intend to be killed tonight."

"And you won't be, if you follow my lead," Robin says. "Get your bow, Virion."

"Why?"

"You're not going to this meeting."

We are getting pretty close to the meeting place. Robin has elected not to light our approach with a tome this time, a choice which I greatly approve of, so we walk in darkness interrupted only by the crescent moon and stars.

"We need to make a plan to clear the whole area," Robin says. "We have to assume hostility from anyone we run into that's bearing arms."

I nod. "How many do you figure we'll have to deal with?" I don't want her thinking I know too much.

"For a setting like this, especially in the middle of the night, they'll want to keep a lid on things. I imagine a small, light force of enemies. No more than half a dozen, probably more like four or five," she says. Wow, that's actually really sharp. I'm surprised she's so much more prepared than last time after only receiving the information that Virion was summoned here probably too recently for the deal to be legit. She's effective, that's for sure. She also doesn't look so tired now, and she walks with a confident, upright stride.

"You anticipate an ambush, then?" Virion asks, stringing his bow as we walk.

"Of course. They'll want to get the drop on you as quickly as they can, but we're going to get the drop on them first," she replies. "I figure they will be watching from a vantage point that allows them to watch the barn's entrance at all times without drawing suspicion." She squints at the meeting site. "Someplace like that retaining wall on the far side of the entrance. You can't see behind it when you're approaching from Ylisstol, so it's the most likely place for enemies to be hiding."

I can't help putting in my own two cents. "Don't rule out that there may be someone on the roof itself. A good vantage point to survey both the enemy and keep an eye on their own guys behind the wall. You know, assuming there are guys behind the wall."

I can feel Robin's eyes on me. "...That's a good thought, too. Pretty perceptive, Randall. Though I imagine roof access is limited to the inside of the building in that case," Robin says.

I hope she doesn't think I'm in on it or something. I didn't like that look just now.

"Virion, I want you to keep an eye out for any sign of movement on the roof. If you see someone up there, take them down," Robin commands. "You should wait behind that bush there. Randall and I will make our way around the backside of the building and make sure the rest of the area is clear."

He nods and goes off to get into position. Robin and I slowly slink around the back of the barn. She pauses for a moment, then turns to face me.

She mouths silently, but I can still make it out. Do you have a weapon?

I hold up my staff and pantomime a swing. She pinches the bridge of her nose, then slowly slides a sword out from its sheath and presses it into my hands. Be ready, she mouths.

I try not to let the fact that I'm super pumped to have a sword distract me from the fact that I have no idea how to wield one. I give Robin a probably-too-enthusiastic thumbs-up. She rolls her eyes and turns back around.

She throws her hood up to cover her bright-ass hair and peeks around the corner for a moment, then comes back. She holds up three fingers. Looks like they're still there. Or, you know, there again? Whatever. Robin draws a second sword (I've noticed she carries a lot of weapons on her person, by the way) and gestures toward a small shrub on the far side of the wall. Looks like she's hoping to catch them from behind.

Keeping low and moving quickly, we sneak over to the shrub without raising any alarms. Robin gestures with her hands again, presumably informing me that she plans to take out the two on the left while I dispatch the one on the right. I nod; works for me.

We step out on opposite sides of the shrub and creep up to the enemies, all of whom are facing toward the barn. Robin swiftly brings her blade up and around the left guy's throat and slits it, and the sound of gargling fills the still night. For my part, I panic as the other two start moving and thrust the blade forward blindly. I do manage to stab the guy in the back successfully, but the sword gets stuck there.

Meanwhile, the third guy has noticed my less than stealthy display and cries out in alarm. A fraction of a second later, an arrow lands in the ground beside me. Looks like the roof guy is still alive. Thanks Virion.

Giving up on the sword altogether, I grab the guy himself from behind while he's dicking around with his bow and pull him in front of me just in time for the poor bastard to take an arrow on my behalf. The guy keeps fighting to shake loose, though, so I grab a fistful of hair on the back of his head and force his head down, smashing his nose into the retaining wall. Seems like a winning strategy, so I do it again. And then, because he's still moving, I give it another one.

I'm preparing to just keep doing that, but then Robin cries out beside me. Looks like she was trying to get her tome out but got hit in the meantime. She drops down behind the wall. I chance a glance over the wall to see what the hell Virion is doing. He too has an arrow sticking out of his abdomen. Nonlethal, by the look of it, but it's taken him out of commission.

A few more arrows come my way, but my unfortunate meat shield stops them effectively. I still have no idea how we are going to take him out though.

I turn to Robin. "Can you move?"

She grimaces at me. "I don't think I can aim like this. You'd have to heal me." Another arrow clacks against the wall. I duck down and toss the now quite dead archer aside.

I pull out my staff from behind my back. "I'll have to yank out the arrow. I figure it'll tear some on the way out, so this'll hurt like a bitch." She nods, visibly clenching her teeth in advance.

Before I've even gotten a grip on the shaft, though, I hear the door to the barn being thrown open. Light fills the open area in front of the door, blocked only by the shadow of the man I assume is Virion's debt collector as he strides out.

"What's all this noise?" a gruff voice calls out. "Where's the gods damned fruit that's meant to meet me, huh?"

No one answers. That's weird, actually; I look up to the roof, and have to double-take. Where did the roof archer go?

I glance over to the man who strode out. Oh fuck. There's no mistaking it; that's Hero-class armor. We are not ready to handle promoted units yet. He's hefting a pretty mean-looking axe, too. I don't want to have that buried in my skull, thanks.

But then I remember Jackson. I remember Isadora. I remember what Maribelle's face looked like as so many of the people she loved were being cut down around her. I can't let that happen again. I won't.

I have to step in before he finds the injured Virion and Robin, though. If he finds either of these two, they're as good as dead. I consider grabbing the sword—you know, weapon triangle and all—but remembering how it went before, I don't think it'll help much.

I stand to my full height. Robin pulls on my robe, whispering desperately, "What on earth are you doing?" but I've already made my call. Not again.

Staff in hand, I stroll out around the wall and call, "Hey, you." He turns to look my way. He's young, but it looks like he's already collected his share of scars over the years. One of them leaves a noticeable line in his beard, even in the dim light. Why do only villains have beards in this world?

"Who the hell are you? Where's Virion?" he demands.

"Well, if your boss gets to send someone else to do his dirty work, then so does Virion," I reply.

"And do you have the money for my employer with you then?" he asks.

I gesture with a nod toward the wall, where the guy with the sword in his chest is still faintly groaning. "Does that answer your question?" Don't let him know you're currently shitting yourself. Don't break character. Getting inside his head is half the battle, right?

"Crystal clear," he replies, and then suddenly–GAH AXE! Block it with the staff, good, back up, back up, back up! Getting inside his head is not half the battle! Block again! Don't get punched in the–

Yeah, you got punched in the face. Focus! Here comes the axe again! Dodge it, sidestep, duck under the swing aimed for the neck. Christ, I am on the defensive here. What was the plan again? Right, there wasn't a plan. I can taste iron in my mouth from that punch.

This is not going well. Any second now I'm gonna take a real hit and then that'll be it for me and this run.

Wait. I remember something. Something that worked last time. Please work, please work. Dodge the swing, block the follow-up, make sure the orb is right in his face, and FLASH!

Yes! He reels back, blinded by the light (with all due respect to Manfred Mann). To capitalize on the disorientation, I go straight for his axe, wrenching it out of his hands. He panics, reaching out blindly. I sidestep easily.

Alright, now try not to think about it too much for this next part. You used to split firewood all the time back home, after all. Just split down the middle.

I swing my arms over my head, but as I'm coming down with the axe, suddenly one of my arms is grabbed. Shit, he recovered too quickly. My swing is so off-balance that it's basically useless now. I try to pull the axe away from him, but he just uses his free hand to uppercut me and send me staggering back. Now the axe is on the ground.

And now it's back in his hand. He raises it over his head to deal the final blow, but then there's another flash of light flying in from the right and then the axe is gone. I whirl over to the source, and there's Robin, hunched over the wall and holding a tome in her bloodied hands.

I don't have long to act. I didn't see where the axe went, but there's my staff. I scoop it up and swing it into the man's head, sending him toppling over. I stand over him, fueled only by mortal panic as I rain down blow after blow on his uncovered head. Even so, he's still alive and kicking, and it looks like he might hit his second wind soon.

In a last ditch effort to make him stay down, I flip the staff over in my hands and thrust downward, resulting in a very untidy entrance into the side of his throat. Looks like it was enough, though, based on all that blood. After a few moments, he stops moving.

I stand there for a moment, unsure. I think this is the first time I've ever killed a real person. I've seen plenty of death already, but I've never felt the life drain out of somebody like this before tonight.

I wish I could say it felt bad. It doesn't feel good either, I suppose. My mouth is screwed up in a sort of half-smile, half-grimace, and my face still stings with the impact of the punch from before. I taste blood, and I hope to God it's mine.

A groan from Virion makes me remember myself. I rush over to him and get him on his back. Looks like the arrow is lodged in his solar plexus. That must hurt. I get a firm grip on the arrow shaft, my hand pressed against the warm blood on his clothes.

"You ready?" I ask.

"As I will ever be, I suppose," he replies. I nod, and he shuts his eyes so he won't have to look as I wrench the arrow out. He gasps in pain twice, once for the removal and once as I'm closing the wound seconds later.

I decide to give him a minute to breathe and head over to Robin, carefully stepping around the Hero's body as I do so. When I get to the other side of the wall, she's curled up around the arrow in her stomach and clenching her jaw as she struggles to breathe normally.

"Took you long enough," she grumbles.

"I didn't know how badly Virion was hurt, so I had to check him first," I reply, crouching down next to her.

She sighs. "Probably a smart move."

I turn her onto her back, preparing to yank out the sucker. "Reminds me of the day we met," I say with a wry smile. "Though the hand axe in the leg was a much scarier wound than this."

"Or perhaps you just scared more easily back then—hungh!" she groans as I pull the arrow out. "Hey! I wasn't re–aaaaagh," her whining interrupted by my healing the wound.

"Sorry, what was that?" I ask innocently.

"Jerk," she says, sitting up after a moment and feeling the healed wound carefully.

We stand up to join Virion, who is now standing over the dead Hero.

"By the by," Virion asks, "how did you manage to dispatch the archer on the roof?"

Robin and I exchange a look. "You mean that wasn't you?" I ask. "I was just assuming you got a good shot off while injured."

Virion's eyebrows shoot up. "No, not me. Neither of you took care of him?"

"Cover, now!" Robin shouts, and we all leap back behind the retaining wall. "If none of us took him out, we have to assume he's still here somewhere."

After a few minutes, it seems like he's not coming out. Robin stands up, and Virion and I follow suit. "Randall, I want you with me as we check the barn out. Virion, I want you watching and ready to fire at a moment's notice."

He nods and nocks and arrow while we enter the barn. Nothing unusual in here, just rotted straw and weathered wooden pens. In the back, though, is a ladder that leads to the loft, which in turn has a ladder leading to the roof. Robin goes first, sword in hand as she climbs up, and I follow closely behind. By the time I get up to the loft, Robin is already crouched over something, investigating. As I step closer I see it's the archer, dead as a doornail with his neck sliced open.

I whistle. "That's not ominous."

She glances back. "It's fortunate for us this time, but that doesn't make it any less of a mystery. Who did this, why did they do it, and how did they do so without being seen? That's too many things we don't know."

On the phrase 'without being seen,' I realize I've got a pretty good idea of who it might have been. "Well anyway, I doubt the man's carcass has many clues for us. Let's go."

Reluctantly, she nods and follows me back down the ladder. As we walk outside, Virion lowers his bow and joins us.

"And our remaining opponent?" he asks.

"Taken care of," I reply simply.

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Excellent. I cannot thank the pair of you enough. There may yet be further attempts on my life in the future, but for tonight we have thwarted that threat together."

"All in a night's work, I guess," I say.

Beside me, Robin has calmed down enough that she's yawning again. "Speak for yourself. I'm well and truly beat."

"Though I must say," Virion remarks, now looking down at the Hero's body, "you really outdid yourself this time, Randall. That man was one of the lord's elite mercenary soldiers. That sort of armor is not afforded to just anyone, you know."

I scoff a little. "I'm flattered, but I'm pretty sure I got lucky. I don't think I'd win a fight like that a second time."

"I dunno," Robin says, clapping me drowsily on the shoulder, "you did get him on your first try." She pauses. "Or else, you know, you'd be dead. Maybe you wouldn't make a bad addition to the front line after all."

Maybe she's got a point, more than she knows. I didn't even have to reset fighting that guy. It worked out the very first time. I might have some degree of skill after all! Still… "Hard pass, Robin. I think I like putting people together just a little bit more than I like taking them apart."

She shrugs. "Gotta keep my options open, after all."

I grimace. "We're more than tools, you know."

She grins evilly.

When I get back to my room, I'm not entirely surprised to find a masked Lucina there.

"So, you decided to join the fun, huh?" I ask.

She squirms a little under my gaze. "It sounded like you might need some assistance, so I was keeping an eye on things from afar. That is, until I saw Virion go down. I decided then that I couldn't stand back any longer. So yes, I did eliminate the roof watchman."

"And here I thought you were hoping to intervene as infrequently as possible," I remark with a slanted smirk.

"I do! I still do. It's just that certain events were not discussed with us in the future, so I must also keep an eye on things to make sure that the later events that I was told about come to pass in the same way until it's time to change them."

"Huh?"

She tries again. "In order to make sure that the Valmese aggression will one day be brought to Ylisse's attention before the Valmese themselves make landfall, Virion must survive until then." She pauses. "I also want to make sure that Inigo doesn't lose his father."

I noticed that hesitation. "Oooh, someone got the hots for Inigo, hmm?" I tease, leaning in playfully.

She responds too quickly and too loudly. "No! Nonsense! I just don't want any of my companions to lose their parents! Of course I would want to protect everyone!"

"You know, I would have believed you, cause I was just giving you some grief. But that reaction, my, my. It looks like I might have stumbled upon the truth," I say slyly.

Even under the mask, she visibly reddens. "Even in this time, you're like this…"

"Oh good, old man Randy doesn't lose his touch," I say.

She sighs. "No, he doesn't."

"So, we've only got a couple days left before party time, right?" I ask.

She gets serious again. "That's right. It's going to be a tough fight."

"Think we'll be able to handle it?"

"We have to hope. I pray that my intervention can divert us from the path to destruction."

"Sure would be nice."

She turns toward the window. "I should go. It will be daylight before long, and after the night you've had, I think you will need rest."

I hold up a hand. "One thing, before you go."

"Yes?"

"Can you please, please let me see how you just disappear like that?"

She grins. "Maybe someday." And she's already out the window.

Ugh.

A/N: See? I can sometimes have a first encounter that doesn't kill him! Hope you guys liked this one, and I hope you're pumped, because next chapter it's assassination time! As always, comments and critiques are welcome. See you next time!