Chapter 21
If It Happens Twice, It'll Happen Thrice

『』

"It approaches," Stefan announced. The sun had hit midday, forcing Emmeryn to rely on her ears rather than blinded eyes.

"Where?" Emmeryn asked, standing up while brushing the sand off of her grey pants.

Legault wordlessly drew his knives and waited for their green haired companion to tell them what he knew.

The Warden of the Desert drew his blade, "Straight ahead. I can feel it; the sand itself vibrates."

Emmeryn felt no such sensation, but took the swordsman's word as fact. She bent her legs, ready to act should it become necessary.

"Since you have no weapon, you will be our distraction," Stefan said. He glanced at Emm and smirked, "Are you ready to be as nimble as a cat?"

The woman nodded. Legault didn't look happy, but he did not object.

"Legault, you are a Hand, are you not?" Stefan asked.

"I am," he replied simply.

"Your Mantle, will it help us?"

"I'm a Vanisher. I think I can find a way to use it," the Hand chuckled. His laughter died away as the sand shook in front of them.

The Basilisk burst out of the sand with a screech. Stefan was already in movement as the brown snake dove forward in an attempt to end the fight between Warden and snake it one fell swoop.

Without a Mantle, Stefan fought with the ferocity of a man who had the power of a god. As the snake's head hit the sand, the swordsman struck at its neck. But the scales were too strong, and the metal bounced off, leaving the snake untouched.

That could have been the end of Stefan, had it not been for Legault's timely intervention. The lavender haired man flitted into visibility on top of the snake's head, and went for a strike at its eyes.

Even though it was an animal, the Basilisk possessed an uncanny amount of cunning. It flung Legault before he could strike and sent the Hand careening into Stefan.

Then it turned to Emmeryn.

The serpent's tongue slithered out of its mouth as it gazed at the blond woman. Emm felt her legs lock in fright. Training was one thing, but actual combat…

Before she could get her mental state back together, the beast struck. Its scales shined like lightning as jaws opened to greet Emmeryn.

The frightened woman felt hands grip her shoulders, and the snake missed its mark.

Legault let go of her and disappeared again. Disoriented, Emmeryn stumbled to the ground.

Stefan had gotten himself up again, but by time he had his sword ready, it was too late.

Legault stood stout as the serpent charged. The snake hissed, and darted toward Legault as quick as it had before. The lavender haired man threw a knife directly into its eye, but that did little to slow the beast's speed.

Long fangs shredded through the Hand, severing his torso from his legs. Blood splattered against Emm before she even considered screaming.

Basking little in its kill, the Basilisk turned to Emm and struck.

Stefan met its teeth with his steel, the white fangs stopping at the green haired man's strength. The snake reared back, spewing saliva.

The swordsman flung an arm up to block the liquid, and was hit from the side by the snout of the serpent.

Sword falling from his fingers, Stefan hit the sand over a dozen feet away from Emm, unmoving. Shaking, the fair haired woman picked up the sword that had been left by her teacher.

The sand colored beast watched her through its one eye, almost as if it asked, 'What can you do?'

"Just watch me, you bitch," Emmeryn growled. Using two hands where Stefan had used one, she hefted the blade into the position Stefan had taught her. "You will pay for killing Legault, and I plan to survive to see Heather again."

The serpent tensed, sensing its opponent was not as weak as it had previously thought. Its eye blinked, and the snake brought its head back to strike.

Emmeryn screamed as the beast short towards her, but it wasn't a scream of fear. It was anger. Frustration. Pride. Love. Hate. Revenge. It was emotion.

The mark on Emm's forehead ached, the scar panging in fear of what she was doing. As the serpent drew closer, Emm jumped to her right, the blind side of the snake.

The Basilisk tried to rear back as it had before, but Stefan's blade cut it right where Legault's knife had wounded it. The force of momentum carried by the serpent drove the sword further into its head.

Emmeryn was thrown aside as the sword leapt from her hands. It stayed imbedded in the beast's skull, and only fell out as the snake thrashed, living its last moments in pain.

The fair haired woman cared nothing for that. She ran to Stefan's side and sat down next to him. Cradling his head, Emmeryn fought the urge to pray.

"You can't die now," she whispered. "Not when we're this close. I even killed the snake!"

Stefan said nothing.

『』

"Be careful," warned Glen, his ghostly eyes shifting warily.

Heather chuckled, "I always am. Ready?"

"Are you talking to yourself?" Roy asked, drawing his sword.

"Don't be daft," the Baronetess replied. She, Roy and fifty of Roy's soldiers stood in an alley waiting.

Roy rolled his eyes, "You're a strange one, Heather Lowell. Is it true that you were involved with the Queen?"

Immediately turning dour, she replied, "What's it to you?"

"I serve Queen Emmeryn," Roy spoke. "Since we have no idea of her fate, I cannot say with good conscience that she is dead. Should she return, I'd like her to still have her lover intact."

"Why, Lord Roy, I didn't know you were so caring," Heather said, surprised.

Roy nodded, "I believed in Lady Emmeryn's vision of peace. If she still lives, she'll need all the help she can get."

"Brava to that," Heather replied. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I hear them coming."

"Here we go!" Roy whispered. He leaned up against the shadowed side of the alley, and prompted the rest of the soldiers to do so. Heather drew the Prima and looked up the sword's black metal blade.

Time to finally use this damn thing, Heather thought. I hope this works, Emm.

A squad of red soldiers marched down the street. Further down the road was where the civilians were fighting and rioting. These soldiers were doubtless meant to act as a deterring force.

Unless Heather and Roy intervened.

Saying nothing, Roy leaped from their vantage point and cut down the nearest soldier with his elegant blade.

Heather and the rest of the soldiers charged out after the noble, their weapons weaving and cutting as they went.

Pointing the Prima at the nearest man, Heather felt her eyes heat—

Marcus had been trained in the art of the lance, and seldom fought with a sword. He'd misplaced his lance and taken a sword instead, but figured it wouldn't matter. He'd gotten only the basic sword training, and had weakness in striking quickly and couldn't take vigorous hits when—

—up and she blinked furiously. Not a second had passed, but the vision had felt longer than instantaneous.

The soldier, Marcus, she presumed, ran at her. He lunged, and Heather bat aside his sword as if it were nothing. The Valmese man tried to recover, but his blade skills were untrained. His sword fell from his fingers as Heather cut him down.

"Not bad," chuckled Heather, glancing at the Prima.

『』

"Down here, milord," Greil said, gesturing to the sewer cover.

Chrom leapt down into the sewer that held a secret passage into the castle. Faval and Igrene followed him down.

Greil lit an ether torch and led the way, axe out and ready. Igrene was armed with a bow while her uncle had a crossbow, armed and ready.

Chrom tightened his grip on the silver blade in his hand and stuck close to Sir Greil. He had not forgotten Lord Eliwood's words.

"I had no idea this passage existed," Baron Lowell whispered, gazing at the sewer. "Everyone knows about the sewers, but is it a secret in the royal family as to how they connect to the castle?"

"Yes," Chrom answered.

"Interesting," Igrene commented.

Greil spoke, "The ladder's right ahead. I'll go first."

『』

Lissa knelt next to her window in prayer. It was a struggle to assume the position, but thankfully Frederick had been there to help her.

Making the sign of Naga with her hands, Lissa whispered, "Naga, I beseech thee this day. I ask you as Lissa Vialdi, to receive my prayers and hear them. Grant them if it is your will.

"Keep my brother safe, along with Sir Greil as they try to kill Lord Solidor. Please let them succeed and let it be the end. Let things return to normal.

"Keep Heather safe for my sister, as well. I've prayed for her return, and I know neither will be happy without the other.

"Deliver us to safety, Naga. That is all I ask thee," Lissa murmured.

『』

As Faval reloaded his crossbow, Chrom began to work on the treasury's lock. The dead guards would eventually get noticed, so Chrom removed the key that hung around his neck.

Making sure that the other three couldn't see, the Prince inserted the metal into its keyhole. The vault unlocked, as easy as that.

"Damn," whispered Igrene as she looked onto the piles of gold and artifacts.

"The Valmese must have been too busy to crack the treasury open," Chrom smiled, happy that his people's fortune was untouched. He stepped into the glimmering deposit.

Faval followed him. "Find it quickly," he instructed before venturing off to see what else lay in the Vialdi vault.

Pushing worry from his mind, Chrom left the Baron to his devices and made his way to the false wall where the sword was hidden.

To Chrom's horror, the wall was open.

The Prince rushed forward, looking for any signs of thievery. The sword that had been openly on display was missing, but the Falchion was safe. Chrom lifted one of the fake tiles on the ground and pulled the holy sword from its narrow hiding place.

The blade was simple enough, with a wide U shaped hilt. Its blade was the proper length for Chrom, measuring about as long as his arm.

Faval entered his line of vision. Chrom nodded and said, "Got it."

『』

Henry stuck the tines of the fork into the cell's lock. He'd hidden the fork during the last meal, and broke off two tines immediately after.

They'd serve as his lockpicks.

"It'll never work," the dead man chuckled, rolling over on his bed to watch the white haired man's efforts.

"Shut up," seethed Henry, sweat meandering down his forehead. He just had to concentrate…

"Hey!" shouted a guard who had stepped into the hallway on his patrol.

Henry hissed, but kept working. If could just—

The butt of the guard's lance hit him in the temple. Henry fell backward, moaning in pain.

"I will inform his majesty about this," the guard said. He kicked aside the tines that Henry had dropped.

The once Prince rolled over on the floor, praying to whatever god that would be set free.

『』

Lara had to say one thing about Guinevere. She was indeed attractive.

"Are you Lara?" asked the Bernese Princess.

The black haired woman nodded. The red clad woman stepped further into her room and took a seat opposite Lara. Guinevere had the same color hair as her brother, so fair it almost looked yellow. She was taller than Lara by several inches, something the bastard wasn't fond of.

"So we're getting married," Lara stated, keeping her tone neutral.

"It would appear that way," Guinevere replied, taking Lara's tone as hostile.

Lara shifted uncomfortably, "Do you even want this?"

Guinevere paused, then said, "No. I do not like women, and I have no desire to marry you. My brother asked me to do this, and I am doing it because I love my brother."

"Then it seems we have more in common than expected," Lara admitted. "I have no desire to wed you, and I only said yes because my father needs this alliance."

"Perhaps we can become friends through all this," Guinevere suggested.

"Maybe," Lara replied.

『』

"I'll meet with your King tomorrow, don't worry," Eltshan said irritably.

Cath nodded, "He will be expecting you at midday."

"I heard you before. Now run along. I'm sure you have more errands to run for his grace," Eltshan dismissed. He shut the door to his private chambers on the orange haired Morph.

Sighing, Eltshan sat down. He exhaled and relaxed. The sun was long since down, and the King of Agustria needed sleep.

His door opened.

"If that's you again, Morph…" Eltshan muttered, rising from his chair. He walked to the door and opened it fully.

A cloaked man stood before him. In a low voice, the man said, "Have a nice night."

Then he rammed a blade through Eltshan's throat.

『』

Lloyd woke to the touch of steel at his neck and the whisper of, "Up you get, brother."

Linus stood in his room, holding his claymore at his brother's throat.

"Quite the lack of honor, brother," Lloyd commented, hiding his fear.

"On the contrary," Linus withdrew his blade. "I may be here to kill you, but I want to do it with honor. You deserve that much."

"Give me a moment to prepare," the shorter of the two said. Without wasting a moment, Lloyd slipped on his longcoat and strapped his sword to his waist.

Linus led him outside, where an open space was located in front of Lloyd's residence. Linus stepped into it, turned around and pointed his blade towards his brother.

Lloyd drew his estoc and held it loosely, "Must it really come to this?"

"We fight for different sides now, brother," Linus said. "We're enemies."

"Only if we have to be," Lloyd replied. "You don't have to do this."

"Get ready, Lloyd. Here I come," Linus said solemnly. He swung his claymore about with the strength of a Powerarm, and jumped forward.

『』

"Stay still, will you!" shouted Briggid in frustration as she fired arrows at the Cornerstone.

"Not likely!" Brenya replied, launching fire from her hands at the yellow haired woman. Amidst the blaze, an arrow pierced through, just missing Brenya.

Clenching her fake hand, Brenya summoned another torrent of flames and flung it at the enemy General.

Briggid dodged, but stumbled in the process. The Valmese woman capitalized on the weakness as soon as it happened.

Her fingers crackling with light, Brenya shot bolts of electricity from her fingers straight through Briggid's heart.

Without a sound, the archer collapsed.

Satisfied, Brenya turned to make her way elsewhere in the camp. Her black hand grew heavy as she did so, sending the woman to the ground with a yelp.

"You shouldn't have done that," a wispy voice frowned. "She was very important to a friend of mine."

Brenya looked up to see her uncle standing next to her. Holding up her hand as best she could, she said, "Something's wrong with the hand, uncle."

"Dark magic is volatile," Canas warned. "That's the first lesson you ever learn when pursuing the dark arts. You can't hope to create with the power of destruction.

"I had hoped you'd have seen my kindness as it was, an invitation to leave what you were a part of. But now you've killed someone important to me, and I cannot let that stand," Canas shook his head.

The black hand began to melt. But instead of falling to the ground in droplets, the liquid massed and seeped up her arm.

Fearful, Brenya raised her other hand to scorch the dark magic off of her. As her hand lit up, the liquid shied away, and the Valmese's magic burnt her own arm.

Screaming with rage and pain, Brenya allowed the black mass to move all the way to her neck. It wrapped itself around just below her head, and tightened.

"I am sorry for this, niece," Canas said, turning away.

Brenya tried to scream, but not even air came out of her mouth.

『』

"Gah!" Lloyd gasped as his brother's claymore descended next to him. The brown haired man was able to dodge in time, but the consequence was his instability.

Stabbing forward, Linus thought he'd finished the fight. To his surprise, Lloyd, being the quicker of the two, nimbly avoided yet again.

"You're just as fast as I remember!" Linus grinned, pulling back his sword.

Lloyd panted, "And you're stronger than I remember." Hoping for an advantage, the Lord General jumped forward, slashing with his blade.

The estoc caught the side of Linus' arm, giving the bigger man a thin cut. Growling, Linus tried to stab his sword again, committing as much strength as he could muster.

Lloyd didn't dodge, instead he shifted Linus' sword aside with his own and lurched forward. His estoc hit true in Linus' stomach.

Groaning, Linus stumbled back while miraculously still holding onto his sword. Reaching to his belt, he retrieved a vulnerary and drank it.

"Dishonorable," Lloyd commented, and assumed a stance.

"We'll finish this later," Linus decided, turning tail and beginning to flee.

"Coward!" shouted the Lord General. And with that, he gave chase to his running brother.

『』

"What's Arulia like?" Sain asked, leaning against the ship where Mia had been standing.

The purple haired woman glanced at him before saying, "It's much better than Ferox. It's warm, and can sustain itself without any outside help."

The green knight nodded, "Anything we should know before we get there?"

Mia thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, there is. Being an isolated country means Arulia has its own culture and customs. For one, our ruling method is different than yours. We can only be led by a swordsperson who has won their longcoat."

"Is that hard to do?"

"Very. Only a small percentage ever do," Mia said. "We have noble houses, but having a coat carries more weight than your blood."

"Who rules Arulia now?" Sain asked.

"I don't know," admitted Mia. "I haven't been there in ten years. Whoever was ruling when I was there is likely dead."

"Too bad," Sain said. "Any information could be useful."

"You'll meet whomever it is soon. When we land, we'll be taken there immediately."

"Why?"

"Outsiders aren't welcome in Arulia."

"Lovely," Sain stretched, teetering as a wave hit the ship. Mia reached out a hand to steady him.

As the knight opened his mouth to say something regarding her action, the Lasher replied, "Don't even try."

Instead, Sain said, "You mentioned customs?"

Rolling her eyes, Mia continued, "Metal is sacred in Arulia. Only swords are made of metal, and occasionally armor. Jewelry made of metal is allowed, but only in small amounts." She showed the brown haired man her wrists, which had a single metal loop on each.

"So you're saying my armor would be insulting if I wore it?" Sain asked.

"You're smarter than you look," Mia conceded, and turned back to the ocean.

Feeling happier, the knight continued on with the conversation, "Is there anyone waiting for you back there? A significant other?"

"The only man in my life is my uncle, and that's if he's even still alive," Mia replied, not in the mood for Sain's games.

"Ah," the green knight uttered, sensing that the conversation had come to an end. But he still stood next to the orange clad woman.

She didn't leave. So at least that was a plus.

『』

"You're awfully young to be on a ship," Cormag commented.

Colby shrugged, "I know my way around a boat. That's all I need."

Fargus' sailor was not very tall. Cormag stood about a full foot taller than him. Colby's hair was a sandy blond color, and he was dressed like the rest of Fargus' crew—no shirt, bandana on the head and an axe on back. The slightest amount of stubble graced his face.

"How did you come to be a pirate? You're what, sixteen? Seventeen?" the Flamewalker asked.

"Fifteen," corrected Colby. "And the captain found me one day a couple years ago, and I've been with him ever since."

"That's kind of him," Cormag said, looking out at the sea from his spot atop a barrel. Colby looked as well, seeming to get lost in the waves.

"Do you enjoy being a pirate?" the blue knight asked.

"Yes!" Colby exclaimed. "I love it. Someday, I'm going to captain my own ship! Though I'll need a good name for it…"

"I think you'll come up with one," Cormag smirked.

『』

"I'm glad we found a boat this easily," Matthew said, leaning back against the wooden railing. In front of them was Fargus at the wheel, singing a drinking song to himself.

Leila nodded. She sat next to him, holding his hand loosely. "The sea is far vaster than I expected," she commented.

"Miles and miles of open water, just waiting to swallow us whole," Matthew grinned. "Kind of freeing, right?"

"More like sickening," Leila muttered.

The Vanisher quirked an eyebrow, "Do I detect fear?"

"It's just uncomfortable," Leila replied, trying to head off the conversation.

Matthew continued on talking, but Leila ignored him. She gazed out over the ocean, particularly at one spot in the distance. Something looked like it was above the water.

An island? No, it was shimmering…

"Captain Fargus, what's that?" she asked, pointing at what she had seen.

"Gods have mercy on us," Fargus muttered. "All hands on deck!"

『』

The sea beast closed the distance quickly. When it got within a hundred feet of Fargus' ship, it dove under and vanished from sight.

Colby's attention was not on the sea serpent for long. A red clad man landed on the ship, sword in hand and coin in the other.

The knight he'd been talking to, Cormag, drew his sword and stepped up to the new arrival. They recognized each other, that much was clear.

"Round three, is it?" said the red warrior. "I brought help, this time."

"What is it?" Cormag asked, warily looking at the water.

"Leviathan, the sea serpent," he replied. "I hope you like the ocean, because it's going to turn into your home."

As if on cue, Leviathan burst from the depths with a roar that ripped Colby's eardrums to pieces. The beast's tail weaved onto the deck, knocking several pirates into the water.

Unfortunately, Colby was one of them.

The young pirate crashed into the side of the ship and flipped over the railing. With desperate hands, he managed to grip hold of the wooden side.

Bit by bit, Colby's fingers began to slip.

A cold feeling flooded his blood. His veins turned to ice, and Colby began to shiver.

Colby Snapped.

But it was too late. The shock from Snapping caused Colby to lose his grip on the side of the boat. The pirate fell to his doom in the murky waves below.

『』

Cormag ignored Leviathan. Flamewalkers weren't the best material to fight sea creatures. But Navarre was something he could handle.

"This won't end like last time," Navarre declared. He held up the hand that Cormag had melted in their previous engagement. It had been worked on by some form of magic, and now aside from horrid scars, the hand seemed unharmed.

"We shall see. We've beaten you twice before. As the saying goes, 'If it happens twice, it'll happen thrice,'" Cormag smirked. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mia flying towards Leviathan.

This is my battle, the knight decided. "At your ready," he said, holding his sword firmly in his good hand.

Navarre surged forward without any warning. His sword became a viper and bit into Cormag's arm between plates of armor.

Swearing, Cormag stumbled back. Navarre smiled, and shot his coin straight toward Cormag's heart.

The flat of the knight's blade deflected the coin, sending it into the sea and away from Navarre.

Unfortunately, Cormag was wearing armor.

Navarre held out a hand and pushed against Cormag with his Mantle. The blond man felt himself thrown backwards, crashing into the mast of the ship.

The red man strutted forward, still holding his hand aloft to keep Cormag trapped as he was. As he approached, Navarre raised his blade in preparation to end the fight.

He'd never get the chance.

From behind, Fargus' massive axe severed Navarre's body in half. Blood splattered over Cormag.

"Hop to it, laddie," Fargus growled. "We got a serpent to dice."

『』

Matthew realized it was a mistake the moment her disappeared.

He flittered into vision on top of Leviathan's head, and immediately slipped on its wet scales.

Matthew's red cloak got shredded on the scales as he slid down the monster's back. Panicking, the Vanisher flailed for some way to hold on.

He quickly found his feet and kicked off the side of Leviathan. Sailing through the air, Matthew flipped around and focused on his destination.

The Vanisher reappeared back at the monster's head, and gripped one of the frills on Leviathan's head.

Mia finally reached the head of the monster as well. She lashed herself to the scales, turning her point of gravity into Leviathan.

Sensing something ill, the serpent vigorously shook its head in hopes of driving off the two assailants.

Mia was shaken off, but fell back to the beast's head.

Matthew, on the other hand, was tossed straight into the water.

He vanished and appeared on deck next to Leila, who had been at a loss at how to help. Cormag fought Navarre on the lower deck, so Matthew gripped his beloved's hand and disappeared.

As soon as they got back on beast's head, Mia lashed the both of them to Leviathan's head.

Then the serpent began to move.

Its head lowered towards the water while the tail raised itself out of the sea.

"It's going to break the ship in half!" screamed Mia, holding onto one of the frills.

Matthew struck downward with the Avvenire, but the white blade barely left a scratch on the scales.

With her tattooed arm, Leila hefted her rapier. Leaping forward, she struck at its eye. The thin needled point burrowed into the huge eyeball.

Mia pried out one of the scales with her sword, exposing a very small weak point above the beast's brain.

Raising the Avvenire, Matthew stabbed it straight down into the exposed flesh.

If Leviathan had been screaming before, now it roared loud enough to rip through skin.

Mia broke the lashes and relashed herself to Fargus' ship. She jumped, and began to fall towards the wooden boat.

Matthew, leaning on the Avvenire, extended his hand to Leila. Without the help of lashes, she struggled to get close enough to take the hand.

Leviathan began to fall back into the sea. Leila fell from the head.

"Leila!" he cried. Withdrawing his sword, he jumped after her.

Reaching a hand skyward, Leila tried to grab the hand Matthew still held out for her.

Come on! Matthew swore under his breath. He could nearly…

Their fingers touched, and Matthew extended his hand a bit more to fully grasp her hand.

Just as they hit the water, they vanished.

Matthew and Leila appeared on deck, right next to Sain.

"You know," he said. "I can't do shit without a Mantle."

Matthew laughed.

Author Notes: Sorry this took so long, and sorry for the lack of my usual quality. I've been extremely busy, and I'm out of practice. This chapter took a very long time to write compared to most, and I'm feeling exhausted as of late.

Point is, now that I'm back in the swing of things, I'll do better.

New poll on my profile! Please take a peek since it concerns my next project!

Trivia! Colby's Mantle was a Leaper. With it, he can hop between worlds. That's why there's a Colby in all my stories, because it's the same one just traveling forever.