New chapter alert! It's eleven at night and I have class at 8:30, so I'm going to make this opening exposition brief. We meet Leif's army at last in what is probably my longest chapter to date, containing five segments. The next chapter will be an immediate follow up that will solely serve to introduce an original character and concept, so it will be shorter than usual. Though let me say ahead of time, he is supposed to be... unsettling. This chapter is more light-hearted, however, so enjoy!
Leaving a small company of soldiers in charge of the freshly conquered Alster, Seliph took the rest of his army to Leonster to meet with the army of his cousin. When the two forces met outside the castle, Leif stepped forward to greet him, speaking formally.
"Sir Seliph, I am Leif, son of King Quan of Leonster. I am thankful for your aid, and it is an honor to make your acquaintance, at last." he said, in a rather stiff manner.
Seliph was at first surprised by the formal tone Leif was adopting, having expected to be greeted in a more straightforwardly friendly fashion. He decided to just go with it. So he attempted to speak formally as well.
"Prince Leif, we meet at last. I'm so glad you haven't come to any serious harm." responded Seliph.
Leif straightened up "Yes, by some divine miracle or providence, I have not been seriously harmed. I honestly don't comprehend how, if I am being honest. Providence has not been on my side thus far..."
"I know about your parents, but what else has happened since then?" asked Seliph.
Leif elaborated "Shortly after their deaths, an official of Manster betrayed our alliance with them, and aided the Imperial army in seizing my home, this very castle in which we stand. It is very fortunate that Finn, the most trusted knight in my father's service, has managed to keep me safe for all of these years. But, making a living for ourselves has not been easy. Lachesis left us some years ago in order to retrieve her son Delmund... and we never saw her again. Apparently, she never reached you. That was just one stoke of bad luck out of many. Eventually we managed to fight back and make some progress in taking this land back. We have not had your level of success, however."
Leif sighed and looked at the floor "Best example? This place. We took this place about six months ago, and I grew bold and attempted to follow up on our victory by storming Alster. A foolhardy mistake on my part. I lost half of my army and one of my advisors in that attack." Leif said sadly. "We've been under siege here ever since."
"I heard from Lewyn." Seliph told him. "I took up arms a few months after you did, and I've heard all about Blume's bloody reign. One even worse than the one that I grew up under, even though by Imperial logic, your land is less deserving. My only regret is that we did not rise to the task sooner. We could've saved you a great tragedy."
Leif shook his head. "No sir, Do not put any of the blame upon yourself. I take full responsibility for the disaster, yet at the same time, I fully intend to live up to my father's legacy. With all due respect, I am formally asking you to consider making what little forces I have left a part of your liberation effort. We will assist you in not only liberating our homeland, but in returning Grannvale to it's former glory." he said, saluting him by putting an arm over his chest.
"I thought you would. That is why I came in person to see to it that that the merging of our forces happens as smoothly as possible." Realizing that his troops were getting restless standing in the heat while the two just talked, he added "Now, how about we finish formal introductions and go inside and allow for our troops to intermingle? We can continue discussing the finer points of future plans inside with our advisors by our sides." so Leif led them into the castle, and the two armies began to greet each other.
"Hey Lester!" a voice called out.
"Delmund. I see you've made it here safely. Have you gotten to meet your sister and the troops?" Lester asked.
"My sister, the prince, and my step-father, yes. The rest of the troops? No, I haven't had the time. Though from what I've heard, some of them have GREAT names. Want to play our little game?" he asked cheerily.
"Sure! That'll be fun!" responded Lester enthusiastically.
"Oh no you two! You aren't going to start doing this again!" declared Lana, butting into the conversation. "Why can't the two of you simply be polite to the people you meet? It's just rude to pick apart people's names for no good reason. I'm sure none of these people have names that are actually worth making fun of. Allow me to demonstrate." She then turned to a nearby knight and said "Hello there, sir. My name is Lana, I'm a healer with Seliph's army. May I have the pleasure of learning your name?"
"A pleasure to meet you, Lana." the young knight said, smiling. "My name is Carrion."
"Oh no." Lana said, her smile dropping faster than a stone thrown into a pond.
"Is there... something wrong ma'm?" Carrion asked as Delmund and Lester began to snicker in the background.
"I'm sorry... but those two boys behind me? My brother and Nanna's brother? They are the most immature members of our army. And... well, you see, they have this little game where they try to see who can make a better joke out of a random person's name. I tried to stop them. I wanted to demonstrate proper courtesy to you, and prove that not all names are worth making fun of... I'm sorry, Carrion, but I'm afraid your name is very easy to make fun of. So... I'm sorry, but as soon as I leave they'll start heckling you over it. Just so you know, my brother will apologize and mean it if you look like you are hurt or very offended by their remarks, but Delmund won't care and will keep it up. I apologize in advance."
"...I see. Well, thank you for the warning Lana. I'll try to not let it bother me to much. I suggest you go and meet and warn the other members of our army. It was nice meeting you." Carrion said. Thus, Lana wished him good luck, left, and the boys began their onslaught.
"Tell me Carrion, do you constantly have birds circling around you?" asked Lester
"Do dogs seem to LOVE you?" asked Delmund.
"Do people constantly tell you that you smell like death?" asked Lester
"Your parents really didn't want to have you, did they?" Delmund asked.
Lester stopped short "Wait, WHAT?"
"I mean, Carrion? Seriously? They might as well have named you Kilmi."
Lester looked stopped smiling and started looking horrified. "umm... Delmund?"
"or Dedgye."
"Delmund, I think that's enough."
"Or Sassin Natemi"
"Ok Delmund, now you're just being obnoxious."
"Your parents didn't really have high hopes for your future, did they?" continued Delmund, ignoring Lester.
"OK. Enough is enough." said Lester as he hit Delmund upside the head and covered his mouth. "Now I remember the reason why I stopped doing this with you. I realized that you weren't funny, just a colossal asshole." said Lester under his breath. Looking at Carrion he said "I'm truly sorry about that, sir. My companion went to far there. I'm sorry if we caused you any emotional trauma. I'll take my friend and leave you alone now." and he dragged a thrashing Delmund away, leaving Carrion alone.
"And here I was thinking Nanna's brother would be the blue-haired one, but I guess that one's Lana's." he thought out-loud.
Salem was sitting in the corner, away from the others. He was attempting to take a nap. Next to him was Sara. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out. "Well, I'm glad to see that I was successful in ensuring your safety."
Salem' eyes popped open and he leapt out of his chair. It clattered to the floor. "Cumha? You're still alive?!"
"I'm still alive. Thanks to the Liberation army. Good to see that you've lasted this long as well. Though I'm surprised to see you in an army. I was kind of expecting you to find someplace secluded to spend the rest of your days."
"What can I say? Prince Leif is a generous man. They had me captured, but they released me as soon as somebody asked that I not be harmed. He even granted me amnesty, knowing full well what I was... by the way amnesty is-"
"I know, they granted it to me too. Why do you think that I'm here?"
"So... how did you wind up with the liberation army?" Salem asked.
"I was locked up in the Yied Shrine, waiting for the day when Archbishop Manfroy would come to finish me off, when they came, stormed the place, and took control."
"Yied has fallen?!" Salem cried out loudly and in shock. Sara's eyes widened as well. "Is it still occupied? It better be well guarded, or else-"
"No need to worry about that, old friend. Remember, our people are no longer confined there, so it is not as important to our leaders as it used to be. Besides, even if they took it back, it's not that hard to seize anymore. One of the Liberation army's mages was messing with a tome he found in Skaro's workshop, and he had an accident which made the entire Darna side of the cliff collapse. Now you can take an entire army up a large, gently sloping ramp straight up to the front of the shrine."
Salem's eyes nearly popped out of his head upon hearing this.
"Grandpa is not going to be happy. Someone's going to die again." said Sara.
"Well, it seems that we will be out of here and seeing action outside of Leonster at long last, dear. This long battle that we've been fighting ever since father died... its finally behind us. We can move onward now." said Selfina, snuggling up to her husband, Glade.
"You are half right there, Selfina. I will be seeing action. You, however, shall remain here." Glade told her
"What? You're not leaving me here! I want to be with you!" she cried.
"Absolutely not. I can't risk you getting in harm's way." Glade said firmly.
"That was never a problem before."
"You're right. It wasn't a problem before. I know perfectly well that you can handle a bow and use it to defend yourself. I never considered saying anything in the past because of that and because your father didn't seem to mind you fighting alongside us."
"So now that my father is gone you want to push me away when you should be keeping me closer." said Selfina, pouting.
Glade sighed and shook his head. "Selfina, you aren't thinking or speaking rationally. You know that we have been closer these past six months than we ever have been before. Look, I just want to make sure you are safe in case anything goes wrong. Any of our leaders will agree with me that it is best that you remain."
Selfina was about to argue back, when a voice said "Listen to your husband, Selfina, he knows best."
"I would expect YOU to be against me, Finn." she said, glaring his way, expecting to see just him. Finn was not alone. Oifey, August, Lewyn, Shanan, Seliph and Leif were standing with him. They had been discussing tactics and plans for the campaign when they heard the escalating argument and decided to stop their conversation and help settle it quickly.
Leif spoke next. "Selfina, Finn has nothing against you, you're upset and over-exaggerating, which is understandable, but I'm not letting you come for now. I don't need my advisors to help me make that decision."
"Don't try to convince me either." said Seliph "Or any of the rest of us for that matter. Our decision is unanimous. It's blatantly obvious that you'd be a liability."
"Why?! Why can't I come with you?" cried Selfina, on the verge of tears.
Silently, they simultaneously raised their hands and pointed, and then Selfina knew that she wasn't going to have her way. Why? They were all pointing at her obviously swollen belly. She was six months pregnant.
August spoke next. "Self-reflection on your behavior alone should tell you why we don't want to bring you with us for now. You normally aren't this emotional. The baby is messing with your body and your mind. Even if you can adequately protect yourself with a bow, pregnancy will seriously dampen your ability to use it. It will also slow you down in times when we need to move fast, and the havoc it is playing on your emotions as well as any contractions in the middle of battle could cause your husband a distraction that may very well end his life. Or yours. So please, stop protesting, our decision is final, and we are not being unfair."
"My aunt didn't put up any resistance when asked to stay away from the battlefield when she got to the phase you are at, and she was a born fighter." included Shanan "Sure, she kept fighting and training for the first few months after discovering that there were children inside of her, but once it began to show and weigh her down, she willingly put aside her sword until they were born."
Glade spoke to her one last time, very softly. "Please, my dear, don't fight us anymore. It should only be another three months until the baby is born. I can guarantee that the war won't be over by then. Once you've recovered and we settle on someone who can watch over it, you may follow me to the ends of the earth."
With that, Selfina relented and agreed to stay in Leonstar with her most loyal guards. (The ones that those who've played Thracia 776 have never used beyond their introductory level)
Ares and Roddleven weren't big on socializing, so they decided that, while the others mingled, they'd take the opportunity to go to town and get their weapons re-forged so they were in top condition. This would also mean that they wouldn't have to wait in line when everyone else was going to do the same. While they waited, they wound up wandering by a jewelry vendor and began to examine their wares. Roddleven looked at everything and eventually decided on a jeweled pin. Ares, however, was more interested in the rings. However, he wound up not buying anything. After collecting their weapons, they made their way back. On their way back to the castle, Roddleven began a conversation with the knight, figuring he might as well.
"Thinking about asking a certain someone a certain something?" he asked.
Ares looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "It has been on my mind, yes. I promised Leen that she wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Making that promise should prove to her that I mean it. It would probably make her happier than she has ever been." he admitted
"Then why don't you do it? You had the perfect opportunity to prepare for that, but you didn't." pontificated Roddleven.
Ares looked Roddleven in the eyes "I have three reasons why not. First of all, I don't know her size, and I doubt we'll be in Leonster for long, so I wouldn't be able to return it if it didn't fit. Second of all, we are at war, and people die all the time in war. It's pure chaos... I think she's had enough of a chaotic life as it is, and she would want some assurance of stability. Third and foremost... how could I give her a stable life if I'm not exactly stable myself." Roddleven did a double take. Ares could tell he was thinking "Wait, is he really telling me this?"
Ares sighed and elaborated "I've been raised my whole life to hate Sigurd and anyone related to him... only to be told now that what I've believed to be the truth for my entire life is actually a lie. I have literally killed any chance of going back to my old life, yet I still haven't decided on whether or not I actually believe the contradictory tale or not. I'll be honest, I can get past the first two things that I mentioned, one with a few questions, the other with a long talk... but as long as that last part remains an issue, I cannot act. I have to have all my thoughts in order in order to make such a pivotal decision, and until that changes and I am all there... anyways, I really think that this conversation should be reversed." said Ares suddenly
Roddleven stopped short and did a double take. "I... I don't know what you are talking about."
"I haven't been with you people long, but I've already noticed, you seem to spend a lot of time around that healer girl." said Ares.
"Mercy? Well, yea, we're friends."
"Close friends? Close enough that you'd want to bestow that jewel unto her?" Ares asked suspiciously.
"We both lost our only living relative at about the same time. We've been helping each other recover."
"So I heard... from my room in Melgen."
Roddleven stood silently for a couple of moments. "...What...What are you trying to imply?"
"Exactly what you think I am." said Ares cooly, "I asked for a room far from where everyone else was." then Ares proceeded to tell Roddleven where he had stayed at Melgen, and then studied Roddleven's face carefully.
"...I'm not going to confirm or deny anything." Roddleven said at last, after a prolonged hesitation.
"Which confirms everything." said Ares, suddenly walking faster. "You're going to have to make your final decision soon, so you might as well man up to it."
"What makes you say that?"
Ares looked back. "The way she walks." he said, and he ducked into the castle entrance, disappearing inside.
Roddleven stopped by the entrance, wondering about whatever Ares could mean. Then he was greeted by none other than Mercy herself.
"Roddleven. I'm glad you're back. There's... something I need to talk to you about..."