Chapter 25 - Paralogue 1B - Providence - Rila Wellspring
This one… He's probably the leader of the Bandit group. According to what I've read, his name is supposed to start with an R. Or an L. No one actually remembered his name- Oh wait! Donny!... did… He remembered his name because the man killed his father. But all the books I've read have only had the information that his name started with an R or an L. I wonder why.
"You… How…?!" I can hear the frustration and rage dripping like molasses from his voice. I suppose it would make sense after all… How would you feel if a single person, with the helm of a simple farmhand, slaughtered all the people you had probably lived with for months, if not years, almost singlehandedly destroying everything you had worked for… And not even being able to hurt that person in return? If it were me, I'd be helplessly furious, terrified, or probably taken by despair. Oh, and confusion, because I wouldn't understand why he or she didn't get hurt. But I'm the aggressor, so I know.
I levy my sword at the bandit's leader. I'll call him R because I would think his name started with an R, and I need something to call him. Or I can just ask him. As he readies his axe defensively, I call out to him to ask him this. "You. What's your name?" His response isn't much more than a menacing growl. Maybe I was right to call him R: R for "grr". I stifle my laugh as I rephrase my question. "Let's put it this way: I need your name so I can write your name in the history books. I would let you do that yourself, but…"
Donny's father flashes through my mind for an instance. The man who somehow convinced me to drink. I doubt my father would have approved, but it ended up being fun. The drink was sweet, and the night full of laughs. (Though, of course, I wouldn't have been surprised if it were juice and I just thought it was alcohol. Donny's father seemed like the kind of guy to do that. That is, for the few days I knew him.) Not to mention that he gave me the opportunity to sing and play, something I haven't been able to do for years… I'm glad I got to sing that night… Just a bit sad over what happened the next-okay, that's an understatement, I'm pissed about that- I still haven't gotten over that. I won't. Not ever. I'll never forgive R for that.
"But you killed my friend's father. So I can't let you write your name yourself." Which reminds me… Donny came along with me to do this. I let him have his share of vengeance, so I think he's probably satisfied… Hope it doesn't mess the kid up… But I wonder what he thinks of me now? He's probably scared of me now, and I wouldn't be surprised. Once upon a time, one of my friends said that I'd be called the bloody maiden of the battlefield. That is, if Risen could bleed. But I'll see what Donny thinks later.
I readdress R. "Now, if you could be a sweetheart and tell me your name, I'll give you a chance to kill me before I end your life." By the gods, just how self-overconfident and arrogant can I be? Oh well, it's fun to pretend. The flare in his eyes grows darker and more intense for a moment before it starts to burn with courage and pride instead. Y'know, if he had been born in my time, been the warrior that he is, and not have been a bad person, I would've been proud to fight by his side. I think that maybe Airys would have liked him… But then she liked everyone, didn't she? I wonder if I might ever see her again… Maybe if I live long enough. Back to R. He's giving me his name now.
"My name is Roddick, and this axe of mine will have its thirst for your blood satiated today." Ah yes, that's right. I got away from his group of bandits last time he attacked. He's probably been looking to kill me for a while… Though, I'm not entirely sure that was his initial intent. Whatever the case, he wants me to bleed now. Welp, I said I would give him a chance to kill me, and I'm not one to go back on my word. "Thanks, darling. Now have at me." I raise my shield against him. I think the correct term is "Have at you", but I don't think that what I said was wrong. He grins and laugh. "You'll regret giving me the chance!"
Oh no I won't. I reach over with my currently empty sword hand and grasp one of my tomes. Not the same way I killed the rest of his group, but I guess I'll make an exception for him. I glance at the words, quickly reciting them in my mind, and snap the book shut as the magic comes to life. Then I cast the tome's magic, the complex of runes surrounding me as I call forth the effects. "Providence!" The magic flashes into its physical form, starting as a circle of light beneath my feet. I replace the tome in its carrier on my belt and level my shield towards Roddick. Probably won't be necessary, but it's always good to double check. Maybe I cast it wrong, and the magic is going to fail the moment he makes his strike. Roddick slows for a moment before returning to full dash. I feel a grin cross my face again. I'm pretty sure I haven't cast it wrong. He raises his axe and lets it fall as I raise my shield to catch his strike.
And with a flash of light, he's thrown backwards and falls to the ground, his axe flying out of his hand and embedding itself into the dirt a few meters away. Not exactly what I expected, but I've never actually used the Providence tome in specific, so I can't say I'm surprised. My father helped make the tome, after all, so I can be confident in its abilities: Anything with him involved is bound to be effective, let it be strategies, weapons, or tomes.
He was, and I quote the man himself, "a self-styled Magic Knight", especially during the wars against the Risen Hordes. Before things truly changed, though, he was, as well as being Chrom's right hand man, a master and philosopher on the usage of the sword and shield. And even when he switched to using Tomes, he still was: He continued to keep and maintain his practice of swordsmanship. So I guess it made sense that he left me his tomes when he went ahead of us to pioneer the gate: He can replace his sword and shield a lot more easily.
And, just like him, though I prefer the usage of tomes nowadays as opposed to the sword, I still know how to use my sword like I know how to call forth the power of tomes. Besides, I can't rely on my father's tomes forever: They're outright unique, nigh irreplicable, just as nearly impossible to recharge, and they're going to run out of energy at some point. I've gotta be prepared for that.
As for Roddick… At the current moment, he is dazed or unconscious on the ground, but it doesn't look like he's- Okay, he's moving, so not unconscious, but obviously dazed. Now's the part when I kill him, right? I guess I'll… Use my sword… then…
And now my sword hangs loosely in my hand as I stand over Roddick. Still dazed, and he probably has no idea that I'm standing here, just about to kill him. But… Can I kill him? He's not Risen. If he were Risen, this would be a different story: I wouldn't hesitate. But… He's stunned and disarmed, not a threat, and human. He's liable to be captured and imprisoned for his crimes, but killing him like this is… wrong…
"Arn'cha gonna kill'im?" Donny's voice questions me at the perfect time. Maybe I can petition him. "…Do you have some rope?" It's quiet for a moment. Donny's probably trying to process what I just said. Especially after I just killed everyone he didn't with a sword. Why don't you just kill him? You did the same to everyone else. Yeah, I know, it's just that-
"Yeh. C'mon, help me carry'im back." Relief and gratitude. Absolutely all of it. "…Thanks Donny… Sorry." Here I am, letting the guy who killed his father live, and now I'm making him help me carry him back to be tied up and held prisoner. Donny lifts Roddick up- Then Donny drops Roddick, takes his pot-turned-helmet and hits Roddick's head with it hard enough to slightly dent it as well as knock Roddick out completely- Then Donny lifts Roddick up using his underarms as handholds, as I lift him up by his feet. "Naw, ts'alright. Fits'ya." And I can't help but start giggling almost uncontrollably at Donny as he tries'ta figure out what I'm laughing at.
And then he says that he wants to stop all of this, ceasing my laughs. I can already understand more or less what he wants: He doesn't know that they even exist yet, but he wants to join the Shepherds and stop the pointlessness.
"Hey, Donny… If I weren't here, what would you have done?" He readjusts his hold on Roddick as if to confirm. "About th'bandits?" I don't need to readjust my hold, so I don't; I just give him a nod, and he gives something of a thoughtful expression. "Wale… Ah guess Ah wouln't've done a'thing." That makes sense… In the stories I read about him, he really did say that, if the Shepherds weren't there, he would've kept running 'till he found someone to help. He wouldn't do anything alone- That would mean certain death. In fact, he actually hadn't intended to fight in the first place: Once he found the Shepherds, the only reason he fought was because Chrom convinced him to. Which… Kinda makes me wonder…
"Ah'jist thought Ah couldn'let'chu go alone. Tha's crazy thinkin', what'chu did." So… he followed me… If I hadn't been so crazy in avenging his father, then he wouldn't have followed me. "I'm so-"Though Ah guess ya didn' need me, did'ja? Wale, Ah still thinks i'was a good idea." And he ends his sentence with a laugh, and I can't say I'm sorry, because it'd be outta place. "You had tha right idea… An so did Pops." He readjusts his hold on Roddick again, clearly to place him as his object of thought. "About'im. Not killin'im, Ah mean." And what Donny said stuck.
"Hey… Have you heard of the Shepherds?"
I deflect the deadly force of the spear with a quick movement of my shield, allowing the spear to instead drive past me. It's wielder, now off-balance, opens itself up for a quick flash of my blade. The attack should have bisected it, but anyone would know that it wouldn't be enough, and I follow up with two more slashes. With this, it evaporates in purplish smoke, just like they always do. I glance behind me at Donny, as he stands surrounded by the same purplish smoke, only to choose and move onto his next target.
He's become, all in all, a better fighter than me since that first battle of his. I'm proud of him, to see him come so far so quickly, but I can't say that I'm not jealous. In the first few months after we left to join the Shepherds, he went from a farmboy who was too scared the face the enemy at all, nevermind alone, to a seasoned veteran of war with a year or two of combat under his belt. But instead of a couple years, he only had a few months to achieve what another would take years to do. If anyone could pick up what he did as quickly as he did, maybe we wouldn't have had to...
No. We would have needed to come back here. That's one of the few undeniable truths. Back before we came to this time, we had the most brilliant minds, experienced soldiers, talented mages, and seasoned strategists fighting to stem the Risen onslaught. We even had someone akin to an Angel. But those same brilliant minds, experienced soldiers, talented mages, and seasoned strategists concluded that ours was a lost cause unless we did something to change the past. And the fact that we concluded that... Is proof that nothing could have saved us from this inevitable outcome.
As three more of the group of Risen fall to Donny's weapons, and as the last of them falls to my blade, I gaze upon the walls of Ferox. The snow-blanketed walls that, for two years, we have fought to keep safe. We set out to join the Shepherds, but found ourselves doing this instead...
In the books that I read, it was the Shepherds that assisted Donny. But they never came. We waited there for a few days, on my request, because I could have sworn that I read, and I knew for a fact, that they came to assist Donny. But they never came. I felt betrayed...
But, at the same time, I couldn't shake the suspicion that it could have been my fault. They found Donny, running from the scene and looking for help, and they just happened to be passing by. But I went straight towards the bandits they were supposed to fight, and killed them myself. And Donny followed me. Donny didn't run for help.
To be honest, it makes me hate myself. To think I was doing something good- and it was good... But because I did that good thing, Donny could never meet with the Shepherds in the way he was supposed to. They could've been just off the road, but because I went to fight by myself, Donny never ran to find help. He ran to help me. So close, but so far...
The sky overhead is heavy with darkened clouds, and snow is already falling at a quickened pace. And now the wind starts to pick up as well. I breathe in deeply, feeling the sting of the cold in my lungs, and breathe out heavily, watching my breath fog into the air. Time to return to the walls, avoid the snowstorm. Any Risen out here can wait until it isn't as cold... They've yet to learn how to scale walls, and the doors and gates are barred against the force of seige weapons. It'll be safe inside, no matter how many of them come. One of the few things I can guarantee.
I glance again at Donny. Since those first few months since we left his home, he's become a warrior without parallel. He commands great amounts of respect from the Feroxi, and he even commands his own group of soldiers now. On that note, I'm one of those soldiers, selected personally by him, despite being warned against it. Apparently, there are soldiers who are better than me. Even me, who's fought Risen since before they were- Actually, that's not right. I was born after them so... well, after they were long dead and gone, but I've fought Risen far longer than any of them! To think that they think that they're better than me... That's hilarious!
... But... it's also true. I'm not the best of the Feroxi soldiers. I can use magic, magic that they've never seen before, yes, but my father helped make the magic I use, and anything he's involved in is bound to be great, let it be strategy or weapons. Not to mention that it's going to run out at some point, so I can't use it all the time, which means I have to use the common tomes instead. And with those, I'm no better than your average mage; Almost anyone can use those. I can use a sword and shield too, but I'm far from the best: That was my father too. I am definitely not the best of the Feroxi soldiers, and it's right for them to suggest that Donny choose someone other than me to include in his force.
. . . But Donny? No, he still treats me like his equal, if not his better. Even though I tell him he's already better than me, that I can't teach him anything else; that he should be the one teaching me at this point... He still thinks of me as he did back when I first fought the bandits at his home. Though, as I should note, he's also become a close friend, which I am personally glad for.
"Gettin' darn cold, ain'it, Rila?" On that note, he uses my actual name, despite how weird it must be to say it. His accent hasn't changed either... I always liked his accent. It was never strict, even from my oldest memories. Always relaxed. "Indeed it is, Donny." He motions for us to head back in, and I give him a nod in response. He calls out orders to the surrounding forest and he starts walking towards the walls. And, as we clear the trees, the rest of his forces appear from the same trees.
Minus three. Judging by the blood and tracks in the snow, one of the group was brought back early, and two people carried. One person stayed back to cover their retreat, and I can see him walking alone, his gaze directed towards the blood in the snow. Probably the soldier's partner. He might think it's his fault. But, judging by his limp, he either fought valiantly to protect their retreat, or was injured and couldn't come to his partner's defense in time. Other than the most obvious of injuries, there are other injuries of varying degrees present among the rest of the force. I glance at Donny, who surveys his group with a grimace on his face.
And because of me, we're both just people that the Shepherds were supposed to meet but never did. Doomed to be side-characters that will never be introduced in the history books of this timeline. All because I felt obligated to kill the bandits who killed Donny's dad.
And so we trudge forward in the snow, returning to our sanctuary within the Feroxi walls, only to fight again when the snowstorm lets up, Donny's cloak billowing in the wind, and I following closely behind...
. . .
But it's not going to be as simple as that.
I won't accept it.
Author's Note:
I lied, I didn't need my game for this.
Edit - 05-05-18
-Relabled as Chapter 25.