"Why, hello down there," Aversa says to me, smirking.
"…Hello," I respond meekly.
"While you're down there, why don't you clean my boots for me?"
"Don't you think that I could use the energy required with letting go of this cliff for something more enjoyable? Like, I don't know, falling to my death?"
Aversa grabs me by the wrist, and lifts me up. She places her hand around my throat while hoisting me in the air. I struggle to breathe.
"Oh, would you prefer that?"
Even if I could respond at this moment, I wouldn't.
"Now, what was that thing you said the last time I had the misfortune to be in your company? Ah yes, something about slaps being the death of you?"
I wheeze.
"Happy landings!" Aversa says, grinning as she slaps me off of the cliff.
Ahh, I did say that slaps would be the death of me! Heheh, I get it!
I scream.
Oh shit. Oh shit oh shit oh shit ohshit ohshit ohshitohshitohshit.
AAAAAAAND NOW WE'RE FALLING OFF OF A CLIFF! BRILLIANT, LUCAS! JUUUUST BRILLIANT! DO YOU HAVE ANY AMAZING IDEAS TO SAVE YOUR ASS, NOW?!
Do a flip!
What?
I said do a flip!
What?! Why?!
Death is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Lucas! You have no choice but to make the most of this exciting event!
Fine, I'll do a flip!
I reluctantly do a flip.
Okay, now what?!
I dunno.
What?! I did a flip for you, man!
Sorry! It's not MY fault if I can't think of something right away!
HEY MATH, ARE YOU FUCKING USEFUL NOW?!
What?! That doesn't have anything to do with anything! I JUST NEED TO KNOW HOW TO FUCKING NOT BECOME A BIG SPLAT ON THE GROUND!
Hey, do you have a can of Red Bull with you?
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!
Get it?! 'Cuz it gives you wings?!
YOU ALL SUCK!
Yeah, guys. Honestly, these jokes are terrible. They all fall flat.
…
Get it?! 'Cuz that's what YOU'RE about to do!
YES, I FUCKING GET IT! BUT I AM ABOUT TO DIE, HERE, AND YOU ARE BUSY MAKING A FUCKING JOKE ABOUT IT!
We laugh in the face of danger.
I officially hate all of you.
That's too bad, because you're kind of stuck with us!
Hey, I've been meaning to ask. Why do all of us act like we have multiple personalities?
Oh, you kind of went insane. That kind of stuff should be expected to occur during the complex trans-universal travel.
All right then.
Wow, that ground is still kind of a ways away. We must be thinking very fast.
QUICKLY! We are thinking very QUICKLY!
Are you SERIOUSLY commenting on my grammar?! I'M ABOUT TO FUCKING DIE HERE, MAN!
ADVERBS, man! You need to use A FREAKING ADVERB!
But nobody cares about that rule! I'm not even certain that that is an actual rule! I think you just made it up!
I FUCKING CARE ABOUT THAT RULE!
Fine, whatever!
And to answer your question, your thoughts are coinciding with each other. That's the plus side of pretending too hard to have multiple thought processors.
Okay, now HOW DO I FUCKING SURVIVE THIS?!
Sigh, you seriously can't figure this out on your own?
…Did you seriously just say 'sigh'?
Yeah, that's Cordelia's thing, man!
And Inigo's. In his support with Owain. Just saying.
ANYWAY! WHAT CAN'T I FIGURE OUT ON MY OWN?!
Use your freaking wind magic! You used it on Emmeryn, why is it so difficult to think of using it on yourself?!
…Oh.
Yeah.
By the way, just going to point out, technically, I did think of that on my own. You're all me.
Having gotten that out of the way, I see that I had apparently wasted a fair amount of time mentally arguing with myself. The ground is becoming unnervingly close. Panicking, I quickly blast multiple balls of wind at the ground. This does nothing but make a large amount of sand fly up everywhere.
SHIT GODSDAMMIT, THAT DIDN'T WORK, JUSTUSEAFUCKINGELWINDALREADY!
The sand cloud that I accidentally created forces me to close my eyes as I quickly summon an Elwind tornado powerful enough to delay the tremendous speed at which I am making my way back to the earth.
Ah. Hello, ground. Nice to meet you. I particularly enjoy that decoration you don't have over there of me as a big splat.
I then feel a large amount of sand fall on top of me. If I'm not mistaken, it completely covers me.
Well, that was wonderful. I can hardly breathe now, and I didn't exactly have a full oxygen supply between Aversa choking me, and falling at a freakishly fast speed!
I lie perfectly still in the sand. I do this based purely on instinct – most of me still has trouble coming to terms with the fact that I am not quite dead. Yet, anyway.
Let's see… All parts of me are here, right? Yes? No?
Well, I'm thinking these thoughts, so… I guess my heads still intact. Arms? Legs? Yeah, I think I can feel those…
After a less than thorough examination of all of my working senses, I feel a strong gust of wind. It seems to blow most of the sand off of me.
DON'T YOU DARE DON'TYOUDAREMOVEAMUSCLE!
"Gods fucking DAMNIT!" I hear Lee swear extremely loudly.
"Now, now. Let's not get carried away with our profanities, eh?" Aversa chides.
…Okay. So, according to that, you are probably supposed to be dead. Now, let's take a look at the situation shall we? You know, for once in your life? You are dead. You cannot be alive, because you fell. Now, if you were to get up right about now, that would do absolutely nothing to help your cause. Emmeryn, Lee, and that Pegasus knight are in the custody of Gangrel and Aversa. Showing that you are still alive would only add you to that list. So, as long as you are dead, you are free.
Yeah, except that one part of me doesn't exactly feel as if Gangrel and Aversa are going to just let all of their captives live. I mean, I can see them keeping Emmeryn to trade for the Fire Emblem, but what point would they have to keep Lee and the Pegasus knight alive? There is no way in hell I am going to let them kill them.
And how do you propose to save them, should that be the case? There are gods-know-how-many zombie archers just standing there, probably with their bows pointed directly at Lee and the Pegasus knight, ready to open fire once Aversa or Gangrel gives the word!
…But I'm not letting them go down without a fight.
Arguing with you is useless, isn't it?
No, arguing with yourself is useless. Seriously, how in gods' names am I doing this right now?!
Okay, look, just… Don't do anything stupid for no reason, okay? Just listen, and if it seems as if things are going to make a turn for the worse… Then you can go get yourself killed for all I care.
Attempting to remedy my little oxygen problem while remaining as still as physically possible, I inhale slowly and carefully. This would be easier, were it not for the uncomfortable amount of sand directly in front of my face.
I then hear a noisy Gangrel cackle.
Oh, hey there, Mad King. When'd you get here?
"Oh, what a spectacle! You know, for a moment there, I was worried that I'd have to go through today without watching somebody fall! Kyahahaha! …Still, I would have enjoyed more blood. I did have a whole 'splat' theory going with that whole falling bit. I more or less assumed there'd be more of a mess. And maybe some broken bones." Oh shit, please don't see the blatantly obvious truth... "Ah, well. For a first time seeing somebody fall, that was quite a show!"
"What shall I do with her royal exaltness?" Aversa asks. I think I hear somebody fall onto the sand, so I can only assume that Aversa brought Emmeryn down, and just now threw her onto the ground. "Shall we go forth with the execution?"
"Haha! No, no!" Gangrel continues with his annoying, mad, evil villain laugh. "Did you see it? Did you see the look on Chrom's face? He was going to do it! Ah, the Fire Emblem would be in my hands right now, were it not for these meddling kids! …And their dumb exalt!"
I have to try unbelievably hard not to laugh. It's harder to hold it in when you know that you have to.
"So, to the dungeons with her?"
"Yes, yes! …And keep her away from anything sharp! We don't want our one item up for trade to go killing itself!"
"…And what about these two little brats? Surely we are permitted to do away with them?"
I instinctively tense up.
"Oh, put that tome away, Aversa!" Gangrel says, still cackling like a maniac. "Honestly, where's the fun in that?! No, their deaths must further our progress in this war!"
"Then what do you propose?"
"…Why Aversa, I do believe I've found two new lab rats for you. Take them to the castle, and do with them what you will – poisons, new spells for torture, you know the works!"
Aversa chuckles, "As you wish."
"Hey! Do you really think that we're going to-" I hear Lee say.
"Yes, I do, lest you desire to give these archers some target practice!"
"And let you just experiment on us?!" a new voice cuts in. I assume that this is the Pegasus Knight speaking up.
"Oh, for Gods' sakes…" I then hear numerous obscure noises come out of Aversa's mouth, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground.
"Risen! You shall carry these two trouble-makers to the castle dungeons. Should either of them wake up and decide to attempt to resist, do not hesitate to fill them with arrows in the most painful and vulnerable parts of the body you can lay your dead eyes on."
…Are they leaving, now?
I hear the flap of Pegasus wings, and I think I feel some more sand fly on top of me.
I wait for a few seconds. And, just to be safe, I wait a little bit more. Then, just as I am about to get up, I hear the loud clinking of armour walking.
"No…" I hear somebody groan.
"Oh, it's just you Raimi!" I say, pulling myself up. "You had me worried for a second, there!"
Shaking like a wet dog, trying to get all of the sand off of me, I take a look in one direction. I see the backs of the Risen leading Lee and the Pegasus knight to the castle.
I run my hands through my hair, forcing all of the sand out. I then turn to the right and see Raimi staring at me with gigantic eyes.
"Yeah, do you know what is not fun? Getting buried by a shit-ton of sand! I swear, I that ruined the entire prospect of getting thrown off of a cliff!"
Raimi just stands there, jaw-dropped.
I brush off the sand from my clothes. "Okay. So, they're taking Lee and that knight to the castle. Whatever it is that they plan to do to them, it doesn't sound pretty. So, shall we get going?"
Raimi slowly points a finger at me. "You…you fell."
I take a good look at the cliff. "Yes. Yes, I did," I say, nodding. I clap my hands together, and look back at Raimi. "So. Castle. Save friends. Now?"
"You…you fell."
"…Yes, I do believe that that has been established."
"You…you fell."
"Yes, yes. Funny how we keep coming back to that isn't it?"
"But… You… How are you…?"
"Sentences, Raimi. Speak sentences," I say, admittedly rather hypocritically.
"You…should be dead!"
"Well…under the limited circumstances that you are currently aware of, I suppose that, yes, I should be."
"Are you…real?"
Raimi then reaches out to touch me. However, she does surprisingly quickly, and strikes me right in the face. I get knocked back into the sand.
"…Oh. He really is dead."
"No!" I say, clumsily getting back up. "Not yet, anyway!" I brush myself off, again. "Seriously, your dead friend comes back to life, and your first instinct is to slap him?! Well… I mean… I came back as a regular human being, not a Risen!" I rub my cheek. I suppose that I should at least be grateful that she wasn't wearing anything on her hand when she slapped me.
"…Yup, you're back."
I turn back to the knight. "Glad we've finally managed to get that established, however long it may have taken."
"But, still, how did you-"
"Listen, like I kept trying to say earlier, we're on a pretty tight schedule. We should really hurry to that castle over there while staying out of the Risen archers' view. Walk and talk, okay? Scratch that – run and talk." I turn and begin to pick up a light jog through the sand. I hear Raimi's armour clunk after me.
"Why are you still here, anyway? Why didn't you leave with Chrom and the others?"
"Er… I…kind of got left behind. Running isn't exactly my strength when I'm wearing a suit of armour, and the sand doesn't help much."
"…Ah. You seem to have a slight case of Kellam-syndrome."
"…Who's Kellam?"
"Exactly."
"No, seriously: who's Kellam?"
"Oh, he's another knight in the Shepherds. He has, like, no presence at all. People keep forgetting about him. I really hope he didn't get left behind…"
"Ah. Okay, maybe I'm a bit like that… Now, could you please tell me how in the world you managed to survive that fall unscathed?!"
"Wind magic. Frankly, it's a godsend."
"So, you blasted yourself with wind magic?"
"That's what I said, isn't it?"
"Well, I guess I expected something… less simple? You know, something using an explanation with more than two words? I mean, really, that explanation makes it seem like whatever gods there are out there controlling your fate decided to half-ass it, and just save you using the first method that popped up in their head!"
"Sorry to disappoint."
I flick the blood off of my sword, and toss the dead guard's body aside.
"Okay, come on," I whisper to Raimi.
She slowly catches up with me. Being stealthy is pretty difficult when you're a walking suit of armour.
"They didn't suspect a thing…" I hear her mutter while walking.
"I told you that that sand-screen would work."
"I just thought that they would think a large cloud of sand suddenly appearing would be kind of suspicious!"
I shrug. "Maybe they thought some weird kind of sandstorm was coming? I don't know, these people are idiots!"
"Still, there's another use for your wind magic…"
"I know, right?"
I look around the corner, and see numerous guards walking around.
Okay… This is what all of those supposedly wasted hours playing Assassin's Creed and Uncharted were for… Even if people here actually have brains and notice when their comrades go missing. Probably.
I pull my head back behind the corner before anybody can see me. I think I counted six or seven guards…
Okay, let's see. You need to take out all of those guards as quietly as possible. This means no magic bombs. The guards are also pretty far away, so you can't exactly run at them without being noticed. You have absolutely nothing to hide behind, and taking even one of them out is probably more than enough to give away your position.
I turn to Raimi, and then walk past her to the guard I just killed. I then take off his armour.
"What are you doing?!" Raimi hisses at me.
I look at her, still removing the man's clothing. "You mean it isn't blatantly obvious? This isn't exactly a very difficult plan to come up with!"
"…Yeah, you're right. I don't know why I reacted that way."
"So… The story is, you're my prisoner, I found you snooping around, you claim to be part of the Shepherds, and I am taking you to Aversa's experimenting chambers…thing. Anyway, I'm going to need to take your weapons."
Raimi hands me her javelins, and then asks, "Why would I claim to be a Shepherd when I'm clearly not supposed to be here, and being one is obviously going to get myself killed?"
"I don't know! Honour…and…other stupid stuff like that. Look, these people are idiots, they'll probably buy it. And if not, we can neutralize them with ease."
"Fine… Do you have any ropes or anything?"
"Er…no?"
"How are we going to make this work?"
"Well…you're a knight. Knights are weak against magic. I can just hold some lightning behind your back. This can work…hopefully."
I electrocute my right hand, place it behind Raimi, and place my other hand on her shoulder, and walk her around the corner. The guards notice us immediately.
"What are you doing out here?"
"I found this Shepherd snooping around. I'm going to take her to Aversa for…experimenting."
One of the guards nods, and waves us past. As soon as we're behind them and out of their sight, and pull out my sword, and silently slit the man's throat. Before the man right next to him can notice him, I do the same to him. I run through a third just as he turns around to see his dead friends. He manages to croak loud enough for his friends to notice him. I blast lightning at one of the guards, and stab a fifth guard. That leaves…two more. So, there were seven guards.
One of the guards leaps at me, and swings a spear at me. I easily dodge and stab him. I turn to face the final guard, only to find that Raimi has tackled him to the ground. I walk over, and finish the man off.
"Okay," Raimi gasps, getting up, "why did we need to do that?"
"When we're running out of this castle with the exalt, we don't want to have to fight these guys off while running away from whatever guards will be chasing us from inside."
"All right, fair enough."
"…Let's leave your shield and javelins right here. We can pick them up while we're running for our lives."
"What if some other guards decide to take their shift out here, and they see all of their dead friends over here?"
"We'll cross that bridge if we ever need to cross it. Anyway, into the castle. Now."
The lower floor always seemed like a good place for creepy dungeons made specifically for killing and torture to be. Basements are creepy like that.
One of the guards stops us, "What are you-"
"Shepherd. Snooping outside. Dungeons. Aversa. Experimenting."
He lets us go.
"This is working surprisingly smoothly," Raimi whispers to me.
"What did she say?" the man asks.
I spin around, and cut him. His partner doesn't even get time to register what just happened before he's bleeding and on the ground.
"You can say that again…" I mutter back to Raimi. We drag the bodies out of sight of anybody who could happen to pass by, and then continue walking with my electric hand held near her armour.
"Move it," I say, shoving her as a Plegian walks right by us. He seems to be heading upstairs and probably won't be bothering us, so I don't waste time taking care of him.
As soon as we turn another corner, Raimi whispers, "Where do you think it could be?"
"It's a chamber where she experiments on prisoners – and Gods know what the hell experimenting could mean, although I am guessing something along the lines of torture and whatnot. It shouldn't really be that hard to find."
After a few seconds of walking, we hear an incredibly loud scream.
"Oh gods, I think we found it…" I mutter.
We quickly run to the door, and try to open it quickly. It's locked. Of course.
After another moment filled with nothing but high-pitched screaming, I hear Aversa call out, "Who is it, and what do you want?"
I make my voice deeper, and then answer, "We found more lab-rats for you. She claims to be a Shepherd."
"Another Shepherd, you say…?"
The screams continue.
I hear a click, and the door opens. "Do come in."
Raimi and I walk in. I make sure to keep my head down.
"Hm? Oh, you're not needed here. You can leave now."
I blast lightning at Aversa, and send her flying into the wall. She falls to the ground, and doesn't move.
...Uh... Is she...?
"Lucas?!" Lee shouts at me.
I turn and see Lee and the Pegasus knight chained up. The Pegasus knight's face is red, and she is sweating and screaming.
"That's my name," I say, immediately placing a flaming palm against the chains binding his arms.
"What?! B-but… I thought you… Wait, what am I saying? I KNOW that you… Just… HOW?!"
I add just a tantamount of electricity to the flame, and the chains break off. "No time to explain!" I do the same to the other chains. "Just guard that door, and make sure nobody walks in here! Raimi, keep an eye on Aversa!"
Lee does as instructed. "To tell the truth, part of me did kind of suspect it. Like Gangrel said, there was no splat."
I then turn to the screaming Pegasus knight. "What's wrong with her?!" I ask, immediately moving to free her from her restraints.
Lee cringes when he looks at the knight. "Aversa poisoned her with…something. She said that it was… Oh gods. I was hoping it was just a failed experiment…"
"Lee, you're not being very helpful!" The Pegasus knight nearly falls, but I catch her, and gently let her down.
"Please… Make it stop…" she groans. There are tears flowing down her cheeks. She screams again. I then see a dark wound on her stomach.
"Don't touch that!" Lee screams at me. "That's where Aversa placed the poison. If what she said was true, then there's no stopping it, and touching the wound will mean the end of you."
"What? Why?!"
"The poison… It holds some type of dark magic that makes its way into the body, and then eats away at the victim's organs. Aversa inflicted her with that to see if it worked."
"Well, then… What do we do?!"
The knight screams even more loudly than before. I stare at her.
I then feel my sword removed from its sheath.
"Lee? What are you doing?!"
Lee holds my sword in his hands, and looks at the knight. His eyes are full of remorse.
"I'm sorry… I am so, so sorry…" He then runs the sword right through the knight.
"Lee?! What the hell did you do that for?!"
"I put her out of her misery!" he yells at me, handing me back my sword.
"But you-"
"She was going to die anyway, Lucas! There was nothing we could have done!" Lee screams. He glares at me. "Anyway, we don't have time! We need to find Emmeryn, and then get the hell out of here!"
I take one last look at the knight. I then turn to Raimi, "Take Aversa's keys! And, uh... Is she dead?"
Raimi walks over to Aversa, and pulls a bunch of keys out of... somewhere. From Aversa's attire. Which comprises of barely anything. And barely seems to have any pockets.
"Still breathing..." Raimi mutters, tossing the keys towards me. "Come on - let's finish her off. Quietly." She emphasizes the last part when she sees me begin to look at my hand.
Gripping my sword, I walk across the room towards the unconscious Aversa. Raimi gets up and walks away, giving me room to dispatch her.
Aversa grumbles to herself, and shakes.
Oh, she's waking up...
Shit, she's waking up!
The witch's eyes open, and immediately glare at me. Aversa continues to stare at me for a couple of seconds. I hear her mutter something incomprehensible under her breath.
She still seems dazed... Pretty pathetic.
"...The hell are you waiting for?!" Lee shouts.
"Muh? R-right!" I say, stumbling at the witch with my sword.
"You!" Aversa shrieks, finally coming to her senses, and promptly picking herself up.
I lunge at her with the sword, but she stumbles out of the way.
She's still not a hundred percent there...
Acting dizzy, Aversa clutches her head with a hand, as if it's aching, while muttering some more gibberish under her breath. Except, this time, the gibberish seems more... menacing.
Oh, shit!
I fall to the ground, and barely manage to avoid letting a magic purple thing start to eat away at my life force. I turn to Aversa, and nearly get a heart attack when i see her blast an Arcthunder at me.
Fortunately for me, her aim's really off.
A fireball comes from behind me, and flies at Aversa. She sees it coming, and braces herself for it, causing it to hit her harmlessly.
Okay, seriously - HOW DO THESE PEOPLE DO THAT?!
"Screw it!" Lee shouts. "Let's just get out of here!"
I toss a Thunder spell at Aversa before scrambling to get up. Lee and Raimi are running out of the room, and I follow suit while charging a bomb in my hand. I hear Aversa begin to chant some more of her dark spells, but turn around and blast a bomb at the ceiling before she can finish. The ceiling begins to fall, and Aversa dives out of the way before she can be crushed.
We rush out of the room, and I slam the door. I then begin to repeatedly put each of the keys into the key hole before I finally manage to lock it. I sigh in relief when I realize that the door really is locked.
"...Was that necessary?!" Raimi shouts. "You caused a freaking cave-in in the room - how does locking the door help anything?!"
"I... Shut up."
"Quit fooling around!" Lee snaps. "Someone will have heard that. We need to find the exalt and get out of here now!"
"All right, all right!" I say. "...Uh, I didn't really get a good look of that room. Was that the only entrance?" I say, pointing at the locked door.
"I wouldn't count on it," Lee says. "Anyway, can we get to the freaking exalt?!"
"Okay! Any ideas as to where they would be keeping her?!" I ask.
"No," Lee answers. "Just… I don't know… This way!"
"Er…no, Lee. That's the way we came in from."
"Right! Then, this way!" he changes direction, and we follow him down a random hallway.
Why do dungeons need to be so maze-like?
"Okay! Dungeon's this way!" Lee calls out to us. Raimi and I quickly follow after him.
"Not here…" I hear Lee mutter. "Not here… Not here… Gods, where could she be?!"
Many prisoners shout at us. I do my best to ignore them, until I realize how useful they could be.
I turn to one of the prisoners. He looks excitedly at me. "Tell me, did you men happen to see a royal-looking woman with blonde hair taken through here?"
"Maybe I did. On the other hand, maybe I didn't," the man replies.
"Come on, Lucas," Raimi calls to me. "We don't need his help."
"No, no. He could be useful," I say to her. I turn back to the prisoner. "Well, I was just thinking, if you did happen to have seen her," I pull out the keys, "I might just happen to have a ticket to your freedom right in my hand."
The man reaches through the bars to try to grab them. I quickly pull them away.
"Nuh-uh-uh. You still haven't answered my question. Did you or did you not see that woman?"
"Lucas," Lee calls to me. "We don't need him. We can find her on our own."
I look at the man expectantly. "They took her over there. Into the deeper part of the dungeon. Go down deeper, and then take a left. Nobody ever gets taken there, lest they be really special. A few people have been taken there, but they didn't last long. Now, free me, already!"
"No dice. Not until I'm certain you're telling the truth."
I get up, and walk in the direction he spoke. Lee grabs me, and whispers into my ear, "What did you do that for? We could've checked back there without him telling us where to look!"
"Come on, Lee, you're the tactician here! We need a big distraction for our escape. All of these men could be that big distraction!"
Lee grimaces. "Fine. But first, we find the exalt."
We go down the hallway where the prisoner said she'd be. We take a left, and then find Emmeryn in a large, solitary cell. Lee blasts open the door.
"Someone might have heard that…" I muttered, looking at the keys in my hand.
"Aversa's probably already alerted the guards by now! We don't have time! Just…go free those prisoners that you're so keen on freeing!"
I walk back to the prisoners. "Gentlemen! I have spectacular news! Your days wasting around in your cells are over!" They cheer. "But, first," I say, interrupting them, "I have one final demand. I want all of you to cause as much trouble as you can to the Plegian dogs that captured you and threw you in here, as you make your way to freedom!" They cheer again.
Grinning, I pocket the keys, and instead of using them, charge magic bombs in both of my hands. I slowly make my way down the room, blowing off all of the prison doors.
The prisoners run out of the prison, screaming their heads off. When the room is cleared, Lee, Raimi, and Emmeryn walk in.
"Well, I don't think that could have gone louder…" Raimi mutters.
"Who cares?" I reply. "We have what we came for, and now we have a huge distraction practically ensuring our escape from this hellhole!"
"Don't get so optimistic just yet," Lee mutters, beginning to walk out of the prison. "We still have one hell of a desert to traverse after we leave the castle."
"Ah… Right. That." What a buzzkill.
"Anyway, let's focus on the task at hand: getting the hell out of here." Lee looks up at me and Raimi. "Do you two remember the way out of this castle?"
"Uh…" I look blankly at Raimi.
"I remember the way," she says.
"Good. I am no good with directions."
"Quick! Let's hurry!" Emmeryn finally speaks up.
We rush up the stairs, passing a few dead bodies, but not stopping to see whether they belong to Plegian guards or prisoners. While passing by one dead body, however, I snatch a sword, and hand it to Lee. "You might need it, sooner or later."
"Thanks."
We turn corners, running past and ignoring groups of people killing each other.
After a while, we finally make our way out of the maze that is this castle. The bright sunlight irritates my eyes, and my hold my hand up in defense.
"All right, Raimi, grab your shield and javelins; there's no time to waste! Lee, where can we meet up with the Shepherds?!"
"Where was the execution ground?"
I point in what I hopefully remember to be the correct direction.
"Okay… So, that means that we need to head…that way!"
We all follow Lee's lead. As we run through the sand, a few of the prisoners scatter to and from the castle. I question why anybody would be running back to their place of imprisonment.
After I pass the next sand dune, I stop dead in my tracks.
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!"
The castle is surrounded by a gigantic circle of Risen archers.
"Fuck!" Lee curses.
We duck behind the dune.
"Do you think they saw us?!" Raimi whispers.
"Do you think it matters? I don't think they're moving, either way!" I look up to the sky, and mutter to more myself than anyone else, "Archers… It just had to be archers… It couldn't have been knights, it couldn't have been fighters, and it couldn't have even been myrmidons, of COURSE archers were the only option! FUCK YOU, AVERSA!"
"Any bright ideas, yet, people?!" Lee says to us.
"Well… I could toss up a large sand cloud to cover us," I say. "But we can't really rely on that forever… Other than that, I really don't have anything, aside from tossing bombs like hell at all of them. How about you, Mr. Tactician?"
"Well… It's a long-shot, but I do think I have one thing that could help us escape." Lee looks at Raimi. "Raimi, you're going to need to be an iron meat shield for the exalt. And, needless to say, you should probably cover your face with your shield. And Lucas? I need to show you something awesome."
"Something awesome, you say? Sounds sweet, but make it quick."
"Okay, it's really easy. All I need you to do is recite the Elwind spell when the time is right, but repeat the last syllable in your head for as long as you can. But first, we'll throw the sand blanket up, and then maybe toss a couple bombs here and there at the archers directly in our way. Then, when you do the Elwind thing, you cover the exalt's left side, and I'll cover the right, and then we'll just keep walking."
"…I think Iknow where this is going, and, frankly, I can't wait."
Lee apparently doesn't share my enthusiasm. "Just hope that we don't get killed out there…" He turns to Raimi and Emmeryn. "Okay, are you two ready?"
They both nod.
"Raimi, you won't really be able to see, so just keep walking forward, slowly."
"All right."
Lee readies a wind spell in his left hand, and looks at me. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be," I answer, readying also readying my wind.
"Now!"
Lee and I let loose with the wind. I immediately blast as many bombs as I can in nearly every direction in front of me. As the blanket, I do as Lee told me to do with the Elwind spell, and take guard next to Emmeryn.
As I suspected, the large Elwind vortex stays in front of me. Arrows fly everywhere, either bouncing harmlessly off of Raimi's armour, or flying into the Elwind vortexes, being rendered harmless as the fly weakly in other directions.
"Dude! This is freaking AMAZING!" I practically scream at Lee. "You made a magic shield! Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!"
Lee ignores my question. "Do you think you can repeat that syllable in your head while throwing some bombs at the archers?"
I see some archers beginning to make their way around our shield defending Emmeryn. Given enough time, and they'll be able to do some major damage to all of us. "Er… I can try?"
"You may not have a choice!"
Okay… I know that this is hard for us, but we really need to concentrate…
It makes my head hurt a little bit, but I manage to hold my Elwind barrier while reciting spells and throwing bombs at whichever archers begin to get too close.
"How long do you think we can keep this up?!" I yell to Lee, over the sounds of two small twisters and countless arrows flying every which way.
"What?!"
"HOW LONG DO YOU THINK WE CAN KEEP THIS UP?!"
"I DON'T KNOW! BUT WE NEED TO GET RID OF THOSE ARCHERS THAT ARE CLOSING OFF OUR ESCAPE PATH!"
I blast an archer away, and then take a second to look at the archers Lee's talking about. I then proceed to throw bombs at archers moving towards us while taking whatever split seconds I can to blasting a clear path for us.
"GOOD GODS, HOW MANY ARROWS DO THESE GUYS HAVE?!" Raimi shouts.
"TOO MANY!" I answer helpfully.
"JUST A LITTLE FARTHER, RAIMI!" Lee.
We are nearly out of the gradually breaking circle of archers. My mind briefly wonders about the fate of the prisoners that we freed, but then urgently returns its focus to the task at hand.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" I hear Raimi shout as she rams an archer away with her shield.
Knowing that we're finally about to escape the circle of archers, I blast away my Elwind shield, and then summon my electric-Arcfires in both of my hands, destroying all nearby Archers.
I will never get tired of this.
"Lucas! Sand-screen! Now!"
I blast my electric flames away, and quickly summon two balls of wind, and blast them at the sand before me, closing my eyes.
"Okay!" I shout at everyone. "Run away! Now!"
As if I actually needed to tell them. Everybody else has already got a head start on me. I scurry after them, and fall into the sand. I scramble up, and continue to sprint for my life.
Before long, I feel an arrow whiz by my cheek. I immediately drop to the ground.
Shit, of course they followed us!
"Lee! Sand-screen!"
"Right!"
We blast some more wind at the sand, and begin to run again.
"Lee, we can't keep doing this forever! What do we do?!"
"Just keep running! If we're lucky we might be able to lose at least a few of them! Then we can take all of them out!"
I look at him incredulously, and then blast a ball of wind randomly behind me. I continue to do this. If I'm lucky, I might knock over a few of the archers, or maybe cause another smaller sand-screen. I don't know. I guess I'm just testing my, so far, ridiculously lucky streak.
"Okay, that should be long enough! Another sand-screen, now!" Lee shouts.
Turn and blast. Turn and run.
"How long are we going to do this?!" I ask.
"Just a little longer, okay? There should be too many left, now, so we should be able to strike soon!"
I look at Raimi and Emmeryn. They're a few paces ahead of us, seeing as they don't need to stop every twenty seconds to use wind magic.
"I say we strike now!" I say to Lee.
He frowns at the space between us and the archers, and then nods, "Okay. Raimi, did you hear that?!"
"I heard!" Raimi answers, immediately stopping in her tracks, preparing her javelins. "Exalt, just keep on running!"
As soon as Raimi finishes that sentence, the archers break through the sand-screen. Lee and I let loose with our magic, while Raimi begins to toss javelins.
Blast… blast… blast… dodge… blast… blast… blast… Remind me again why I hated these guys so much?
It doesn't take too long for the remaining archers to stop coming.
"…Do you think that's it?" I ask.
"I don't see any others coming just yet…" Lee answers me.
A loud scream from behind us cuts through the air. We all turn around to see Emmeryn on the ground with an arrow poking into her gut.
We all rush towards her. Raimi immediately pulls out the arrow, and Emmeryn lets out another scream.
"Shit, don't tell me that that thing on the wound is what I think it is…" I hear Lee mutter.
I look at the wound. It's dark, just like the Pegasus knight's was.
Of course. Of fucking course. This day just keeps getting fucking better, doesn't it?!
"Oh, gods, no…" Raimi gasps.
Emmeryn screams again. I see tears beginning to roll down her face.
"Shit, wh-what do we do?!" Lee asks.
I stare blankly at Emmeryn. She continues to scream.
"Please…" she manages to mutter before screaming again.
Before I know it, my sword is unsheathed and in my hand.
"…Lucas?" Raimi says, looking at me.
"…No. There has to be-" Lee is cut off by my glare. He holds my gaze for a few seconds.
I hold the sword above Emmeryn, still looking at Lee. He doesn't want to do this. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. After all, Lee wanting to save Emmeryn was the reason we came to this situation in the first place. And now it was all for naught.
"Lee…" I say, now turning my gaze to the screaming exalt. "Tch… Sorry about this…"
I bring down the sword.
AN: The only thing I have to say is that this took so long because my workload lately has turned kind of huge. That, and Lucas probably has the highest Luck stat out of all characters in the game. And when paired up with anybody, he probably gives a huge Luck boost.
Also, I hate this chapter. But, it needed to be done, so..
