Author's Note: You may need to reread from the beginning, my friends, scenes have been added and edited.

Chapter 26 | Battle Before Dawn

Two assassins in the employ of the Black Fang move in. They've been set loose in the palace to murder the crown prince, Zephiel. We hurry to prevent them from fulfilling their contract.

The Fire Emblem had certainly been eluding us. We've been looking for it for a while, and no luck so far. It wasn't in the rooms, in the cabinets, in the secret compartment in the throne. That was when, finally, we resorted to the slightly disgusting—looking through the dead.

"Everyone is being driven mad by Nergal..." Lord Eliwood said as we looked, while slowly shaking his head. Of course, I thought. Everyone was going mad, Nergal himself is mad.

"It must be terrifying, to lose yourself entirely...To fall completely under the sway of Nergal's power..." Lyn mused. I shuddered. The thought of losing myself entirely—going mad—was far too saddening. I know it happens—we've seen it happen to Nergal's followers—and I know that it's not just Nergal. It happens with power. It happens in political power, in financial power—you can lose yourself completely to power. It happens in magic power. I know it happens—Knarrd of the Tactician Guild is a shaman, and even if he's more tolerant and patient than the normal man, we have seen him act outside reason. The price of power, he says.

The price of power—treating Nergal as your personal god.

" ...Hey!" Legault exclaimed, as he found something in Kenneth's robes. He held it out—a blue gemstone, blue like the skies, diamond cut. "What could this be?"

Its color was the iciest blue, but in the back of our minds, we knew what it could be. "...The Fire Emblem?" Lord Eliwood said, uncertainly.

"…But it's… blue," Lyn said. "I knew the emblem was a gemstone, but I imagined it would be red or orange… it is called the Fire Emblem, after all."

"…But I can't shake the feeling that it is the Emblem. As if it's announcing itself," I told Lyn. I don't know why, but the stone had some sort of… presence. I know it sounds weird for me to say that, but it's as if the stone is saying, "I am the Fire Emblem, Bern's most prized item."

Lord Eliwood and Hector curiously looked on, (and Lord Hector was probably thinking, 'ah, these odd Bernese, with their odd magical stones',) and then Legault just blinked, and said, "It's the Fire Emblem."

"…How can you be sure?" Lord Eliwood asked.

"I just am," Legault said, suddenly tossing the stone to the air. Why did he-?

I immediately lunged after the stone, before the thing could fall to the ground and shatter. And the second it made contact with my skin, I knew it was the Fire Emblem. It was warm to the touch, almost alive. Warm enough to make your skin react, but not to the point that it scorches it. And it… it's weird, but I really feel it telling me that it's the Emblem. "It's the Fire Emblem," I said, now without question. "It's… magical. It's almost alive."

"I don't know about 'magical' and a stone being alive, but… Let's take it and go!" Lord Hector concluded. "There's no reason for us to stay any longer!"

There was a collective of nods, and Lord Eliwood said, "Let's make haste for the manse! We must stop the assassination! We cannot let the prince's life be put in jeopardy!"

o0o0o0o0o

"I'll hold onto that," Lord Hector told me, palm open, waiting for the Fire Emblem. "If you hold onto it, you'll probably lose it or drop it or get it stolen."

I should have been offended, but he was probably right. "Here you go," I said, carefully dropping the gemstone in his hand.

But all my careful efforts were worth nothing when Lord Hector suddenly jerked up, tossing the stone in the air, then yelling about while clutching his hand. "By the gods! That damn hurts! It's scorching! It's hot!"

We turned to the stone, rolling on its sides on the floor, its color remarkably shifting into the fiercest red, as if it were blazing.

"It's like a dragon breathed fire into my hand!" Lord Hector yelled, taking off the gloves on his hand, exposing reddish, almost sore skin. "How in the world do you hold onto that?"

Lady Lyn and Lord Eliwood and Legault and I looked at the Fire Emblem again, there on the floor, all fire red. "It wasn't that hot when I touched it," Legault said.

I nodded, "Just right. Just a little warmth."

Lord Hector was still minding his hand. Lyn rolled her eyes, and reached down to pick up the stone. "Well, it probably doesn't let uncivilized monkeys touch—ouch!" She yelped when she touched the stone, quickly withdrawing her fingers.

Lord Hector gave a laugh. "Who's the uncivilized monkey now?" Lady Lyn shot him a bad look.

"Lyn, Hector, shush," Lord Eliwood said, bending down to pick up the stone—to be greeted by its wrath as well. "That's odd. None of us can hold onto it if it's this hot. I wonder why it suddenly—"

"Kumiko probably did something weird to it!" Lord Hector said.

"I-I didn't! I just touched it and it was alright and—"and I scooped up the stone in my hand. The fiery red turned back to its cold blue, its warmth just right in my hand.

The lords blinked. "It… likes you," said Lord Eliwood.

Lord Hector shrugged and said, "It's a stone. It can't have its opinion of anyone."

"Let me," Legault said. He took the stone, and it showed no adverse effect towards him.

"See!" Lord Hector said. "How can someon—something like Kumiko and then like Legault?"

Legault made a thoughtful pout. I thought he was offended, but then he said, "I don't think it has anything to do with personalities. Maybe it's—ah, maybe it is."

"Maybe it's what?" Lyn and I asked at the same time.

Legault turned around, and yelled at Heath, who was in a side of the room, looking over Hyperion and Priscilla and Merlinus, who were trying to heal the mount. Heath turned to our direction and gave us a puzzled look.

"Catch!" Legault yelled, and when he raised his fist in the air, stone in it, we literally gasped. He can't seriously be throwing the Fire Emblem to Heath, who was over a dozen feet away—

"Legault, don't—"

But Heath, sensing our urgency and worry, alertly dived for the stone, catching it perfectly in his hands. The stone did not protest to his touch, still the iciest blue.

"…As I thought," Legault said, just about when Lord Hector and Lady Lyn were about to give him a good scolding. "I think the Fire Emblem only lets Bernese touch it."

"What?" chorused Lord Hector and Lady Lyn.

"Is that possible?" Lord Eliwood asked.

"It's supposed to be the ceremonial magical gemstone of Bern. I think it'd have an inclination towards Bernese. That aside, what else do Kumi and Heath and I have in common?"

There was silence. Nothing, that was the answer. "Then who should hold onto it, then, if only the three of you can hold onto it?" Lyn asked. And she was met by silence.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Well, hello there, Zephiel!" Anko greeted as she jumped down the manse wall, too cheerfully for someone who knew that the prince was about to be assassinated.

The prince, who was walking in the gardens, seemingly deep in thought, didn't even hear her. Even when she walked towards him with noisy footsteps—intentional, as Anko never walked with the slightest hint of a sound—he did not sense her.

"Zephiel!" she said, walking up to him from behind, and tapping him on the back. The prince jerked up in surprise, turning around to see Anko. Relief washed over him when he saw that it was only Anko. "What's wrong? You look stunned. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Not really," he said, as he regained his composure. "…You just have the most annoying habit of appearing where you please. How are you today, Anko? I did not expect you to come—the manse is rather distant from the capital."

"I was bored. I didn't have anything to do," Anko said, with a shrug. "And… you know what happened. My father died. I don't—I can't afford to stop moving. I'll end up crying, and that's just pathetic."

"T-There's nothing wrong with crying…" Zephiel said, almost sounding embarrassed to say it. "I mean, it must hurt, so you have to let it out sometime."

But instead of agreeing or disagreeing, Anko just put on a smirk, and teased, "Why do you say that, your majesty? Do you cry, too?"

"Not always," Zephiel said. "…And I know you don't always, too. But you've lost your father. You have a right to cry about it."

"I have," Anko said. "But what do you cry about?"

"…I'm losing a father, too."

Wrong. You're not losing him-he's already lost, Anko thought. Poor boy.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"We can't just 'move'!" Serra yelled, causing Lord Hector to raise a brow and everyone else to flinch at her pitchy voice. "Look at all this work! This is going to take us some time—and after that, it's going to get dark! We'll get lost in this snow!"

Serra shouldn't have yelled at Lord Hector, but I was part of the group she was bargaining for. I was sitting there, on the floor of the huge throne room, watching her argue. To my right was a Hyperion flailing about in pain of his wound—the beast stomped around, fell back into the ground, swished its tail so much that it was already dangerous to get anywhere near it. Heath was trying to calm it down, and beside him, Priscilla was frustrated. Apparently that super healing tonic that Merlinus had in stock was awful on wyverns. To my left were Legault and Lord Pent and Lucius huddled over a half-dead Guy. He was cut up—badly!—across the gut. I felt horrible just knowing that. That and he was going to get a lot of stitches and scars, and Lord Athos wasn't there to heal him like Erk. And scattered in between us are other piles of wounded—not as major as the two, so we sat back and waited. Lyn had come by me and expertly bandaged me, but I was still waiting for a healer. And wondering how to get the glass out of me—arm movements still caused me sharp, stinging pains.

"Why can't we just stay in the castle for a while, get a good night's rest… BEFORE barging out into that snow?" Serra suggested, still yelling, but less loudly now.

Lord Hector was on the verge of angry and throwing stuff around. "YOU don't understand what's happening, woman! We MUST get to the manse quickly! Or else the prince will die, and when he dies, we're doomed, the world is doomed for all I know! Quit yelling and get to work!"

I groaned, embarrassed for both their sakes. This really wasn't the time for arguing. I recalled old memories, and wondered if a—what was that? Magic Seal?—was around. Because despite the snow, everyone sure was hotheaded.

"Look at them argue. They're like children," a voice suddenly said, and I turned my head around to find Erk before me, looking over at Lord Hector and Serra. He shook his head, ashamed for both of them, too.

"Serra's tired. It's been a long day," I told him, just to balance out opinions. "Lord Hector knows what must be urgently done, but he's also had a long day." Two battles in a day—who wouldn't tire of that? Not to mention marching in the snow for a long time…

"I guess you're right," he quietly said, and then he crouched down beside me on the floor, gently taking my arm in his hand. "Let me look at that."

The mere movement of Erk pulling my arm towards him—no matter how gently he did it—caused weird little sharp things in my flesh to make themselves felt. I flinched a little, but caught myself, hoping Erk wouldn't see it. He opened the bandages Lyn put on, and made a face when he saw that no first-aid vulnerary has been applied on my cuts. I didn't want anyone to. If my cuts dried that quickly, what are the chances that I'd get the glass out? They'd be stuck in there, like, forever.

"It's still rather fresh. Why didn't you apply some medicine?"

"…We ran out of the stuff."

Erk's slight frown tugged down into a complete frown. And then he just held my arm close to his face, and then he said, "You've got glass inside."

H-How could he tell that? "I-I…"

"It glints. It's not too deep, but the pieces are small. Maybe we can wash the glass out."

Wash! My open wounds! NO! I pulled my arm away from Erk, the action speaking out my thoughts for me. "Wash? Drench it in water? You're mad!"

"It will bleed and sting and hurt, but when the glass is out, I can heal it."

Well, that was encouraging. It will bleed. Sting. Hurt. Very encouraging. "No."

"You won't have to get stitches. I think it will shut close when I heal it. Or would you rather have glass stuck inside you for a while?"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Anko observed silently, as Zephiel sat with her in the garden gazebo, pastry and biscuits set out before them. He was always too kind for his own good, Anko thought. So kind that he can't see a snake even if he was looking at one. That was saying much, considering how the prince was surrounded by snakes. His father. His mother as well—thinking of nothing but the throne, of keeping her place as Queen of Bern. And Anko herself—she was a snake, too, even if he called her his friend. She was still a snake, the deadly kind, with unpredictable nature and loyalties. The only one the prince could ever really trust was his guard, the General Murdock.

Speaking of Murdock… "I haven't seen General Stone-face around," Anko remarked, taking a biscuit from the tray.

"Please stop referring to him like that," Zephiel told her. Anko just laughed. "He's at Bern Keep, sent for a very important errand I hear. He'll be back in a few days."

…He's not on an errand, Anko thought, the King is keeping him from your side. "Then, you're guardless," Anko said.

"Not exactly—there are guards all over the manse."

"But there's not one that watches you like a hawk. Be careful. Do you sleep with your sword, like we tell you?"

He nodded, but there was a hint of annoyance at being asked that question—again. "Yes. For all time, yes. You and Murdock and mother tell me that all the time. Yes, I sleep with a sword somewhere near me. Yes, I walk around with a sword," he patted at the sword hanging at his belt," and yes, I still have weapons inside my clothes. And while I'm no expert, I'm not a beginner at swordplay. I think I'm capable of defending myself."

Anko smiled—of course he was capable of defending himself. The prince excelled at swords, like he excelled in everything he ever tried. What a blessed boy. "You are not being underestimated, my prince. Just telling you to be careful. I don't think anyone would ever plot to kill you, but you have to be prepared, aye? Better safe than sorry."

He raised a puzzled brow at her. "…Anko? Is there something you know that I do not?"

Yes. You are going to be assassinated tonight. "I know a lot of things you do not, my lord. What particular 'something' are you talking about?"

"I mean, must I be prepared for something today or the coming days? Is there any danger?"

"Of course there is danger. Of course you must be prepared. You are a noble of Bern—there is always danger."

He gave her a little frown. "I know that. I will always be royalty. I will never be an ordinary boy. I'm turning sixteen and I'm my father's son. I cannot do something an ordinary boy my age would do."

She noted his frown and the grave tone of his voice, so she tried to lighten up. "Oh, there is one thing. You can meet pretty girls and fall in-love. All boys do that. You're of age—maybe you'll get married or engaged in a while. You're the prince of Bern, you can probably have anyone you choose."

"Anyone my mother or father chooses, you mean," he corrected. "I almost envy you, Anko. You have no one who would tell you what you should or should not do."

Anko fell silent, and then Zephiel realized he should not have said that. Anko would probably prefer to have her father scolding her everyday than having her father gone. But then she just shrugged. "I always hung out with rowdy men and sly, cunning folk. If my father had another year of me being in this crowd, he'd probably have me married to some boring, quiet countryside knight."

"Not all knights are boring," Zephiel told her.

Anko smirked. "How can you say that, when you're almost always guarded by the most boring one on Elibe?" She meant General Murdock, of course. "I don't want a man like that. I want a man who loves adventure. Who'll defend a friend even if it means he'll be in a bind. Someone who'll turn traitor on his own country if he knows it's in the wrong. Who values truth and friendship rather than title or pride. And someone stronger than me—how would I like someone who can't even overrule me?"

Zephiel gave a small laugh. "That man would be very hard to find. When you make your plans, Anko, no one overrules you."

"Unless he is a very determined man!"

Zephiel's laughter grew even louder. "A man who'd overrule you is very hard to find indeed. It'd be interesting to meet that man one day."

Anko laughed herself. She knew that such a man did not exist.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Erk and I went off to a secluded area in the fort, towards a dragon fountain by the end of the hallway, with the stone dragon's mouth spouting clear, cold water into a pool. I held my arms to myself as I walked, conscious of the way small, undoubtedly sparkling things inside them grinded against my flesh. Erk glanced at me out of the corners of his eyes, looking concerned and even somewhat... nervous.

"Have you ever done this before?" I asked Erk, cautiously, as we stopped by the dragon fountain and he gently look my arm to peel off their bandages again, and to study my wound like a doctor.

"Not really," he said, but I could see that that was not what he was concerned about. "Lord Pent has done it to me once, though. When I was very little, I think I broke a glass ink pot or something like that."

"I see," I said, trying to be calm, but when I dipped a finger into the fountain I found that it was ice cold to the touch. Was he going to wash my wound? With water that cold? Hesitation and fear ran in my head. More so when I glanced my wound again, open, flesh peeking through.

He took my arm by the wrist and led my wound to the running water. I flinched at its coldness, biting my lip to keep myself from yelping, and in a short moment I grew used to the cold—so cold it was a bit numbing. That was good. It eased the pain, if only a bit.

Erk peeked through my wound, as if trying to look for tiny specks of glass inside. "Try to move it," he told me. And I did, and felt no more pain of sharp things in my flesh. "Better," I told Erk. "I think you got them all out."

And then he took out his staff and began chanting for a Mend spell. I watched on, impressed, at how Erk—and a lot of my friends, almost everyone who fought at this campaign—had gotten better, and had expanded their skills and knowledge. But what about me? Have I gotten better? Will I still be good enough to lead a group that is steadily growing stronger and stronger? If I'm too weak, they will be, too, no matter how good they are.

"Kumiko?" Erk called on me, and I snapped from my thoughts. I turned to Erk, who was looking curiously at me now. And then I looked down at my wound—all gone. I moved my arm to check, and it was good as new.

I smiled. "Wow. It's like nothing ever happened. Thanks, Erk. You're awesome. I can never figure out how you do those things."

"You're welcome," Erk said. "Anything else I can help you with?"

I shook my head jovially. "Nothing else, Erk. No more wounds or scrapes, thankfully."

"Are you sure? Isn't there anything bothering you?"

A lot of things, actually. Battle plans. The pressure to improve my skills as the crew grew larger and stronger. The pressure of having to command people twice your age—I still can't imagine myself giving orders to veterans like Lord Oswin or Lord Marcus, who have far more experience than I do, I reckon. But they have not disrespected me. If I need correction, they present my mistakes to me gently, and never embarrass me in front of the entire company. They are kind. Then there was having to remember who was capable of what and who was not—to remember that Guy was not to be relied on when it came to seafare, that Florina had a fear of men and must be carefully watched over, that Heath couldn't be trusted to guard the supplies if only because Hyperion had a penchant for invading the supplies and eating all the carrots or whatnot. And then there was... there was Matt, the Angel of Death, and Nino.

"Oh, Erk," I sighed, and spilled everything out. "I'm not sure I've told you what we've seen just moments ago, right here in Regrada. It's just... just..."

"Just what, Kumiko?" he asked curiously.

He knew our secret. He was there, I dragged him there, I dragged him to heal Jaffar. "It's... It's Jaffar. And Nino. We found them here—here in the fort, taking instructions. And they were—they're the ones commanded to kill the prince. They are the assassins we're chasing after."

Erk's expression turned dark. I knew he got the gist of what I was saying, and what our role was in it. "I shouldn't have done it. What in the world did I do? What hit my head back then? Jaffar is still our enemy. If I hadn't been so softhearted back then—"

"Hush, Kumiko," Erk said, walking to my side and placing an awkward arm to my shoulder. "You can't regret that now. If you hadn't done it, they'd just send another assassin for the prince. It doesn't change a thing."

"I know," I said, as Erk tried to comfort me by stroking my back, but his fingers had a shiver to it, and I knew he was not used to giving comfort. "But that's not—that's not what worries me."

"What worries you, then?"

I sighed, and admitted. "It's Matthew. He—He knows what Jaffar did. And when we're facing a possible truce with Jaffar and I wonder what that might do to him. We can talk to the girl, Nino—you've seen her, it seems like she'd understand us, right? She's a nice girl. If she has Jaffar's friendship at all, maybe he'll consider a truce. But what will that do to Matt? He'd never accept it. He will kill Jaffar himself. Oh, I wish I didn't—"

Erk's hand on my shoulder fell limp, and dropped down. "Always Matthew, huh?" he murmured darkly.

I looked up to him sharply. "Erk?"

He took a few steps away from me and looked down into my eyes, his cool amethyst orbs almost ablaze. "You're always saying, Matthew this, Matthew that. Always Matthew. Don't you ever see anyone else?"

I was shocked at this Erk that I was seeing, at the hostile tone that he was taking. "Don't put it that way, Erk..."

"What would you do if I told Matthew everything? That you saved Jaffar, that you let him live?"

"No, don't!" I said, pleading. "What in the world are you saying, Erk? Why would you do that?"

He didn't answer my question. Instead he said, "He's going to hate you. An awful lot."

Yes, he would. He'd hate me. And I couldn't ever imagine having to endure Matt's hate. "Erk, what is wrong with you? You said—you promised it was our secret! Forever! But why are you doing this-?"

He hesitated, exhaled loudly, and told me, "Do you really want to know?"

I was silent, and all I gave was a small nod.

"Because I'm in-love with you, Kumiko. And not that stuff that's for friends. I mean it, Kumiko. I love you."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I stood there, frozen into place, and then I blinked in disbelief. And then I said, "You're... what?"

"In-love with you," Erk repeated, his gaze now on the floor, his face beet red. But then the embarrassment in his face turned dark again when he bit his lip and said, "And I loathe Matthew for taking all your attention. You never really care about anyone but him."

"T-That's not true!"

"Oh, it is. Listen to yourself, Kumiko. Weren't you just thinking of Matthew's welfare back then? Worried for Matthew's sake? You didn't even see how hurt I was by everything you said. You don't see anyone but him."

"B-But how was I to know that you—you're-" In-love with me. I couldn't even say it. "Erk, this doesn't even make sense. How in the world would you ever fall in-love with me? I'm short and ugly and unrefined and shy and—"

"Brilliant. Brave. Beautiful. You have your flaws, but you face them."

I shook my head. "They drown me at times, too."

"And have I mentioned modest? You deflect flattery expertly, Kumiko."

I still shook my head. "I still don't understand. And how could you—how—"

"I understand. And I knew this day would come. I've been trying to tell you for so long—but there were too many interruptions. But I just couldn't help it anymore."

I still couldn't believe everything. What was I supposed to say? Erk—who was a very fine young man, I have to say, not bad looking, very smart, and with a good standing in Etruria, being the student of Lord Pent and all that—has just said that he loved me. What was I supposed to say in return? Oh, a couple boys in the Academy said the same things to me, but I never really took them seriously and I knew they were teasing. Besides, I didn't like them. They're all proud and arrogant good-for-nothing nobles. And Anko always made sure to scare them away. But Erk was a good man. I could like him. Maybe I did. But...

"Erk, first things first, I am not in-love with Matthew."

He blinked at that. "Am I supposed to believe that?"

"Matt is like... like a brother," I tried to explain. "He's like a brother that the gods forgot to gave me one way or the other. I'm sure he doesn't love me, and neither do I love him." I wasn't sure if my answers were certain, but I sure knew they were safe, and that they hurt no one.

"And where does that put me?"

Oh, Erk. I rarely saw him like this, so brave, so audacious, so determined. But, maybe Erk really was like that. I just never paid attention. Maybe he was right. Because I was always busy with Matthew this, Matthew that.

"I... I like you, Erk. As a very good friend," I told him, carefully examining his reactions. He didn't seem too surprised. In fact, he seemed to make nothing of it. "That you said you love me is something I'll cherish forever. But... now isn't the right time for these things. I'm too busy, Erk. We both are. We have battles to fight. Plans and traps to arrange. Magic to study. Princes to save-"

He just stood there and stared at me.

I figured he must be hurt and my words must have been harsh. "B-But you're a good guy, Erk! Very honest, very sincere, and considerate. You've been critical of me at times, but you've always backed me up. You're very dependable and good at what you do. I wouldn't be here without—"

"You don't have to patch things up, Kumi," he said, cutting me short. "I understand. I know you don't like me back. I know. I just... I just had to try." And he shrugged and turned away, making as if to leave.

But I called on him again. One thing still bothered me. "Erk..."

He stopped, and said, without even turning to look back at me, "Don't worry. I'm not telling Matthew. I promised, right? I said I'd keep it secret forever. A secret just between the two of us. Don't worry, Kumiko. I honor my words. And... I'm sorry for this. For both our sakes, just forget this ever happened."

And he walked away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I walked back to the main hall, my mind still numb from everything that just happened—Erk? In-love with me? I didn't see that coming. Oh, maybe I did, but I didn't assume. I wasn't one to assume, so I was still caught off guard in some ways. But... what was I to do of it? But Erk knew I just couldn't do anything. We were in the middle of war. The tactician doesn't just get distracted by the prospect of love in the middle of a campaign.

Most of the healing was done already, and I made a critical stop. In a corner of the hall, laid on top of a cot and between blankets, was Guy, pale as death himself, and breathing slowly, steadily. I knelt to his side and looked at his young body, scars present all around. The body of someone who has endured far too many sword strokes, far too many wounds. His face was still damp with sweat, as if even in his dreams he was fighting.

He stirred a bit, and then surprisingly, opened his eyes. "Oh, Kumiko," he breathed out, exhausted. "It's you. I thought someone was there. I... I'm sorry, I hope you can forgive me..."

"For what?" I asked, curiously.

"I don't think I can fight the next fight. Not until I heal. I'm sorry, Kumi. You can always just leave me here if I'm a burden..."

"Don't be silly, Guy," I told him, patting him gently on the arm to reassure him. "We won't do that. You'll recover in time. Whatever happens, we don't leave anyone. Serra says you'll be well in a week."

He gasped. "Too long. I'll die if I don't get to fight in a week, Kumiko."

"Then toughen up. Tell me when you're well and I'll give you your orders again. For now, just rest..."

He nodded slowly, and drifted back to his rest. I looked at him again, at the vicious scars at his shoulder... and then I whispered, just a question to myself, "...Who did this to you?"

And then I saw a shadow loom overhead. I turned around, and looked back to see a tall man, standing behind me, his long hair nearly falling down to his feet, his expression grim. He was looking at Guy intently, as if sizing up his strength. His eyes, which seemed to glow ruby, were... frightening, if only because they showed nothing. At the belt of his white trousers hung a sword.

He was not one of us. A new recruit, maybe? But then again, I recognized him. He was... yes, the one who dragged Guy over to Serra. He was the one who saved him. "You're the one who saved him," I said.

He looked down at me, but did not sit, so I had the impression that I was looking up to a giant. "I guess that would be me."

"We owe you greatly, then. What is your name? Would you be fighting with us?"

He stared at me, expression still showing nothing. There was slightly something inhuman in him... "Yes, I would be fighting with you. My name is Karel." That was all he said, and he walked away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Legault, I just saw this most troubling man walking within our ranks, and he's eerie at best. Is he from Fang?" I started questioning Legault, but then he just let out a sigh, as if he didn't hear me at all. I turned to the direction he was looking at.

I saw Isadora with a blonde-haired man, well-bodied and handsome, and she was all over him, smiling so much it was practically blinding, chatting with him endlessly. He was a new face—maybe an old friend Isadora ran into?

"Who's that?" I asked the thief.

He groaned again. "Name's Harken. The fiancé. The very cause of my drunkenness just a day or so ago. Funny world, ain't it? Now he's with us."

I could hear Legault's pain in his voice, masked well with a cheery tone but still there. "Oh, I'm sorry, Legault..."

He smirked, just like I imagined he would. "Sorry? Nah. This is a good thing. She can be happy. Lord Eliwood and them Phereans are glad to see him again, too. And we've got another fighter in our ranks. There's nothing to feel bad about."

That was a mask—just like Matt's smile when Leila died. It saddened me, that of all people, Legault had to do this. "You can tell me the truth, you know," I told him. "I know you're upset."

There was a silence, and then Legault muttered, "...Yeah. If anything else, I am absolutely upset. I hate him. He just... sickens me. The thought that he left her all alone, and the thought that he can leave her all alone and would have preferred it—it's just absolutely ridiculous. I would have never done that. I would have left everything for her."

"But you have to get along with him," I advised him. "Set aside the hate. You're gonna be fighting alongside him now."

"Yes, I know," he said. "And don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. And I won't show this absolutely down and irritated side to the lady. I can't confuse her, right? She's a great woman. She has a right to her happiness, and I can't ruin all that."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

There were many cots laid in the main hall, where those who wanted to get their sleep, or whatever they could get of it, claimed theirs. There was nothing glamorous about a campaign, about war. Days without rest, without bathing, man and mount sleeping together at times, with little or no food. Days where you wonder if there is a tomorrow. We rest and sleep and eat a bit now, but we don't know if there ever is another day tomorrow, if this day is the last.

I huddled into my cot in a corner, still sitting, looking at everyone else for a moment. Heath was camped beside Hyperion, the wyvern sleeping—snoring, maybe—soundly now. The Pegasus sisters—Florina, Fiora, and Farina, were huddled together, their mounts not far from them. Lowen and Rebecca were handing out the last of this evening's food. Raven had his huddle together, Lucius and Priscilla among them. Kent, Sain, and Wil, hardworking as ever, were sorting a few more weapons in Merlinus' stock. Rath was in a corner, brushing his horse's mane. Legault was in a corner himself, all eyes on Isadora and Harken, who were in a conversation with Lord Eliwood and Marcus. Erk was sitting with Lord Pent, Lady Louise, and Canas, no doubt discussing something scholarly.

Oh, Erk...

"Get some sleep, little girl," A hand rested on my head and messed my hair up badly. I didn't have to look up to know that it was Matt. He sat down with me on the floor, pulling his cloak tightly around him, a shield against the cold.

"I'm not a little girl," I said, a mild protest. He just laughed, and looked onward the rest of the group as I did.

I sat there, uneasy in the silence for a while. Erk's words... Me, Matthew... what did we share? Did I love Matthew? But what did love mean? I thought of Matthew a lot and treated him special, he was a good friend, a brother, a shoulder to cry on, a protector... but did I love him? More importantly, did he love me?

That's ridiculous. Matthew loved Leila. He couldn't possibly have the space to love anyone else.

"...You're so quiet," Matt suddenly said.

I stirred. "I'm sorry. Were you asking something?"

He shook his head. "Not really. Just checking up on you. You know that's my job, right? This thing depends a lot on you, and someone's gotta back you up as well, or you'll break down."

"But why are you doing it?" I asked him, importantly. "You don't have to."

"Didn't you just hear what I said. It's my job."

"No one imposed it on you."

"Lord Hector did."

"But if he didn't, would you do it?"

He didn't even have to think about his answer. He gave me a playful shove on the arm, and said, "Of course, silly."

"Why?"

"Well someone has to. You're likely to get yourself killed even without an enemy, and someone has to stop that from happening, right?"

I pouted. I wasn't getting answers that I needed from Matt. He didn't give anything away, none of his words did, if he liked me or not. He more or less looked at me as a responsibility. He made it sound like that.

"...You have a problem with that?" he asked, puzzled. "Rather someone else do it?"

"No, not really. I've gotten quite used to you."

I was silent again, and that was when Matthew sighed and said, "Alright, out with it Kumi. What's bothering you?"

I sighed. There was no hiding from Matt. He saw everything. I glanced unnecessarily at Erk, and was surprised to find that he looked at me, too—but only for a split second, for quickly he averted his gaze. I sighed again. "Erk just told me that he's in-love with me."

"Finally!" Matt exclaimed, sounding relieved.

I blinked at him. "You knew? And why would you be relieved? And how in the world would Erk fall in-love with me? I'm ugly and short and sunburned—"

"Lady Tactician, we're all ugly and sunburned," Matthew corrected me. "All dirty from sweat and mud and grime and blood and baked from the heat."

"I wouldn't define someone like Lady Louise as that."

"She's a beauty. A noble to boot. It's in her blood. And she's a beauty that has beauty that shines from within." And then Matt added, an afterthought, "Just like you."

"Flattery, Matt."

"Call it what you think of it," he said, and then he put a hand to my forehead and pushed it, as if pushing me down into my cot. "Rest. You'd need it. Even a little. You'd need to refresh your mind. Leave the night watch to us."

"But Matt—"

"Sleep. And tell me about Erk later. I'm dying to know what you said to Mage boy. You probably said something stupid," he said, and laughed softly.

I was left to do nothing but lie down into my cot, and then he tucked me into the covers.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I was about to be nudged gently, though, for what seemed like only a few minutes later. Matt was nudging me quietly, and I opened my eyes to see his face, and Lord Oswin standing right over him.

"I'm afraid Lord Hector needs a good slap and Oswin wants you to deliver it," Matt said, but his tone wasn't amused, so I wondered if it was serious. So, half-awake, Oswin led me to Lord Hector, who was pacing badly. In a few minutes, I tried to talked to him. Tried.

"Lord Hector, calm down..."

"—absolutely ridiculous!" He didn't, as I said, calm down. Instead he started stomping along some more in the room, and I wondered if it were just my imagination, but the small framed pictures hanging on the wall seemed to shake with each stomp his boots gave. The room that Lord Hector occupied in the manse belonged to the once-lady of the castle—the Lady Regrada. The Black Fang raided her once luxurious apartments, leaving it bare, aside from her bed and her framed portraits. "We'll never reach the manse in time! A troupe this huge, against two swift assassins crossing the snow, already half a day ahead of us—the prince'd be dead before we even reach the manse."

Lord Oswin was there, too, staring intently as Lord Hector paced left and right, right and left. But it was my time to deal with Lord Hector. Lord Oswin had called me there hoping I'd bring him to his sense, since apparently he had already failed. "The group needs time to recover, we have grave injuries, and marching right out into the snow would be suicide—"

Lord Hector huffed, stilled, and said, "I know. But everything hangs here. I wonder how you and Eliwood and Lyn can be so relaxed about it. Isn't there another way around this? Send a mobile troupe ahead like you did once?"

I looked down at the floor, and shook my head slowly. I had thought of that, but I wasn't about to send a fast group ahead to the manse without anyone who knew the terrain well. Heath wasn't well to ride with Hyperion healing. The pegasus sisters, no matter how used they were to Regrada's colds, could still be potentially lost in the snow fields. And infiltrating a manse and stopping an assassin like Jaffar required a very great warrior... and I just wonder, who could match the Angel of Death?

"That would be a greater risk, Lord Hector. We would lose men, one way or the other, if we do that rash course of action," I told him.

"We would lose the whole world if this fails now! No Fire Emblem, no Shrine of Seals, no way to stop Nergal and his madness with the dragons!"

He wasn't—he wasn't usually like this. Or... maybe he was. Lord Hector can be rash and hotheaded. "Lord Hector... you're tired. Please," I said, and I swear I sounded like a cooing lover. (Not that I would be anywhere near Lord Hector's lover...) "I... I can't assure you of what will happen. But anything planned in a rush and done with doubt would never be a good plan. I can't tell you to trust me. But if we don't stop the murder, we may still find the Shrine of Seals. There may be more than one way to search it..."

"Send me," he said. "Send me instead! We need someone to kill that monster! That—that Angel of Death! Send me first, and I'll make sure he never touches the prince, and no more of us!"

I blinked, when this sort of realization hit me—it was not about winning, hope for the world, the dragons... this was about revenge. He loathed the Angel of Death. For what he did to Leila? Did Matt tell? "...Lord Hector..."

"I'll rip him apart," he said. "I'll make sure he pays. There is no forgiveness in my heart for a man like him."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

No room for forgiveness.

Can someone possibly do something so cruel as to not earn forgiveness from anyone? How can Lord Hector say those words—how could he?

I never would understand, I was not a close friend to Leila, or nor has anyone taken the life of anyone dear to me. My parents died in service. Sir Alecto died in disease. There is one man I loathed—my blood father—but more than loathe, I feared him. He was a shadow I would never get over. I look in the mirror and I see him, his blonde hair and his blue eyes, and I knew I would never escape him. But have I forgiven him?

...I think that's unnecessary. He's dead, and what use does the dead have of forgiveness? He will never be aware of it since he's gone. And he never sought it, anyway. He never needed it. He lived well without it. But I wonder—how have I lived with it, that anger, that fright? The bastard lived well without my forgiveness, but I was still here, stuck in his shadow, and I think that my anger for him has caused me more trouble than it had him.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We had assembled to leave when it was still dark—the weather was unbearably cold and everyone was in their cloaks and wraps, but that did not help us. I was shivering, too, and I felt as if I were going to faint at any given second. We had minimum sleep, and I wondered if any of us can fight decently. But this was the truce between Lord Hector and Serra's argument—get a little rest, and then set out.

"Gods, I hope we do reach the prince in the manse in time," I caught Lord Hector speaking to the cold draft.

I managed a small smile, and told him, "My lord, is that actually a prayer?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Is it? I don't know. All I know is right now the Angel of Death is already probably looming over the prince and ready to slice his throat—"

"We can't be too sure," I cut in, though what he probably said was true. But of course I tried to think of positive things. "The prince is surrounded by a ton of guards—he probably wouldn't be reached by Jaffar that fast."

"Who knows," Lord Hector said. "Who knows."

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Blondie, this isn't right."

"Yeah, long hair. Not right at all. I wonder if my memory's wrong or if it's just because I had rest now..."

I stood between Legault and Matthew, who were talking as we marched in the cold snow. I managed a smirk at how they referred to each other—'blondie', 'long hair'... It's been a while since these two were practically at each other's necks and now they were allies, if not friends.

But I asked them, "...What's not right?"

Legault paused and kicked his boot into the snow. "This."

I dug my shoe into the snow as well, feeling the hard ground underneath it. That was it. The ground was not like this the last time we passed here. The ground was thick, unsteady, slippery snow when we treaded Regrada not too many hours ago. We were even unlucky enough to get a snowstorm. And right now it felt as if we were on solid ground.

"Even the horses are moving well..." Matthew noted, looking back at the horses pulling on our supplies, or being pulled on by their owners. That was a surprise. The biggest surprise of all. These horses aren't supposed to—not at all...

"Miracle," Legault said. "Blessing of the goddess. We'll reach the manse sooner than expected on this pace. Not sure if it's gonna be fast enough, but it's a big help."

Matthew actually scoffed at that. "The Black Fang Legault believes in gods?"

Legault shrugged. "Hey. I come from Regrada. If you lived in a snow field like this, blondie, you'd be a fool to not believe. You're at nature's mercy here. You'd do well to believe anything that can help."

o0o0o0o0o0o

Soon after Legault left to lead the group, helping Lady Lyn track down a path away from Regrada. I was walking with Matthew at my side once more, like I have walked beside him for what seems like years now. It was uneasy, as I thought back on Erk's words not too long ago. He was... I just... I don't know... Am I in-love with Matthew, as Erk suggested? And what would Erk do now? Would we stop being friends now?

"So..." Matthew began, almost as if in an effort to patch up the silence between us. "Mind telling me about mage boy now?"

I made the smallest frown at the question. "I told him I was thankful for his confession and I'd cherish it, but I don't think I can have the distraction of romance in this war."

"Ouch," Matt said. "Poor guy. You crushed his hopes!"

"I—I did? I didn't intend to, really!"

"You should have played around a bit," Matt suggested, with a smirk on his face, and I couldn't believe he's giving me that advice. "Erk's a nice boy. Got a good standing in Etruria, too, seeing how Lord Pent treats him like a son. He's a catch. You shouldn't have flat out refused him. Let him wait on you or something."

"But that would be lying, Matt." And then I added, "You sound like a matchmaker from a noble house."

He pouted, apparently not liking my comparison. "Just saying. From a logical point of view. When you get older, I just wonder if you'll find a guy as good as Erk. He seems to genuinely like you. He's serious about you. But it's your choice."

I made a puzzled expression, and then asked Matt, "...Would you like me to be with Erk? Is that what you want?"

He just gave a little snort of laughter, and put a hand on my head to mess up my hair again. "Silly. I'm just saying. Everything us up to you. I just want what makes you happy. If you turned down Erk, I just hope you don't regret it. But don't you worry. You're young. You'll meet a lot more people. You'll meet a man you'll like. Who knows, maybe you're about to meet him in this campaign pretty soon!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

And then Matthew asked, "What ever happened to the story?"

"W-What?"

"The god and goddess book. I don't see you reading it anymore. Are you through with it?"

I was silent for long, and I thought long and hard for said book but my head began to hurt just thinking of it. "I-I don't know Matt. Maybe I am. Or I think I lost it. I can't remember where I put it last. Maybe it's with the supplies. I can't remember how it ends, either..."

"Well that's curious," Matthew said, putting a hand to my hair and then messing it up badly. I pouted. "You're unlikely to forget. Too much pressure on you in this battle, huh?"

Yes, I thought. Too much pressure. "I just... don't remember," I told Matt. "Maybe I will after sometime. Besides, I know how it ends anyways. Everyone from Regrada knows the legend. They tell the stories around all the time. They say the goddess kills her husband and then regrets it and lives as a recluse, and cries forever, causing the endless snow that falls in Regrada."

"...What's the point of reading something when you already know how it ends?" Matt remarked. "And that is such an awful story. No happy ending for them, huh?"

There was silence for a while, and then Matt said, "...Right. Maybe happy endings don't exist after all."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

An ordinary person would have been tired of an entire day of following the prince of Bern—History lessons, hawking trips, dinner and entertainment, jousting practice, this and that...—but Anko had never been an ordinary person. She was still in tip-top condition at the end of the day, never a sign of lethargy in her actions, still like a cat ready to pounce at any given moment.

"Thank you for the company for the entire day, Anko," Zephiel told her, and surprisingly gave he her a low bow, to show his gratitude.

Anko chuckled, and offered him a quick bow herself. When she rose, she said, "Oh, please my lord. It's not like it was a chore. I was merely passing time. It is not like you should owe me for this. Not at all."

Zephiel straightened himself and smiled as well, as he told her, "Well, I can say Murdock was hardly missed today with your company."

Anko's smirk turned to an expression of slight disgust. "You seriously liken me to Stone-face, Zephiel? No thanks. I don't plan to play your royal guard for all time, majesty."

"I'm not likening you to him," he said. "Merely I was stating something. Either way, thank you. I hope you'd fare well—but if you'd still like to have one of the rooms for yourself, I can tell—"

"No," she quickly snapped, and shook her head. "I'll sleep in town. I told you I already have a room. And no worries about me faring well, Zephiel—I'm a Bernese spy. I can handle a bit of trouble. It is you who should be careful, my lord. You have no guard for the evening."

"I'll be careful," he said, and she just nodded, turned her back on him, and walked away. He was used to that. Anko appears out of nowhere and disappears without a word—one of her many incurable traits. He headed into his room, to say his prayers before he went to bed.

But Anko would not be making the trip to her own room in town. There will be no sleep tonight, tonight the work is just beginning. She silently treads the manse halls, stops before a heavily curtained wall, and slips her hand into her satchel. Out comes a gemstone, color the iciest blue in the subtle moonlight, cut like a diamond. She gently lifts the red heavy curtains from the wall and feels around for an engraving on the wall that fit the face of her gemstone perfectly.

-Ah. There it is.

She presses the gemstone to the engraving, and a passageway in the wall opens.

Work's just beginning. There'll be no sleep tonight.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Eerily, we sped through Regrada's snow fields. The slippery, challenging terrain of the snow fields had become something short of a plain with no obstacle at all. Even the mountainous terrain that greeted us when we made it past the snow—it was as if they were not mountains at all.

"...Did we actually get out of Regrada faster than we got in?" Matt beside me remarked, amused.

"...Am I just dreaming or are we really just getting to the manse in what seems like minutes?" someone else—Wil—remarked.

All I remembered were Legault's words. Blessing of the gods. What do they want, now? What are their intentions now?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Minutes, hours even, ticked by as Anko waited silently in the secret lanes of Bern Keep, keeping an eye on the outer surroundings, keeping an eye on Zephiel himself, where she could not be seen. The silence was absolute, apart from Zephiel's murmurs of prayer. The boy must be nervous, Anko thought. About his coming of age, of his family, or his responsibilities. And deep that night, finally, two figures emerged...

...So this is the Angel of Death. The one Xarin talks about. The man who they say is a killing machine.

She has finally seen him after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. Inside the walls that led to the prince's chambers, behind those walls—she stood still, encased in darkness, seeing only through the gaps in the stone. In his room, Zephiel was making little noises, mayhap shifting in his bed or browsing through a book or still in that deep prayer. Whatever it was, he was still awake. Just outside the room, at the hallway leading to it, his assassins came. The Angel of Death one of them.

Frankly, Anko was not much impressed by his appearances. He was dark-skinned and red-haired, lean built, with eyes that seemed sharp enough to catch the slightest movements. Yes, he's sharp. Yes, he seems like he can kill. Yes, it seems like he can slice the prince in half without even blinking. But the presence of a little girl by his side sort of softened him.

And, after all, what was the difference of this killing machine to her, or to those older, dirtier, darker spies of Bern? They kill, too. They are, in a way, heartless, too. And more than that, they were snakes, the very personification of betrayal. But this man—this Jaffar—was no betrayer. It seemed he knew nothing but following orders. He was not a spy who'd put on masks and call someone friend and then stab him in the back.

Predictable.

Something in the darkness of the secret passage moves, and some sort of rodent crawls over Anko's shoes, but she remains still, listening to the conversation beyond the walls, between the two assassins.

"...General Murdock, the man protecting the prince, should be away," the little girl talked, but more of to herself. Jaffar stayed still, it was almost as if he did not hear a thing from her. "The king concocted some errand to call him from Zephiel's side…There are no guards around. This is…an easy jobs, isn't it? I…I can do this! This is my first mission, you know? I guess I'm a little nervous, but…I mustn't fail. Mustn't let Mother down."

They continue to walk the halls. Jaffar, silently. The girl—her footsteps would wake Anko in a blink. Or anyone else, for the matter. But there would be no guards to wake tonight. Heavily drunk, Anko thought, by her doing, by the king's doing.

If Kumiko doesn't arrive in time, and they carry on with the plan, and I'm not able to defend Zephiel—then, by the gods, I'm a failure, father, and the future of Bern dies with me. Why'd I ever do this? I must be driven mad.

No turning back now, though.

"Are you ready, Jaffar?" The little girl asks the assassin.

He pauses, and does not even look at her when he spoke. "I've…no desire to be a part of your blundering…If you fail, I will, without hesitation, finish the target and then you."

The girl shudders. "What...?"

"Don't be so naive as to expect help from "friends." …Remember that," he said.

True, true. Anko nods.

"I…I knew that," whispered the girl. "You don't have to tell me…I'm a member of the Black Fang, after all..." But her voice was brimming with uncertainty.

Jaffar only stood silent, emotionless.

"…I won't fail," she said. "I will become worthy…I will. Mother will be proud of me. She will see the daughter I've become, and she will love me."

And for a second that she allowed, Anko gasped, and thought of a boy who had said the same things. I won't fail. I will become worthy. And then Father would be proud of me.

Poor girl.

Poor Zephiel.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

No guards, no guards, left and right. None at all. Just what Mother told us. It's an empty castle. Almost creepy... I swear no one's here, but Jaffar keeps looking so terse. Looks at the wall, even, as if there were eyes hiding behind, watching our every moves. And then—whispers! Someone's talking!

"No," Jaffar only told Nino when she voiced out her opinion. "Someone's... Praying."

The voice came from the prince's room. In a moment of pure curiosity, Nino pressed her ears to the door of the prince's private chamber, and listened in on his prayer.

"I offer this prayer onto thee," the voice was solemn, at ease yet with an edge to it, the edge that means every word said is absolutely meant. "My coming-of-age ceremony is tomorrow. As the prince of Bern, I've tried…I've tried not to be an embarrassment to my father. I know I've not met with his expectations. But I will try harder. I will please him. I vow to do better. For him. ...Tomorrow I will be a man…So this is my last wish as a foolish child. It's the same one I've asked of you every night for all these years, but…"

The stubborn and determined tone was now replaced by a shaking voice, the voice of someone on the verge of tears. "P-Please, bring Father and Mother together again. Please, let the day come when Guinivere and I and her mother…When all of us can live together happily in the castle..."

That could have been my prayer, Nino thought.

But then Jaffar said, "It's time…"

Nino didn't even have the chance to stop him, but she opened her mouth to do so, but he was so quick that it was too late. He flung open the door to the prince's chamber, ran to him, and delivered a quick handslice to his neck that cut him from consciousness. Even the prince was unable to breathe a word, or offer resistance, shocked by the swiftness of it all.

Nino walked into the room, her body shuddering, and she knew it.

Jaffar was standing over the prince's limp body on the floor. "That will leave him unconscious for quite some time. Now, the time has come for you do your part…" And he walked over to Nino, taking her little hands, placing his sharp dagger into their grip.

Nino stayed still.

He shoved the weapon into her hand now. "…Do it," he commanded.

Afraid to anger Jaffar, she held onto the weapon, and made a move towards the prince. Jaffar watched her intently, and for Nino, it felt like an eternity, walking to the prince's side, pulling the dagger up into the air to strike him, strike him dead-

"I…can't!" Nino said, thrusting the dagger to the floor, turning her back on the prince, turning back on Jaffar, too.

"What! What did you say? Nino-!"

"Listen to him…" Nino said, as softly as a girl in confession. "All he wants is his parents' love… To be accepted... He's just like me." And then she looked up straight into Jaffar's eyes. "No matter how I try, Mother always looks at me like I were nothing. Her eyes are so filled with disappointment. She's never held me…Not even once…"

And her eyes turned glossy, and she started tearing up.

Jaffar stared at her for a moment, his mouth unconsciously agape. And then he was rigid as stone again. "Stop this foolishness!" he said. "I told you! I will not permit you to ruin my opportunity!"

"I know…" Nino whispered, but Jaffar heard it clear as day in the silence. "Do as you must, Jaffar. I won't resist. You can do it easily. But…please don't hurt the prince. …For pity's sake…"

And then she swallowed her words, and came out saying, "… I'm ready to die." And then she closed her eyes, and stayed still, as if waiting for Jaffar's blades to come after her.

But they didn't. Jaffar stared at her for what seemed like an eternity for Nino, as she stood there, eyes closed, waiting for a death that was not coming. For Jaffar had already made his decision, and he knew it. He already knew that Nino was not capable of this mission. How can someone so kind and innocent be capable of hurting anyone? He knew Nino would not carry out the mission. He anticipated it, in fact.

He put a hand to Nino's wrist and tugged on it, gently. "…Come. "

Nino opened her eyes, confused. "What?"

"We're leaving. Hurry."

"Jaffar?"

But he was already pulling on her wrist, dragging her away from the prince's rooms, out into the corridors, towards the exit.

He was helping her get away.

"Bu-But if you do this…Jaffar, you'll…" She croaked, worried for him.

"Don't worry about me. Hurry up," he said. And then he stilled when he felt another presence in the hallway, emerging from a corner... and he knew who it was and who it was coming for. No!

"Hello, Jaffar," the woman's greeting was sweet, but edged all the same. And from the corner of the hallway emerged Ursula, one of the Four Fangs, and the right hand of Sonia, if Jaffar may say so. She, being one of the Four Fangs, was a lethal woman herself, train in the use of magic and deadly at it. No weapon could be seen in her person, in her dark colored dress with a cut at the neckline that would have made even the most trained eye to wander. It offered no distraction to Jaffar, however. There were more important things. In the darkness of the manse Jaffar could not make out if Ursula brought back-up with her—she should have, of course. But how many? Ursula didn't seem to be seeing well in the dark herself, unable to make out Nino's figure hiding behind Jaffar's cloaks. "Finished already?" she asked. "Such magnificent skill. Is this why they call you the Angel of Death? Sonia told me that you were behaving oddly, but…it appears her fears were groundless."

Jaffar almost breathed out a sigh of relief, but Nino, in her innocence, showed herself from behind Jaffar and croaked out, "I'm sorry! It's not Jaffar's fault! It was me! The prince…I couldn't…"

"Nino!" Jaffar scolded, but he knew it was too late.

The impressed expression on Ursula's face slowly shifted to confusion, and then rage. "What's all this? Why is the girl still alive?"

"...What?" Nino asked, suddenly solid as stone.

"You received Lady Sonia's orders, did you not?" said Ursula to Jaffar. "You were to dispose of the worthless, little—"

"No!" Nino wailed, sobbing before Ursula could even finish her words.

"Hold your tongue. You will not speak another word," Jaffar told Ursula, the coldness of his tone feeling like cold, sharp metal, threatening to kill.

Ursula stared at the Angel of Death, staring him down, wondering what in the world has happened to him. And they said he had a heart of stone. But how that happened—none of that mattered now. He was the enemy now. "…... So that's how it is? Jaffar, do you plan on betraying Lord Nergal?"

"I will not let Nino die. Get in my way, and I'll kill you."

It was Nino who shuddered at the audacity of those words, not in fear, but in sheer surprise. "Jaffar-!"

And Ursula began to understand. It was Nino. It was the naive, sweet little girl, capable of making the heart of a monster like Jaffar work again. "…So you have some human emotion left in you after all. You always seemed just like those creepy morphs. I bet you didn't kill the prince, either."

And Ursula vanished into the semi-darkness, but her voice could be heard carrying in the night, calling for the Black Fang, giving careful instructions. Douse the lights. Block the entrances. Kill the prince and the traitors. Finish it fast.

Jaffar slipped on his dark cloak onto Nino, and told her, "Go now… I will buy you time."

"N-No!" Nino shook her head. "You must come, too, Jaffar!"

"Nino…You must live. You are worthy of living."

And he disappeared as well, into the direction that Ursula went off to. And he was gone.

"No! Wait! Don't go! Jaffar! Jaffar!"

o0o0o0o0o0o

"This is the royal manse. ...Finally," Lord Eliwood said, with only little relief, as we stood in the darkness before the manse. We made our way not by the front gate but by a roundabout route—hardly any trouble, there was no security anywhere—and I feared for the prince, thinking that he was probably entirely alone in that manse.

The fire from the torch in Lord Hector's hand flickered, that our only source of illumination as the final light in the sky diminished and left only darkness. A couple more torches were handed out and lit, and Lyn stared curiously on at the surroundings, and into the manse.

"The lights have been doused," she said. True, the manse and its surroundings lacked any light, as if it were an abandoned fort. "But... that's the sound of fighting," she observed, her trained ears making out the sounds of battle that drew close to whispers. "What's going on?"

"I don't know... but if they're still fighting, we might not be too late!" Lord Hector said. "Let's hurry, Eliwood! Lyn!" And then he turned to me. "Kumiko! We rely on your quick orders! Swiftness as much as precision is essential."

"True," Lord Eliwood said. "And we have to protect the prince!"

o0o0o0o0o0o

I've made lists in my head and in my logbook a few moments ago, sorting out our ranks, thinking of who was capable of fighting and who needed to rest, and who was better off to stay and wait, and who was best to take. A lot of our members were injured and dead bushed, and so the strongest and the toughest remain standing to fight this battle before dawn. Time was of the essence—we had to save the prince! And at the same time, we had to disappear unseen, since we couldn't afford dragging Lycia into the political battles within Bern. Only a choice number could go. We had to save the prince and that was that—then disappear unseen, we had to leave once the prince was secure and safe before and Bern guard catches us and questions.

Merlinus was busy handing out the weapons to the fighters that would come, and torches were being lit up—it was dead dark. There were two entrances to the manse, both locked, but it was just the right number for our two thieves. I've split the teams and let everyone else stay behind by the supplies, to wait for us and get ready for a quick escape.

In our group, Matthew was busy at the manse gate, picking at innumerable locks and keyholes. He muttered and cursed and cursed as he worked—"stupid Bernese locks", I heard him say.

As we were waiting for the locks to give in, I was approached by that man—Harken, blonde and handsome in his Pheraean armor, sword, and shield. "Are you our tactician, Kumiko?" he asked.

I gave him the slight nod of head and looked at him, wondering if he'd give me a critical look for being young, or for being a girl. But he didn't. There was nothing I could read in his eyes. He only introduced himself. "I am Harken. I beg your forbearance. Lord Eliwood has ordered me to follow your commands in combat. I care not where I meet death. Just guide me wisely."

"I will," I said, absently, as I stared at him and wondered what in the world was there for Isadora to love instead of Legault. And then Harken left my side.

"...God, was he stiff," I breathed out as he turned his back on me.

Someone beside me chuckled. I turned and found Legault, torch in hand, getting ready to leave as his own group—to go the other way—readied themselves. "The perfect definition of a boring knight," he remarked.

"I wonder what Isadora sees in him that isn't in you!" I said. "You're not boring, uncle Legault! And not stiff."

"Aye. But still... she made the right choice. I'm an old leftover. And he got there first. First come first served they say. Finders keepers."

And then his group was ready, and he left. And then Matt let out a triumphant "Yes!" as the locks surrendered to his picks and the men pushed the manse doors open.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Zephiel! My lord Zephiel, wake up!"

Zephiel opened his eyes, and he felt as if it took some great force for him to be able to do it. His vision was blurred at first, but then it cleared and he saw Anko, an urgent look on her face. And then his head began to throb and hurt and he put up a hand to it and touched something wet. Blood.

Confused, he tried to talk, to tell her everything, to absorb everything that was happening. "Ahh...Ow...What's...My room...That man..." And he let his eyes wander to look for that man, but he found none. "He's gone. What's going on?"

"We're—"

But his ears picked up quicker than her words. He heard the sounds of battle, the weapons clashing, the feet stomping and dashing on the castle floors, the armors clanking. "We're under attack!"

"Yes, sadly," said Anko, as she helped the prince sit up and examined the blood on his head. The deep red stained his blonde locks. Did Jaffar do this? Unlikely. No blade was put to the prince, but he must have hit his head on something. It did not matter. She was going to heal him, and no trace would be remained either way.

"How many? ...10?...20? ...Anko, we have to get away." But Anko didn't seem to hear him, and instead got up and produced a bottle of elixir from her satchel. She knelt and began healing the fresh wounds on his head. He cancelled his own suggestion, anyway. "...No...That's wrong. That's not the way. If we run, they'll simply follow and surround... We should wait and face them here."

He had a sound plan, a sound hold on tactics, just as should be expected from any man taught by her father. "Yes my lord. Please stay and wait here. Here is your blade." And she took a silver sword and placed it in his hand. "I'll try to get help. I'll divert them. Stay here, my lord."

"No, Anko," he said. "It's unsafe. Stay here, and let us wait together for the guards to overcome this. You can't go out there alone!"

There will be no guards. Not so soon. "Zephiel, I am your subject before I am your friend. I trust you can protect yourself. Stay here and don't do anything stupid. I'll bring help."

He was about to protest, but as quickly as that, she was gone.

o0o0o0o0o0o

There was little battle at first, since when we entered the manse, we were met by twisting hallways and more and more locked doors. Matt was sweating before the fighting began, and Lord Hector, always holding the torch over Matt's work, was tapping a foot impatiently, sweating himself despite the cold weather, nervous, no doubt. In this long, twisting puzzle of hallways, how were we supposed to find the prince?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It only took a few doors—two to be exact—for Legault and the rest who were with him to find out what happened to the castle guards. In a pantry were much of the castle guards—around twenty, all fallen over the floor and tables, the smell of drinks present in the air.

They were all shocked, and then Rebecca said, "...Are they dead?"

Lyn, already walking through the bodies, said, "No. Dead drunk, more likely."

Dart made a snort of laughter as he picked up the bottles of wine and ale and mead from the tables and counters, and he smirked as he thought of plundering those as well and taking them back to camp. Oh what good times these would make.

"Don't even think about it," Raven spoke, almost as if reading what was in Dart's mind. Raven pulled a mug off a snoring guard's hand and sniffed it suspiciously. "This is uncanny. They're all drunk. Someone must have done this."

"Maybe they've overcelebrated the prince's coming-of-age?" Lucius suggested.

"Should I heal them?" Priscilla asked.

Lyn shook her head, and told her, "Maybe we shouldn't. If that happened we'll have to go through the endless ordeal of explaining who we are and why we're here. If fate is cruel, they may even pin us as the assassins."

They walked through continuous dining rooms and found the same thing all throughout—drunk soldiers and spilled, overflowing supply of drinks. Lyn echoed Raven's thoughts. "This is uncanny. Something must have, someone must have..."

And then Karel just pulled out a platter of dark green, finely ground powder from behind the bar counter. Everyone else crowded around it to examine it.

"What would that be?" Lowen asked.

Heath, a native of Bern and a wyvern knight, knew immediately what it was. "We use it to tame wild wyverns, to calm them. A little more and it would put them to sleep. It's effective on wyverns and even more lethal on men. These soldiers would be knocked out for a while."

"It seems so, but we have to find the prince's rooms at least," Legault pointed out importantly. "And trust me this manse could prove itself to be a maze."

"Then any notion as to how?" Lyn asked Legault. "We can't just wake these soldiers and ask then where the prince is. If they recognized us..."

Legault thought silently, and then his gaze fell on Heath. And Heath tensed for a bit when he found out that everyone was looking at him as well, catching on Legault's idea. "Well, I don't think one of these men would find it odd if wyvern knight in Bern's armor would ask where the prince is. He's come to deliver an urgent message from the king that must not be postponed at all, so all his questions must be answered."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We found what we were looking for in a short while—as we turned a corner in a hallway and Matthew opened another door, the main hall finally greeted us, and enemies—though only a small group of them—were present, quickly dealt with by Kent and Sain and Wil. Kent simply threw a javelin as Wil shot an arrow, while Sain, preferring to look more dramatic, rode to the enemies up close in his horse and dealt with them with his lance.

"There are enemies, but they're scarce!" Lord Hector exclaimed.

"Maybe we're going the wrong way..." Lord Eliwood said.

"Maybe they're through with the prince and those were just the final assassins that were about to leave," Erk suggested.

Everyone else looked at him sharply for his dark suggestion. Matthew, unable to help his tongue, actually said, "Hey, if you're down, don't take it out on us. We're all trying to work hard for the future of Elibe here."

Erk flinched, and immediately took back what he said. "I'm sorry."

There was a tense silence, which Kent broke. "...As awful as that sounds, it can't be ruled out," Kent said. "All the reason for us to make haste."

Lord Hector nodded. "Let's go! I think I hear more fighting nearby!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

This is none of her concern. She doesn't belong here. Not at all. I can't believe that woman managed to produce a daughter as sweet as Nino. The girl is not like her at all. She does not deserve a life like this.

Jaffar thinks, thinks, thinks, as he tries to even his breathing from running in the halls of the manse. The enemies—all Black Fang, but only recently—are running after him, and quite lousily, as Jaffar could easily hear their footsteps as they didn't bother to attempt at stealth at all. That is not what it would take to defeat an Angel of Death. He was confident he could defeat them, but that was not the point at all. It was distraction, so that Nino could escape.

The enemies turn around as they feel and hear a shuffling, and a quick flash of a black, tattered cloak disappears into a corner of the hallway. He was quick, deadly quick, and when the enemies gave chase and found him, he was already poised for the attack, and the Angel of Death gave them their sentence.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

What in the world is happening? I don't understand anything at all! What Ursula said—was it true? Mother... she wants me killed? But why? Does she truly loathe me so? And Jaffar... why is he doing this now? What have I done to receive his kindness? It's always been as he said—he should have carried out the law of the Fang. I would have rather died there a Black Fang then receive mercy now as a traitor. My mother would never forgive me! But she doesn't... She wants me dead!

Oh!

Nino made a sudden halt in her mad run throughout the maze of hallways of a manse, as out of nowhere, emerging from a corner, a dark-robed enemy emerges from a corner. He—or she, Nino could never tell in those robes—was a member of Black Fang. That much she could tell, because of the dark cloak.

I was Black Fang too. I was... or I am! ...Or I was! What's going on now? Who is my enemy? Who is my friend? Who is who, I don't know anything anymore!

"Stop!" she calls out. "This is all a big misunderstanding! I'm Black Fang, too!"

It did not work. "Traitors must be killed," the man—a man now, judging by his voice—said. "That is the law of the Fang."

And he pulled out his sword from its case, its silver shining in the faintest moonlight. "I—I-!" Nino couldn't find anything to say. She was too confused, too panicked to even remember the chant to the magic tome in her trembling hands.

"Get down, girl!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

In the last instant, Nino heard the words and dropped down to the floor as a hand-axe flew overhead. She caught her breath at the timing of the thing—if she had knelt down any later, the hand-axe would probably be sticking at the back of her head already. But as it was, it made its way to the enemy, hitting him on his chest, and a javelin followed from overhead. Nino looked up. A pegasus and its rider were flying overhead the high ceilings of the manse. And she looked behind her. There were people who were coming towards her, some cloaked, some not, but obviously, they were not Black Fang.

The man who had thrown the hand-axe was heavily armored, and from the faint torchlight that came overhead—the pegasus rider was holding it, maybe—she could make out his features. He was a huge man, tall and seemingly impenetrable in his armor. His hair was blue, and his features most masculine—but never overly so, not like her father, Brendan Reed. She was more likely reminded of Linus, only Linus preferred a sword to an axe. Only Linus would never shoot her such an angry look, and she could see by his expression that it seemed he regretted saving her, that he had not wanted to do it at all.

I don't understand what's going on anymore. Who is my enemy? Who is my friend? Who is who?

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Nino!"

Her green hair was hard to miss, even in the semi-darkness. She was huffing tired from all the fighting, such a small little girl, but she held herself together despite all that she was—so small, so fragile. And then a thought hit me that to the bigger, older, more capable members of our group, I must look like that, too. So small.

I ran up to her, into the darkness. She was still wary, looking around at all the members of our group, staring at Lord Hector in particular, who just saved her with his hand axe. And then she turned to face me, maybe she recognized me, and in a second regarded me as non-hostile. "You! Are you from the palace?" she asked. Despite how brave she sounded, there was still an underlying tremble in her voice. "The prince is in his room! Save him! I'll take care of anything that happens out here!"

"Wait," I told her, "...You're...Nino, right?

She stepped towards me and took a closer look at me. "What! How—Oh. I've seen you before!"

From the corners of my eyes I saw Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood exchange looks, wondering how in the world I knew Nino. But I didn't mind. Let them think what they want to for now. I told Nino, "Yes, I know. There's something I must tell you..."

And then I told her everything, the words pouring out quickly, in a way that was urgent, but with words clear that she might get the gist of everything and believe me. Everyone stayed clear of the talking and instead took Lord Eliwood's orders to move along and chase the enemies, leaving me to talk to Nino.

"...What? But...you must be lying..." she said, uncertain. "That's... not possible..."

"I'm sorry, but it's all true!" I said, urgently. "Ninian, Nils, the Black Fang, everyone... they're innocent! They've become nothing more than tools of Nergal..."

"...It can't be..."

"I know you don't want to believe me," I said, "but...it's the truth. The only truth. ...Nino, you can come with us. You understood the prince's feelings. I know you'll see what's right."

After what seemed like an eternity of silence, she made a decision. "...I... I will do this," she said, "to repay the kindness you showed us before. I don't think a person who helped us would be capable of such a lie. So I'll come. And I'll try to see all this on my own."

o0o0o0o0o0o

"How in the world do you know Nino?" Matthew asked me, as he went to my side as Nino tried to find her place in the group and found it beside Erk, another mage and a familiar face to her, who quickly examined her for scratches and then lent her another Magic tome. The irony, I thought. Erk and Nino over there, Matthew and me over here.

"I just do," I told Matt, my gaze still on Erk and Nino. "There are some things better left unanswered, Matthew."

He didn't answer, but I seemed to know what he was thinking. If you don't tell me, maybe she will.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Oh, it's you! I know you!" Nino greeted Erk, happy to see a familiar face.

"I think it would be prudent if you pretended you didn't know me before," Erk said, making Nino think carefully about what he meant. "My name's Erk. Are you injured or hurt anywhere?"

Nino shook her head. "Not really. My name's Nino!"

I know, Erk thought. I know.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jaffar breathed out heavily, as the ironclad enemy General gave him a bit of trouble. His armor was impenetrable—even Jaffar's blades had trouble cutting through them, only leaving scratches in the fine metal armor. And he couldn't even approach the enemy, as he was swinging his lance ferociously, and to get close was an ordeal. Every bit of the enemy was armored—no weak point to target anywhere.

The enemy lunged at him again, and Jaffar quickly avoided by crouching down and rolling to his right. Jaffar threw some throwing daggers towards the general, but those were deflected easily by his armor.

And then, all of a sudden, a force came, running into the enemy, causing him to hang on precariously for balance in all his heavy armor. It was a woman, Jaffar saw, features Sacaean, purple hair bunned at the back of her head. The general turned around, at a loss for balance, but managing to swing his lance toward the woman. The woman sidestepped to avoid, and cartwheeled away impressively. She pulled out a sword hanging from her belt, its thickness and make pointed out that it was an armorslayer. And then she attacked the general strategically—a quick slash at the side of his chestplate, at the locking metals, which the armorslayer cut through like butter. The straps and locks of the chestplate cut through, the armor fell heavily down to the ground with a huge clank. The general was left without a chestplate, in which Jaffar found it right to throw another dagger, and this time, it dug through deeply in the enemy's flesh without difficulty.

The enemy fell down to the ground, and the woman looked on at him momentarily. And then she looked up and met Jaffar's eyes.

"You're tired," she said. "It's best you hide in a corner and avoid them. That one proved to be a difficult enemy. Fang's got more of them, as you should know."

"Who are you?" Jaffar asked.

"What does it matter? One day I could be an enemy, the next, an ally. Take this." She tossed her armorslayer towards him. "They're wearing Bernese armor. The straps and weak points are here," and she drew a line just below her collarbone, at her sides, and at her shoulders. "Just so you know, Angel of Death. Be safe."

And she turned around and ran away, fast as lightning. Even faster than me.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Legault was more familiar with Bernese locks and keyholes than Matthew was, so he should have been faster than the other thief when it came to picking locks, but he had to admit, the manse's locks were difficult even for a good Bernese thief.

"Any longer, Legault?" Heath asked, as he stood there waiting for Legault to finish picking the locks of the treasure room, Hyperion impatiently trashing his tail lightly.

"Might take a while," Legault said, as he drew back his lockpick and made a few more adjustments to it and tried again. "Dont you worry about me, handsome, go help out Lady Lyn and the rest. And you be careful for mages!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"We don't have to defeat them all!" Lyn shouted, as her group was busily fighting in a long corridor. She had just finished dealing with an enemy swordmaster—that was a hard time, how skilled these Black Fang they were fighting were! And everyone else was in conflict with the enemy. Lowen, with Rebecca riding with him, was dealing with another cavalier as the archer shot arrows from her position on Lowen's horse. Raven was engaging an enemy general, aided by Karel. Karel—there was something faintly Sacaean about him, Lyn thought. Lucius backed them up with magic, and Lyn closed her eyes as a Shine spell illuminated the whole corridor, blinding the enemies senseless, with which everyone took the time to deal the final blows.

The enemies, dead, the corridor was silent again. Lyn said, "We just have to hold out until dawn. They can't complete an assassination in broad daylight, can they? The soldiers would have to come to their senses by then. What's important is to secure the prince. Let's go!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

I was the one who had to run into the prince's room—finally, the prince's room!—as the rest of the group went ahead to secure the area and confront enemies. "Your Majesty!" I called out to him, as I entered his chamber.

He turned sharply towards me, curly golden hair tossing in the air as he turned his head. His hand quickly went to the hilt of a sword that was hanging on his belt, expression alert. But then his eyes met mine, and then the expression shifted to puzzle. "Oh," he said. He stared at me from head to foot. "Oh."

He looked into my eyes then. And suddenly—suddenly!—something inside me felt odd. Odd but right. It was as if I was facing a stranger, but a stranger that I have already met before. Maybe old friends who haven't seen each other for decades. Or maybe it was just the effect that a prince of Bern would have on any common girl.

I blinked, suddenly lost for words. I—I… I'm face to face with the prince of Bern and he was staring at me and—and what were you supposed to do in such a situation? I twiddled my hair in my fingers—and stopped it when I realized that wasn't what I was supposed to do. And then it struck me—I curtsied. A very urgent, very hurried, very inelegant curtsy.

"Prince Zephiel," I said, when I came up from my bow, and I dared to look at him. He was so white and well-dressed and clean while I was so filthy and sweaty and was practically dressed in rags next to him. I blushed, embarrassed at the fact.

He slightly tilted a head to the side, and asked, "Who are you?"

Who—Who? I can't just say my name. I can't say my affiliation with the lords as well—Bern would react badly if it's discovered that there are Lycian nobles fighting in their land. I can say Genevieve Regrada… but it wouldn't make sense for a forgotten heiress to suddenly turn up, now of all times. He might think I was the one who sent the assassins after him. So what do I—

"…You're not one of my mother's maids, are you? But what are you… But you look familiar…"

"I-I'm… I mean, we're here to rescue you! There are enemies in the castle! Please, stay back. We'll do the fighting."

He stared at me like I was speaking another language. "Excuse me?"

I blinked. "Your Majesty?"

"Do you speak truly? You? Fight? You're a girl. And I know neither your name nor your motives. Why should I trust you?"

A girl! So he didn't trust me because I'm a girl! That… that… he was just like all those other nobles! "What does it matter if I'm a girl?" I snapped at him. "I'm as brave as a man and as efficient as one! Stay there! I'll make sure nothing happens to you!"

…I can't believe I just yelled at the Prince of Bern. Embarrassed and annoyed, I turned my back on him, to run away.

But then he spoke—and he actually laughed. "Alright," he said. "I shall trust you. I place my life in your hands."

"W-What?" I asked, turning back towards him.

"If you were an assassin. I would already be dead," he said. "And besides… your face looks familiar…"

My face? Did he know me—no, did he know Genevieve? I don't think so. I've never been introduced to him. It must be the darkness. I must resemble someone else that he knows of. "We've never met before," I told him. "You must be mistaking me for someone else."

I began to run away, but then he said, "Wait! You're Regrada's daughter!"

I gasped—he did know!—and that all the more made me want to run from him. I felt his hand reach out for me, for my shoulder, but I took a step off, and ran. His fingers caught onto one of my braids, though, and pulled out the twine that kept it together. But I didn't care. I didn't turn back. I ran.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Do you think the prince is secure already?" Sain asked Kent, sounding almost cheerful in the middle of the battle, but then again, he was Sain, he always sounded cheerful.

"I should think so. Kumiko would have warned him and talked to him about everything. He would listen to her. What's important is that we secure the perimeter."

"You're right, Kent. But I wonder where those—"

And then Sain's words were cut off when a loud clap and sizzle of magic was heard—and a blinding flash, causing Kent and Sain's horses to neigh wildly and panic, and the next second they knew, a current of Bolting flashed overhead to before them, luckily missing them by a little.

"G-Goodness! What was that?" Sain yelled in surprise.

"They're using long-range magic!" Kent yelled, for the rest of the group to hear.

"So it seems!" A voice came from overhead, and Sain and Kent looked up to see Fiora on her pegasus, yet it was Wil, riding with Fiora, who spoke. He had a torch in his hand and as Fiora's mount flew by the high chandeliers of the manse, Wil took the time to light the chandelier with his torch. Illumination from the chandelier lit up the area, helping them see more in the dark.

"Good idea, Wil!" Sain cheered the archer.

"It seems they're using a lot of magic!" Fiora called out to the group below. "I should take the lead! Pegasus are highly resistant to magic! We have to find the spellcasters before they hit us with more long-range magic!"

Lord Eliwood gave the affirmative, and Fiora led the group as they pressed onward to find the enemy.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The prince's room was nearby, that much Heath knew. He was good with directions, and he remembered exactly what that drunk soldier told him, the directions to the prince's rooms, and he knew he was nearby. Riding Hyperion, he went ahead of the group, his mount avoiding the numerous chandeliers hanging from the manse's high ceilings. That was a good sign, he thought. The halls were decorated nicely, even the ceilings, this path must lead to something—

And then it came unexpectedly—a bright flash, a loud sound, and then next thing Heath heard was Hyperion wailing in pain and his own body being run through by a strong current of magic. What was that? And he slipped from consciousness.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Hey! Hey! Wake up!"

Heath opened his eyes to see a familiar face in front of him—the blurred face was familiar, the voice was familiar. And then the focus of his vision returned and he found that he was facing Anko. He looked around, and found himself in a small, dark room, the smallest light only creeping through holes in the wall.

"You're... Kumi's friend, right?"

"No time to talk. Drink this," she said, and she shoved the mouth of a bottle of Elixir to Heath's lips. Heath took the bottle from her and helped himself, feeling the liquid's restoring magic work its way into his body.

"What a surprise that was, when I was just running the hallways and all of a sudden you and your wyvern come falling from the skies—"

"My wyvern!" Heath suddenly remenbered, looking around panicked for Hyperion. "Where is he? Where did you take him?"

Akno looked defensive at Heath's sudden tone, worried to a point of accusing. "I just couldn't drag it to safety! The thing was passed out and it wouldn't budge so I thought I'd just save you—"

"No!" Heath cried out, and got up, immediately trying to run off, but then he looked around and found that the room had no exit or entrance at all, all solid walls. "Let me out of here! I have to do something!"

"Easy, wyvern knight!" Anko said, as she got up herself and produced her gemstone from her satchel, icy blue and diamond cut, and felt around the wall for another indentation, and then pressed the face of her gemstone there. The wall moved a bit, loosened, and Anko pushed it open. Heath immediately ran out, to find himself back in the manse corridors. Anko took her time closing the hidden compartment, pushing the wall back close, and then she handed her gemstone to Heath. "Hold it for me, please."

Heath took it, and Anko continued to shove the wall close. She wasn't exactly the strongest person on the continent, so it took a while. Why doesn't that wyvern knight help me? She just shook her head, thinking of the horrible manners of wyvern knights, and when the hidden door was finally closed, she turned back to find that Heath was already gone, no doubt in search of Hyperion.

"I save your life and not even a word of thanks? Great," Anko muttered, to herself, but just shrugged it off as she thought of the things that had to be done. Daylight was coming, Anko knew. It was about time to wake up the guards.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Finally, finally, the groups merged, meeting each other in the main hall, and that was when, finally, Nino found Jaffar, trailing behind Lyn's group. She smiled and ran to him as quickly as she could, and when she reached him, she gave him a tight embrace.

"Jaffar!"

Jaffar looked surprised at the girl clinging to him, embracing him tight. "Nino? ...I told you to flee."

"No, no! These people came and helped me! Hurry, Jaffar! Come with me! Come with us!"

"No. There's no need to save a life without worth. There is nothing for me outside this battle."

"Jaffar..."

"I am a corpse," he said. "I have been dead since the day I was born. Leave me..."

"No! If you're not coming with us, then I'm staying with you! I do not want you to die, Jaffar!"

To his surprise, something wet touched upon his clothes. Nino's tears. "Nino..."

"Daylight is coming soon!" she said. "And then we'll both see a new morning together. We'll face the dawn together, Jaffar! We will."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As we battled onward and onward, the dark skies turned brighter and brighter. When we knew that dawn was approaching, the enemies properly withdrew, and we let out cheers of joy. The battle was over. It was time to go. Time to go—before the guards caught us, questioned us, and wrongly pinned us as the culprits. We took what we can, treasures from the treasure rooms, gold and weapons and tomes, and we made a deal of carrying them. Priscilla and Erk stood by Hyperion, shot from a Bolting tome, and the mount was feeling weak but it got up and rose, trying to keep strong. All the while, Heath was supporting him, and a notion struck me that Heath would have a hard time finding a lover, if he loved no one like he did his mount. But then that was a good sign. If he loved his mount like that, how much more will he love a woman?

Among the things that w were taking with us were Nino and Jaffar. Jaffar, suffering from a small wound, was approached by the only one who was not scared to approach him—Erk, who quickly healed him without a word. He has done it before, so there was no fear in him anymore. And I saw Jaffar stir, as if by some chance he recognized Erk, and knew that he has saved his life before.

But we were suddenly interrupted when Wil yelled, "Oh no! The guards are coming!"

"Damn!" Lord Hector said, and he gave out quick orders. "We move out—now!"

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We were all running hurriedly, dragging ourselves, our weapons, our few supplies, through the maze of corridors of the manse. Lowen and Kent rode first, to alarm the group outside to move out as well, but I trusted that Lord Marcus and Lord Oswin would have the wisdom to move farther from the manse as the sensed that daylight was approaching. The group turned a narrow corner, and unfortunately, I was the last in the line, naturally a weak runner. I took a pause to catch my breath, and then a voice called out.

"Genevieve!"

I turned back. It was the prince of Bern, emerging from a corner, eyes looking around and finally alighting on me. Oh no. He can't talk to me either. He can't insist we stay. I just looked at him, shaking my head a bit, as if to say that, no, there was no time to talk.

The corridor from behind the prince illuminated in orange firelight, and I knew that they were the guards with their torches, searching for the prince. I made one last look at Prince Zephiel and turned a corner, but when I did, I found out something—I was alone. My allies were all gone. Oh no. Where do I go? How do I find out the way out? I don't remember the way! I can't-

"Your Majesty!" The soldiers called out, I could hear them, talking to the prince. "Are you well? It seemed there were invaders! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am," Prince Zephiel told them. "More importantly, how is my mother? Have you alerted her?"

"Not yet, sir. We have to find the culprits who did this. Excuse us, sir."

And then I saw their orange lights growing closer, closer, closer. They were going this way!

But then Zephiel said, "Pardon. I think they went the other way. I think I heard a noise from that direction..."

The lights stopped approaching, and then receded, turning to leave the other way. Wheh. That was close.

But when I opened my eyes, Prince Zephiel was there approaching me.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Genevieve," he breathed out, sounding relieved. And then he looked up to me and said, brightly, "You're Genevieve Regrada, am I right?"

How did he—I've never—"You must be mistaking me for someone else," I said, fidgeting with my skirt. There was nothing to do but confront him now. The rest have escaped already, and they were safe, so it should be much of a bad thing to talk a bit with the prince. But he—he knew me?

"I don't know… but I'm decent with remembering people's faces. You resemble the Lord Regrada to a fair degree, too..."

My face fell. He was Lord Regrada and I was his shadow daughter. It would always be that way.

I wonder if he saw me frown, because he added, "And it's not easy to forget the face of the only girl who studied in the Academy."

"Y-You saw me?" I said, shocked.

He smiled wider. Oh, shoot. I just gave myself away! "Once or twice, I think," he said. "I've never spoken to you, but I heard a lot about you, from all the other students."

Great. He must be hearing the most ridiculous things about me, considering how all my fellow students treated me. "Uhm... I assure you that nothing that you heard about me was true. I wasn't exactly the most popular person in the Academy..."

He only nodded, meaning he understood. "You came out better than they all expected, though. How well you lead the battle, Lady Genevieve. I'm... in awe. Is there anything I can give you for saving my life?"

Hearing Genevieve from the very prince's mouth cause my ears to have a weird itch. "I don't go by that name anymore, my lord," I said. "A-And you don't have to repay me, please... the only thing that would make me feel better is if you kept our identity a secret. We never came, my lord. You were rescued by your guards, never by us."

"B-But—"

"That is how you can repay me, Your Majesty," I made it clear to him, "and that is all that I will ask."

He shook his head. "I can't let that be."

"Then please lead me out of the manse without being seen by anyone. I'm sorry, my lord. I have secrets to keep, and I keep them for good reason."

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Kumiko!" Lyn yelled as we met in a clearing a safe distance from the manse. She was relieved. She ran to me and took me in a brief hug. "You're safe! We were just about to send someone after you…"

And then she pulled me back from the hug and looked puzzled. What? "You look… different."

"W-What?"

Lord Hector walked up to us, and was a startled at the sight of me as well, so much that he literally lost a bit of footing. "Kumiko! You look like… human!"

"What?"

Lyn turned to him and rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. He obviously doesn't know how to make sense."

"Y-You look like a girl!" Lord Hector continued, expression still shocked. I wondered if he were only teasing. Or if there was something seriously wrong with me, like my skirt being upturned. I checked. Nope. Perfectly in place.

"…Haven't I always been a girl?" I asked, puzzled.

Lyn just laughed. "Of course. But I guess what he means is this,"—she put her hand to my face and pinched my cheeks, and then touched the braids of my hair, recently fixed and tied into place by purple velvet ribbons, immaculate in their color, absolutely clean—"Your face. Your hair. Someone cleaned you up well."

"No thanks to me," I said, as I remember the prince frowning at me before he saw me leave, pointing out at my unruly hair and dirty face. He took his pristine handkerchief and cleaned up my face, and then tied my hair in these ribbons. He did it for his sister, so he knew how to tie my hair. It was the least he could do, he said. The prince of Bern was full of surprises.

"I hope we meet again someday," he had said. "Maybe you should work for the country. You're a good tactician."

I had said nothing, because I didn't want to work for the country at all. I just gave him my thanks, and left.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Why do you not kill me?" Jaffar asked Lord Eliwood as we confronted him and Nino—Lord Eliwood, Lyn, Lord Hector, and me.

"If we did that, Nino might die as well," said Lord Eliwood. "You didn't take the prince's life. So we won't take yours. It's that simple."

"So naïve," he said, and his deep monotone voice made the words sound like an insult. "Do you know how many of your friends I've killed?"

I gasped. How dare he say that!

I quickly turned to Lord Hector, and I saw the change in the expression in his face—his blank expression turned to outright rage. "You monster!" Lord Hector yelled, a hand reaching out to his axe. "I'll—I'll-‼"

"Hector! Calm yourself!" said Lord Eliwood—a command, with that Lord Eliwood tone of is. Lord Hector groaned and tossed his hands in the air and turned his back on us. …He actually listened to Lord Eliwood. I was starting to see Lord Eliwood in a different light now because of that.

Lord Eliwood turned to Jaffar now. "Some sins cannot be forgiven, but now...We need all the help we can get to defeat Nergal."

I saw Jaffar's lips twitch down ever so slightly. It might have been my imagination.

"Jaffar..." Lord Eliwood was asking now, requesting, pleading. "You were planning on throwing your life away, correct? If you've come to regret so many of your past actions, then you can fight with us."

"Regret?" Jaffar said, head snapping up to look at Lord Eliwood. "Such emotions mean nothing..."

Nino pouted and tugged at Jaffar's arm. "Jaffar!" She had the tone of a mother scolding a son.

Jaffar sighed, and then looked down at Nino. She was pouting at him and pleading at him at the same time. And then he sighed again, but it sounded as if he was signing his own death warrant with that sigh. "Alright. If you want me to...I will...do it."

…That was even more surprising than how Lord Eliwood can command Lord Hector. This was Nino, a little girl, so helpless and innocent, getting Jaffar—a cold, ruthless assassin!—to do what she wanted!

Nino beamed and hugged Jaffar, and my mouth was practically left open in shock. I recovered and closed it again. I wondered what Matthew would make of that—the assassin has a soft side? How… How can he…?

Lyn actually found the thing relieving. "That's good isn't it, Nino?" she said with a small laugh.

"Mm!" Nino nodded, excitedly. "Thank you! Thank you!"

It was hard to hate Nino, but… Jaffar…

Lord Hector grunted and groaned, and then flat-out walked out.

"Ah! Hector..." Lord Eliwood nearly turned around to follow Lord Hector, but I held his hand and stopped him.

"Let me deal with him, my lord," I said, keeping my voice low so that Nino and Jaffar wouldn't hear. "I understand what he feels."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"And—And! That ingrate! Eliwood was showing him mercy but he was all, 'Do you have any idea how many of your friends I've killed?' I swear! I wanted to kill him then and there!"

Lord Hector was fuming, angry. Matthew stayed silent and critical, sitting there on the rock, hands intertwined at the fingers, in what seemed like a thinking pose. Or disguise. Maybe he was mad, too. He was angry, too. And his mind was already plotting a hundred reasons on how to end Jaffar. The calm was a façade.

And then the thief's head shot up, out of thinking, surprisingly to look directly at me. "Kumiko," he said. And I knew that he knew I was there.

I walked out of the trees, and Lord Hector turned and found me, surprised. He just stared, maybe wondering how long I've been listening in.

There was silence. I knew it was my turn to fill that in.

"I hate him, too," I said.

Lord Hector looked surprised, and then he gave a sarcastic kind of smirk. "Welcome to the club," he said.

I didn't find that amusing. I kept in mind what I was there for. "But Lord Eliwood would appreciate it if we kept ourselves in check. He… He accepts Jaffar."

"And he's a fool for it!" yelled Lord Hector. "If… If only he weren't my best friend, I'd have… Gah!"

Matt was still silent, still thinking, drumming his fingers against each other. "What do you think, Matt?" I asked him.

He stopped with his fingers, and looked up to me. "You know what my opinion is," he said.

I shook my head, slowly. I didn't know what his exact opinion was. All I had were speculations, all I had were guesses.

And then Matt just flat-out said, "I want him dead."

I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. I blinked, I panicked—I didn't know how to deal with that. It was complicated now, it wasn't simple like before. Now I knew Nino, now I liked Nino, and I wasn't excited to see her lose a companion. My opinion of Jaffar hasn't changed, but if Lord Eliwood had mercy on him, had the heart to forgive him…

"I… I don't want any killing within the group in this campaign," I said, softly. No one reacted to it, so I figured they didn't hear. I spoke again. "I don't want anyone backstabbing anyone in this campaign. Did you hear that, Matt? It doesn't… It doesn't look right. We can't just adopt him to kill him."

No response. I sighed, and said, "…That's an order from your tactician."

"And what does that order matter?" Matt snapped. "You're not my lord. Who are you for me to follow?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but my mouth quivered, so I shut it again. I felt like he just stabbed me with those words. I gave one last look at him and Lord Hector, and then I ran away.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

We rested for a few hours in the safe clearing we found, until Lord Pent and Lady Louise went to the manse along with the lords and I to meet with the queen. I shuddered that I might see the prince again, and that he might point out that he knew me, that we saved them, even if I made him vow to silence. I hoped that he was genuinely asleep, dead tired. We were all dead tired. We fought three battles in a day, and we had no sleep yet...

" My apologies for the wait," one of the attendants told us as he met us at the manse hallways. "The queen will see you now," he said.

"Very well," said Lord Pent.

Lady Louise invited us onward. "Let us proceed," she said.

But we weren't that eager to move yet. We were stuck to the ground, wondering that to say to the most powerful woman on Bern soil. "The queen of Bern..." Lord Hector mused, as if stunned by the thought. I thought he was starstruck or in awe to meet the queen, but then he said, "Even if it is a private audience, courtly niceties aren't my strong suit."

He wasn't starstruck. He was nervous.

Lyn, too. "That's not my part of what I'm good at, either."

And then Lord Hector turned to me. "Why don't you come along, too, Kumi? You're Bernese nobility. You'd know a thing or two of this."

"M-Me?" I said, surprised. Me? Meet the queen? The queen? "I-I'm so dirty and sweaty and my hair—"

"Looks surprisingly nice," Lyn said, narrowing her eyes at my brown-blonde hair, neatly separated and braided with two ribbons. "You look better than any of us."

I turned to look at Lord Eliwood, who was probably the only one that had skills in these kind of noble things. But all he said was, "...Let's go."

Those two words had me stunned for two seconds. Let's go. This was the nice Lord Eliwood, the kind Lord Eliwood, saying those two words, but they were filled with authority. That was a noble. That was Lord Eliwood. That was the tone that made Lyn—Lady Lyn!—and Lord Hector—of Ostia, bigger than Pherae!—shut up and follow him and trust him.

And I followed him, too.

o0o0o0o0o0o

I could see the high resemblance of the Prince Zephiel to his mother, the queen Hellene, when I saw her face to face. She could have been an ordinary woman—such an ordinary height and frame—and her beauty was marred by her age—there were lines along her eyes and face—but still she had the regal air of an uncontested noble. That was ironic, since the Queen of Bern was most unsecure, with the king heavily in-love with his mistress.

Like the prince, her hair was blonde—only yellow-blonde—and her eyes were blue and clever. She held her chin up and held her shoulders back—such perfect stance and posture. She was beautiful, aye. But that wasn't the first word to describe her. I've met even more beautiful women, even younger women, like Lady Louise, like... what was her name? That woman in the snow. The queen of Bern was a beautiful woman, but more than that, she seemed to me a woman of pride before anything else.

We all bended and bowed before her, following Lord Eliwood's lead. All she did was nod. We rose, and then she said, "Ah, so you've returned. And were you successful? You recovered the Fire Emblem safely?"

The Fire Emblem. Immediately the Fire Emblem. Doesn't she know that her son was nearly killed? "...Queen Hellene," said Lord Eliwood. "Has no one told you? Last night in the manse..."

"Oh, something about assassins sneaking in, wasn't it? I've no time for such trifles. Quickly, the Emblem," she said, with nonchalance.

It was all about the Emblem. Her son was nothing to her. Lord Eliwood, with a dour expression, just nodded in my direction, and so I dug in my bag, took the Fire Emblem, and handed them to Her Majesty.

Her eyes seemed to light up when the gemstone reached her hands securely. She grinned with satisfaction, as she held the stone to the light. "Ah...Without a doubt, this is the Fire Emblem. Ha ha! With this, my Zephiel holds rightful claim to the succession! Now, it will never pass to that annoying Guinivere..."

"Queen Hellene..." Lord Eliwood called on the woman's attention, softly.

"Oh, yes," she snapped. "I'd forgotten. Your promised reward. The road to the Shrine of Seals, was it not?"

"I have a pressing question to ask of you first. What is His Royal Highness Prince Zephiel to you?"

The question—raised by Lord Eliwood—came as a shock to all of us, most especially Her Highness. He asked it with that ring of authority that Lord Eliwood has when he means serious business. Here you did not have the son of the lord of a small land talking to a queen. He spoke as if he were her equal, and by his tone it seemed there was no doubting it.

Lady Hellene was shocked. "I...beg your pardon?"

"His Highness Zephiel is your trueborn son, isn't he?" Lord Eliwood continued. We were all staring at him as if he were out of his mind now, but he still exuded that quiet confidence of an uncontested noble. "Or is he, like the Fire Emblem, nothing more than tool for securing the throne?"

The queen was enraged. "How dare you! Such insolence! To whom do you think you are speaking!"

" This has nothing to do with title," he said. "You are free to possess your desires and aspirations. But your own innocent son...How can you do anything that places His Highness's life at risk?"

"What?" the queen said, rage turning to something that seemed like panic and confusion. "What do you mean? Of what do you speak..."

"Didn't you hear us?" Lyn said, "Assassins nearly killed—"

But Lord Eliwood cut in. "Lyndis. That's enough." And then he turned back to Her Majesty, and swept her an immaculate bow, still bowing as low as he should for a queen, even if he just argued with her "...I beg your leave," he said, and he got up and then turned his back and walked away.

Lord Hector and Lyn and I were puzzled, and we were left to bow out to the queen, none of us doing it as gracefully as Lord Eliwood could, and then we hurried along to Lord Eliwood.

"Wait right there!" We could hear Her Majesty screaming after us. "We are not finished! Someone! Someone stop those insolent children! Someone!"

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Well, that's that, huh?" said Lord Hector dismissively, as we were being led out of the Queen's Chamber, and eventually out of the manse. I gave a small nod, if only to myself. Yeah. That was that.

"...Lord Pent, Lady Louise," said Lord Eliwood, turning to the lord of Reglay and his wife, "I ruined a perfectly good opportunity. I'm terribly sorry."

Lord Pent did not shrug—it was not in his nature. Instead he shook his head, making long silver strands of his hair fly in the air. "You said nothing that I did not agree with. Do not think long on it," he assured Lord Eliwood.

"Lady Hellene has changed," Lady Louise added. "Before she got married, she was a kind woman who wanted to be a good wife and good mother."

"She and the king are ill-matched," said Lord Pent. "She has suffered much. And now, she is obsessed with the succession. An awful marriage can change much. Such a sad life..."

There was a little silence in the air, and then Lyn remarked, " ...His parents are alive. Yet they're both awful. I feel so sorry for him."

His parents are alive. Yet they're both awful. I feel sorry for him, too. I had my mom and her husband and Sir Alecto and they're gone, and I feel awful about it. But I also had my blood father, and he was awful, but he was dead-and I can't deny the fact that I wouldn't have it any other way. Maybe it was better to not have parents rather than have awful parents.

"But…" Lord Eliwood began, looking disappointed and cross. With himself. "Even if it was just, I should have left it unsaid. I angered the queen, and in doing so lost the only aid we had in Bern."

Lord Hector shrugged again, and gave an encouraging pat on Lord Eliwood's shoulder. "It's over and done with. No sense in worrying about it now. Let's consider our next course of action."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o

End of Chapter. Long Author's Notes ensues.

Note: Fresh off the keyboard, and haven't checked some parts yet. If some parts seem stupid, forgive me. It's a bit rushed. Holes shall be patched up next chapter. Reviews please!

Firstly, a birthday greeting for FireEmblemMewMew! She also celebrates on February, as I do. XD

I... I'm sorry! *hides from all the KumixErk supporters* Please don't hate me!

...Poor Erk. I just remembered that in almost all his supports, he ends up getting killed. Erk and Nino would lead to Jaffar animosity. Erk and Kumi would lead to Matt animosity. Erk and Priscilla would lead to Raven animosity. And Erk and Serra... well, I think that would be Erk animosity against himself. XD

Thank you for all the reviewers who have put up with me and my late-ness in updates! Especially for those who have been with me four years ago—(this fic is four years old now!) like FireEmblemMewMew, DarkBlaziken, Terran34, and Whitzwolf. I'm sure there are others still around...

Again, everyone is sick of this, thank you Angie for scripting the game for me! You have done what no other person has done! (Seriously, guys, who would play a game over again and type its script word for word for a fanfic that is not even hers?—all my love, Angie.) This chapter would not be here if not for her scripting!

Author's Notes:

I had fun writing authoritative! Eliwood. I admit I'm not much of an Eliwood fan, with his sort of passive personality, and I might consider him one of the 'weakest' lords of Fire Emblem, but that applies to his personality, not really his stats... (his stats start out poorly, but he's an awesome Great Lord!) Leads/lords like Ike (FE9) and Ephraim (FE8) have are much more defined and 'strong' personalities as opposed to Eliwood. But writing this chapter exposed me to the real strength of character in Eliwood. I suddenly understood him. When I played the game, I admit him talking back at Queen Hellene had me weirded out—so different from my original idea of Lord Eliwood being a perfectly kind, soft spoken lord, but I guess when I wrote him I began to understand him, also taking cues from all his other lines in the game. I figured there must be something in him that gets even Hector to stay true to him and let him lead. Ah, I can't explain myself well. Long story short: I have learned to appreciate Eliwood, even if for this chapter only. And I admit, he does seem to be similar to Kumi's personality: kind and nice and seemingly fragile but absolutely determined when he wants to be. I guess that's why there are some people who love the Kumi-Eliwood interactions.

Alright, so I hate Harken. Not really hate, but over him, I am tons more in favor of Legault. I just can't get anything out of Harken's personality. He's all emo obsessed over avenging Elbert. The only good or decent support I can think of that involves Harken is Harken and Vaida. HarkenxVaida WHHHUUUUT. (They DO have an A-support ending.) If there's any Harken lover out there... uhm, feel free to bash me and make yourself felt. :( OHMIGOSH LET'S PUT UP HARKEN WITH VAIDA SO LEGAULT CAN HAVE ISADORA XDDDD

I admit the meeting-Zephiel-scene may be too... sappy. That thing about meeting a person and something clicking right inside you, as if he's gonna be part of your life but you don't know how yet... That's how I felt when I first met my boyfriend. I know, I know, sounds mushy. I have truly matured through the course of this fic and now I have a boyfriend (after 18 years of living, is that too soon, or late? XD) so blame him if the update is late! BLAME HIM FOR LATE UPDATE! BLAME! (unfortunately he doesn't really understand this business of writing fanfics or burying your nose in novels... he's not much of a reader.)

I have no idea what the Fire Emblem is supposed to look like. I don't recall ever seeing any reference pictures of it in-game, and it's only described as "the ceremonial gemstone of Bern", and in FE6, well, I won't spoil it, but I don't think there really is supposed to be an image. I made it icy blue (for the sake of nice contrast to its name) and with a life of its own and respondent to its holder, as most Fire Emblems (FE8 and FE9-10). Really, the game is called Fire Emblem and FE7 has the most useless use of the item.

Nino and Jaffar are the stars of this chapter, undoubtedly. I hope everyone appreciated the Nino and Jaffar POV. And the angsty Hector and Matthew. And Anko and Legault, who also played major roles this chapter. I guess they balance out the emo-ness of everyone else. Still, Sain is the perfect extinguisher of heavy moments, and therefore I should utilize him more, I just don't know how yet, I've never been a good writer of characters like Sain, but I adore him. Hope everyone likes the many POVs showcased in this chapter.

I've seriously thought about the game timeline. You go to Bern Keep to investigate, travelling from the border town at start of the day. You fight Vaida. After fighting, you follow them into the snowy parts of Bern. After Kenneth/Jerme there, you go to the manse to save the prince before evening falls. So it means you fought 3 battles in a single day, and calculating how slow travel was back then and the descriptions of Bern's terrain (rocky at best) and that the manse is even farther north than Bern Keep is from the hideoout of Black Fang (as I observed from the map) and that you're such a huge group carrying a lot of supplies... I thought it was impossible to make it to the manse within a day at all, unless there's divine intervention.

As the official FE guide in Japan says, Jaffar's age is undetermined. I have a notion he is no longer altogether human, as the morphs, but not quite like them. If you have scans of the guide, it has GENDER, ESTIMATE AGE, PLACE OF ORIGIN, etc. etc. (in Japanese of course) and other information about characters. You can easily find where the age part is because it has numbers. But they only put in estimates. If the number is 20, that means that character is in the twenties, if it's 10, the character is between 10-19. For Jaffar, though, there is no estimate present, just this weird Japanese symbol that I can't translate, which probably means N/A. It's the same as with Nils' and Ninian's. (And note that we know that Ninian and Nils have undeterminable ages. But it's been so long since I studied the scans and my Japanese is not at all reliable.) Which leads me to think Jaffar doesn't age normally, he's not altogether human, or simply he himself doesn't know what his age is. Does anyone have theories about this? (Especially for the Nino-Jaffar fans out there.)

Am replaying FE7. I really don't understand what most character guides say about RebeccaWil. Wil has been my more preferred unit, despite how awesome some people claim Rebecca to be. My games just can't get Rebecca's stats right. (Same with my Matthews, all my Matthews are screwed and Legault always ends up way better. Can you believe my Guy maxes speed before Matt does?) And my tactics seem to be quick and reckless at best, so I prefer speedier units with dependable defense like Sain (as a Paladin, he's awesome and my heeero), Heath (I love him. I simply do.) or Farina (she's the sturdiest of the Pegasus sisters, at least that's how my game gets things done) or Raven (very quick, very powerful, very sturdy).

APOLOGIES TO ALL FOR LATE UPDATE! I'm still determined to finish this fic, though, hope that all of you are still hanging on with me!

Thanks for everyone who reviewed the last introduction chapter! Whitzwolf, I'm glad you've read that chapter in one sitting! No neck pain, huh? XDD Patattack, glad you're still hanging on!

I miss my old reviewers, like Xirysa. I remembered how she constantly raved about Heath. The Journey wouldn't be what it is if it were not for ALL my reviewers, old and new. They have influenced how this story turns out, one way or the other.

Terran34: I'm sorry for the indecisiveness when it comes to Kumi pairings. It's just… well, today it's Zephiel, and you'd think she'd already have someone by now, but… no. I can't decide either. And whatever happens, we all have an idea of how it ends anyways, especially for those who read Queen of Bern. IF I FINISH THE JOURNEY, WE SHALL ALL MOVE ON TO THAT FIC AND THEN I WON'T BE SO INDECISIVE. I promise. And... yeah. Problem is understatement. Drowning in problems is still understatement. The problem won't leave my mind and even when I'm awake or doing something, it's constantly floating about in my head. It has not only damaged my writing, even my studying, or sane thinking. Poor me. Frankly I don't know what to do anymore... Thank you for staying on for four years! You've been such source of support and criticism rolled in one. XDD Both things a writer needs.

Darkblaziken: REJOICE! I AM NOT DOING KUMI/ERK AFTER ALL! Thanks for giving me your support! Your comment is one of the things I always look forward to in writing every chapter of this. ^^ I'm flattered that you say I'm too good at characterization (not really, I think… only I try to minimize characters that I can't write well!) and that I'm the first to fill in gaps in this novelization. ^^; As for that, I've had a lot of influences, too. Before I started writing this fic decently, I had to read a ton of FE fanfics, read a lot of historical fiction… and those things contributed to how I did things in this fic. As for Anko's suspicious descriptions... XDDDD Am playing around with the idea of giving her a pairing or a support character, much especially for Queen of Bern which goes after this. Much how I link Xarin to Matthew. Nothing is pairing final yet, but reading through Anko's descriptions, Legault and Heath are bound to come to mind. XD This is because in Bern, the two become Anko's close allies and stay with her in the guild, so I figured she should 'like' their personalities to an extent if she is to work well with them. And...Let's face it. The Journey is no The Journey without Anko. She's a vital OC here.

-random note of self-realization-dunno-what-to-call-it-whatever-

I made it a point in writing The Journey that Kumiko isn't the only new thing or concept that I introduce. That's why in my recent chapters, I tried to flesh out the world of FE7 as much as possible, describe the settings better, the characters better, introduce cultures, myths, and legends, etc. And that involves creating a fresh roster of OCs for everyone to enjoy. Apart from Kumiko-Anko, Mark, and Xarin are very dear to me. They provide a certain depth to the story and it'd be dull writing for me if they weren't around.

Of course we all know that my first chapters are really something sort of trash compared to my recent ones, but that's how it is. This has also been a Journey for me, and for you too, my readers, I hope. I may get better in writing, and I hope that my skills get to cope up with all our growing imaginations looking for more things to enthrall us. –sniffle-

I hope I can bring more things to the FE world to make it an adventure for us all over again, in the literary sense! –Gah, Nintendo, FireEmblem, IS—HIRE ME AS A WRITER PLEASE! REMAKE FE6! I'LL WORK FOR FREE!-

-end of senseless note, back to shout-outs-

Naryfiel Lilith: XD You've been a relief since you started reviewing, and it's always great to know another Zephiel fan! Not a lot of people understand that Zephiel is such a great character and FE7 is instrumental in showing how Zephiel became what he is in FE6—and he IS one of the most (if not the most) complex villain of FE! And I also love Bern—I fell in love with that FE nation when I read the description on it. That is what inspired me to write my FE6 fic, Bern.

Zephiel and Kumiko, as I experience from writing Queen of Bern, make for an odd but interesting pair, and quite challenging to write. But what was more difficult was THIS. Writing them together when they were younger, here in The Journey, was far too difficult. I had so many scrap ideas thrown out. I figured Zephiel and Kumiko are pretty much the same personality-wise in this chapter. I like writing about their contrasts and complements in Bern, so therefore the Kumi-Zephiel interaction here took some getting used to and I'm afraid the scene might even seem unnatural.

And Anko is Anko, as I said. She was around the first chapters of this novelization, and she always will be. Much more in Queen of Bern. (Gaaah why do I keep talking about it!)

NEXTCHAPTER PREVIEW: OMG THE LONG AWAITED MATT-JAFFAR TENSION...

"Are you numb to other's pain, too? I'm in pain! Everytime I see him, I remember. Everytime—the smallest glimpse of him, the mention of his name, the mention of that… that girl's name—I remember. And it hurts. You want me to endure pain for my girlfriend's murderer?"

AND SHAMELESS PLUG FOR THE REWRITE OF MY FE6 FIC AND SEQUEL OF THIS, BERN. Behold! Queen of Bern is rewritten (and is now just called "Bern") and I have the prologues and a chapter put up. Please check out the new style/format, this "more mature writing for a more mature Kumi" (as I quote Naryfiel Lilith XD). I decided to post it finally and I plan to update it regularly because I need a break from The Journey. In my opinion, Bern is very different writing from The Journey and it's a much needed break when I'm in a writer's block. It will probably pace slower than this fic because it's a royal spoiler in many ways (I know) but I've a good amount written and a good length of plot planned out before we get to the actual plot of FE6. If you haven't played FE6, reading Bern would be as good as reading a novelization once I get it done. If anyone needs one solid reason to read Bern, it's "Matthew returns". XDD (so I'm using Matt as a marketing tool now?) Please check it out! Besides, it's already a common knowledge among The Journey readers who Kumiko actually ends up with!